I think that I have done pretty well.
I hope to retire 'soon', and well before normal retirement age (for a lot of reasons).
We just interviewed 2 fresh, young faces for a career at our campus, and I was asked many, many questions - some I expected that a PhD in my field of Finance would already know!
So thinking back to when You were a fresh, newly minted graduate (or even as far back as just starting your graduate studies), What advice would you give yourself (or what do you wish you were advised)?
Please put the general advice type (Personal, Financial, Research, Career - or whatever you think is most appropriate) on the first line.
Financial - summer pay
Never depend on summer money to balance your budget. It is always too little (a fraction of your normal pay), and always dependent on the budget, the whims of scheduling, and enrollment.
Instead, live on your 9/10 month wage, or opt for the university to pay you over the 12 months, if they offer that plan. IF you work in the summer, have a plan for the money that goes above and beyond your expenses. Pay off your debt (credit card, car, house). Save for a future need (car, house, retirement) so that you dont need to borrow later.
Then, should you need to not teach for research or just mental health, you will not be dependent on working summers.
My Experience:
I have worked EVERY summer since I graduated with my undergraduate degree! I can no longer keep up the pace. Fortunately I dont have to. The house is paid off, I can buy my next car for cash, and I have saved my last at least one years (or more) take home pay in a savings account. this year I will cut back to one summer class, and next year none, and I hope to summer in Alaska on a great blow out, turn 60 vacation!
Career
Take advantage of the social aspect of conferences. Make some friends and connections.
Always whole-heartedly congratulate and support your friends and colleagues who succeed.
Personal
Ask yourself how important is your career and how important is your relationship and/or family? If one is always going to be more important than the other, proceed with a clear head and with honesty.
Financial - How to live on your 9 month salary?
If you are paid 9 months a year, you will need to save 1/4 of each check to even your pay over the year.
Example: IF you get paid $4000 a month for 9 months, then you save 1K a month. That leaves you $3K to live on. After 9 months you have saved $9K, which will fund $3k a month for 3 months.
Most likely the first career job will be for more than you ever made. They pay your a year's wage in 9 months (perhaps hoping that you will live on your 9 month check so that you have no choice but to teach summer school!). Live on LESS than your promised annual salary! Stretch it over the full year, like everyone else has to! They just dont have the choice to collect/spend it in 9 months time!
It takes some discipline, but it works. IF you have the patience to go to the bank, you can even set up short term CDs to pay yourself a check.
(when you get the first check, open a CD (certificate of deposit) for 9 months with the 25%, then you wont have it to spend). Do the same for the 2nd and 3rd check. Then for check 4,5 & 6 open 6 month CDs. For the last, IF you can get them open 3 month CDs, or simply keep them in your savings account - today (2 24 2023, Discover Bank (online) is paying over 3% in their online savings accounts).
On the first days of each summer month three CDs mature and can be rolled into your checking account to mimic payday!
I hope that this helps.
My experience: I have saved 25% of each check to cover the summer months for the 20 years I worked at current job (and was on the 12 month pay plan at the prior job). While I always taught summer, it was good knowing that I didnt have to. At the end of the summer (the start of the Fall term) I would take what I had saved for summer, but not needed, plus any summer surplus and pay down some debt (initially student loans, then saved for a down payment on a house, then a car).
good luck.
Career:
- Keep yourself marketable. You will probably change jobs, multiple times, before retirement. For academia, this generally means the hamster wheel of publications that no one but journal editors and reviewers will ever read. For anything else, it means acquiring the skills that should have been part of your doctoral program but weren't, like writing, statistics, video production, Python/R, data visualization, and accounting/financial analysis.
- Regularly praise colleagues for something they did in front of other colleagues. Speak well of others' talents and they will speak well of yours. You will be creating goodwill toward yourself.
Financial:
- Read The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness, by Morgan Housel.
- Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum allowed every year.
I have a tenth-month contract. Summer teaching is good, but it is not always available and sometimes you might want to go on holiday or do something else. I personally have a significant part of my paycheck deposited in another account that I then tap into over the summer.
Besides that:
Remember that there is more to life than work. Try not to send/answer emails at night or over the weekend. If you must, make sure that you have them automatically sent at a more reasonable hour.
There are only so many weeks in the semester, and if it is not a perfect semester, well, there's always next semester. Sometimes it is better to focus on family, friends, or yourself rather than work.
Give yourself time to read. This includes both stuff in your field, but also stuff outside of your field (e.g., fiction).
Don't feel guilty if something you are doing (reading, watching, etc.) does not contribute to your CV.
Make sure to keep yourself healthy-eat well, go to the doctor, keep physically active.
