Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 So what good is a PhD Anyway ? Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Art from Adelaide Festival of Ideas 2011

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Less Than You May Think Does not guarantee you a job in astronomy Does not guarantee you a job in closely-related field Can make some consider you “over-qualified” for some positions outside academia Does not usually confer communication or persuasion skills Does not make your family and friends hold you in awe

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 More Than You May Think Indication that you can think independently and manage long-term projects (i.e., your thesis) Indication you can think logically and self-critically Often indicates you can do maths and/or program computers (big plus) Especially if combined with communication skills, puts you in position for jobs you never imagined Permission to use the title “Dr” X to decrease time you are placed on hold when calling utility companies, etc

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Careers (and lives) are not Generally Linear My “career” over 3 continents has included (inhale...): Agricultural worker Factory worker Store Clerk Tutor and Physics laboratory instructor Practice teaching at secondary school level Writing for a science magazine Teaching physics at University Doing high-energy physics and biophysics research Team-teaching a University-level critical-thinking class Scientific editor and writer for an annual report Writing successful and unsuccessful job applications Managing discrimination and sexual harassment...

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Keep Breathing Continued: Managing grants at the US National Science Foundation (think “ARC”) Writing successful and unsuccessful grant applications Astronomy research, independent & leading large teams Managing ethical and personal conflicts at work Teaching astronomy at University level Supervising research students Sitting on time- and grant-allocation committees Interviewing (successfully and not) for many positions Giving very large public lectures Serving as Director of a research centre (RSAA) and observatory (SSO) Writing and reviewing many technical articles...

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Remember to Breathe... Continued: Sitting on more committees than was healthy Managing million dollar budgets and staff of 80 Liasing with legal and heritage teams after 2003 bushfires Writing for non-technical magazines/newspapers Board member for local and international organizations Government employee as Chief Scientist for Australia Speaking to school children of all ages about science Speaking and writing briefs to politicians about science Speaking to boards of industries about science Working as a private consultant A new step combining art, social and physical science

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June Exhale. Now Ask Yourself For many of those activities did my PhD and University training prepare me ? ? ? Answer: < 10%

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Bottom Line Your PhD is only a small part of the education you need Your supervisor is only one of many useful advisors Think in terms of skills, not just outputs: –My goal is not only to finish this thesis, but to learn these skills (be specific) –I am planning both for a working life in astronomy, and a working life outside astronomy –Make a written plan

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Your Plan, Your Life Write a 1-year, 2-year and 5-year plan Include outputs (I will produce X), outcomes (which should result in Y happening), skills (while teaching me how to Z), and experience (and allow me to apply skills in unthesis-related ways) Include outputs, outcomes, skills and experience both for a working life in astronomy and a working life outside astronomy Include who will be a resource for you at each step Keep it brief. Be flexible. Be bold. Review (and probably modify) it at least once per year Discuss it with your supervisor, encouraging them to think in this way with you. Brainstorm the plan with all the other “whos”.

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Three Universally Useful Skills Verbal and written communication Project management Quantitative reasoning, maths and programming ALL EMPLOYERS FIND THESE ATTRACTIVE

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Network, Network Think about all those things in my career and the careers of others that a PhD generally does NOT prepare you for How can you, with your networks, prepare yourself? Openly discuss these issues –With your supervisor –With your peers –With graduate students in other fields –At the pub Build YOUR OWN professional networks inside astronomy and outside. Within Australia and overseas.

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 If you are Thinking of Leaving your PhD Think again. Look at your plan. Could you change it in a way that would make you reconsider? If not. Make a radical outside-the-box list of possibilities outside astronomy for which your outputs, outcomes, skills and experience are relevant. What can you do right now to make them even more relevant or stronger. Discuss it with several of your “whos” to pick their brains (and networks). Repeat the three steps above.

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 “Success” Don’t fall into this common (unspoken) trap: Success = a post-doc followed by a life in astronomy Failure = anything else Success is living a life you enjoy and are proud of. Period.

Penny D Sackett Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 And Don’t Forget To Breathe Harley Wood Winter School: 30 June 2012 Art from Adelaide Festival of Ideas 2011