Be friendly with your colleagues but have friends outside of work.
Do not get too invested in any particular administrative régime, since administrators come and go.
Make sure to back up your files. Try to organize them in a way so that when you come back to them in a year's time you can understand them.
Keep your lecture/assignment/etc. notes organized.
Purge your office of useless stuff at least once a semester.
The university will not love you back.
Have a sense of humor without being cynical.
I realize that everybody here has already long since seen this one, but it's my choice:
"Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don't Go"
https://www.chronicle.com/article/graduate-school-in-the-humanities-just-dont-go/
Explain the hierarchy of the university. Even tenured professors I've spoken with are often confused about how all the wheels interact. It can help when you are trying to figure out how to do something.
Career:
Listen to others; you are never the smartest person in the room-- even when surrounded by admins. :)
Grow and expand, but also enforce your boundaries with a vengeance.
Things will ebb and flow; remember the good times and persevere through the bad times because both will pass.
Get a dog, cat, hamster, fish, snake, or whatever. A pet is the only thing that will listen and pretend to care when you piss and moan about your committee work. And even then, you will probably have to complain while holding their dinner in your hands.
Yes-anding Wahoo Redux, get to understand the hierarchy of the institution and how higher ed works as an industry, and stay current on trends in higher ed and in your discipline.
Make time on your schedule for personal pursuits — hobbies, friends, family are all important for a healthy work-life balance.
Can't Think of a Category
I'd tell myself that the entire country isn't one big New York. Many people don't find forthrightness endearing, and some really, really, really, really enoy (need!) small talk.
Career
Don't assume that the type of institution you went to grad school at is the only type where you can have a successful career, but you will measure success differently in some places. Decide what type of success is most important for you and recognize that you'll probably have to give up some things to have others.
Career:
• keep an open mind. It may be your intention to be a professor of X for the remainder of your career. Many professional opportunities will come across your radar. Do not ignore them. One of them may lead to a satisfying (on many levels) career path that you never imagined. Even if the opportunity is not right for you it may be perfect for your friend or protégé.
• Look two jobs ahead. If you are in job A and thinking about or transitioning to job B ask yourself how long do you plan to stay in job B and what job will it lead to: C. Read job advertisements for C regularly. Many of the requirements and skills for job C may take years to develop. The sooner you know that the sooner you can begin to climb that curve, acquire those skills, networks, etc. If you wait until job B is about to end then you are too late.
• Learn how to raise money: how to apply for grants; how to talk to donors; learn the fundraising priorities of your unit/college; be on a first name basis with the development officer assigned to your college; learn how to read the Form 990 and where to obtain them online; by Federal law this is a public document. If you have not applied for a grant in the last 3-5 years that is failure! No matter what your discipline you should always have one or more grant proposals in the pipeline. Anyone with a track record of raising money is head and shoulders ahead of the competition.
Financial:
• Open a Roth IRA and contribute to it religiously!
• Find a side hustle (uber, real estate agent, landlord, consultant, clinical practice, etc. Your primary job may be primary, but it should not be your only job.
Do a little research every weekday. Not a lot, but a little--set yourself small and manageable goals, and it adds up quickly. Do it at the beginning of the day, so that it's out of the way.
Don't get a #1 Draft Lottery notice.
I wish I had gone straight through to graduate studies, and not worked between my degrees. Funding institutes don't seem to treat non-trades very nicely, especially when funding applications can only include items within the past five years. So anything you did earlier is discounted, even if you worked outside of academia during that period.
Quote from: jerseyjay on February 24, 2023, 09:53:27 AM
The university will not love you back.
^^^
This. The email telling you "Thank you for all that you do" is about as sincere as "Welcome to Costco; I love you."
Quote
Have a sense of humor without being cynical.
Know the difference between having a sense of humor and being cynical. One is funny. The other will help you make better decisions, may advance your career, and might even save your a$$ one day.
Quote from: lightning on February 25, 2023, 01:08:50 PM
Quote from: jerseyjay on February 24, 2023, 09:53:27 AM
The university will not love you back.
^^^
This. The email telling you "Thank you for all that you do" is about as sincere as "Welcome to Costco; I love you."
The same goes for the college being "One big family." To paraphrase Orwell, "Some family members are more family than others."
Quote from: Juvenal on February 25, 2023, 11:02:29 AM
Don't get a #1 Draft Lottery notice.
I'm betting there's quite a story there!
Quote from: MarathonRunner on February 25, 2023, 11:14:51 AM
I wish I had gone straight through to graduate studies, and not worked between my degrees. Funding institutes don't seem to treat non-trades very nicely, especially when funding applications can only include items within the past five years. So anything you did earlier is discounted, even if you worked outside of academia during that period.
This reminds me of an occasion a tad more than fifty years ago. There I was, working in fast food during the summer, and weekends during the semester. It was a small family run business, with the two bosses working, one son, and a couple of others. It was soon recognized that I was not the median fast food worker. Anyway, I confessed that I was going to graduate school, after having been admitted and received an offer.
No, said the boss! Open another store, operate it for five years, we go 50/50 on the profits. Then you go to graduate school in style!
I did not take the man up on his offer, and I don't regret it. I loved and still love my field. I wanted to get in quickly. And I had a high discount rate. :-)
To decide rationally, i.e in a self-interested manner, think of how quickly you want to get into the field, and how much money postponing or not postponing brings, and is worth to you, including risk.
Career: Time is your enemy. To be successful, work NOW. Submit that grant now, not later. Submit that manuscript now, not later.
Related: learn to enjoy the process. Don't work for rewards and glory, but because you enjoy the work itself.
Financial
Buy a used car, keep it well maintained and drive it until if costs more to fix than it is worth. Save something (monthly & with summer school money - see above) to replace it when that day finally comes.
I consider the best financial decision i have made is to buy a high mileage, two year old car at the end of my graduate studies (because my other car would not longer be trusted to drive me the 100 miles to the airport to get to campus visits, and it was worth less than it would cost to fix). That car had 42000 miles. I kept it about 20 years and finally sold it when it would have needed more to repair than it was worth.
Too many think that a car must be new to be reliable. It doesnt! A well maintained car can be reliable for decades!
IF you keep a car for 21 years, instead of buying a new one every 7 (or fewer!) years, you have saved the cost of 2 cars!!
Quote from: jerseyjay on February 24, 2023, 09:53:27 AM
The university will not love you back.
Absolutely.
Here's another one along the same lines: Don't marry the institution until the institution marries you. In other words, pre-tenure you should always be keeping an eye on the job market.
Financial: (follow- up) Do You REALLY need to buy a house pre-tenure?
Renting is NOT a Sin! Selling a house is Expensive! Not all houses increase in value! Until you are tenured, your university can fire you with 1 year's notice (maybe less!). Renting provides Mobility!! All markets are different. All situations are different. What is not different is that until you have tenure, you may find that you need to move with little notice. Unless you have no alternatives to renting (and there are few reasons to really own pre-tenure), dont buy!
My first job out of PhD school was at a small, liberal arts university in the South. It wasnt rural, but it wasnt 'big city living' either. There was a regional airport and good highways, but not a huge place. The university had lots of problems (the faculty senate had been disbanded, and AAUP had sanctioned the place.) Rents for nice apartments in the town were cheaper than bad apartments in Grad School Town! Add to mention that after graduating I was broke! So I lived like a graduate student for the next 3 years and paid off debt and saved, saved, saved.
One day the dean asked me why the university would want to make a commitment to me when I had not made a commencement to even buy a house! He said something about interest being deductible! I explained that I would pay much more in interest than I could possibly save in taxes and I was paying off student loans. I outlined the tax deductability versus interest expense, taxes, insurance, repairs, etc. (IF I pay the bank $10 in interest to save $2K in Taxes, how am I ahead? Isnt it better to SAVE 10K in interest expense, even if you Pay an extra $2K in taxes? Dont I have $8Kmore in my pocket now?) Then I turned the question back on him and asked why HE was owning when renting here was so cheap? and AS the university had not made a commitment to me, why should I PAY for the privilege of working here?
I was outspoken, even then. But after I explained the numbers, he never brought it up again!
I worked there for 5 years. I had purchased a house 2 years before i moved away from a faculty member that had to sell quickly, so I got a good deal and made some money, even after selling costs 2 years later.
But I do not regret renting! Patience, and having money available to close the deal quickly allowed me to find a great deal!
There are lots of 'reasons'/excuses you can use to justify buying. But IF you dont have money, renting is a safer option! You wont have to rent long term, and you can use the time to find a deal!
Finally, you wont know much about the town on the first visit or 2. It takes time to know what externalities exist in each neighborhood. Give yourself time to know the town before jumping into the home buying decision!
QuoteThe university will not love you back.
Absolutely.
Here's another one along the same lines: Don't marry the institution until the institution marries you. In other words, pre-tenure you should always be keeping an eye on the job market.
Career:
Put a granola bar in your bag and forget about it. You'll remember it when the time is right.
Keep friendships with non-academics.
Find the hidden best bathroom. Every campus has one. Guard that secret with your life.
Quote from: Diogenes on February 26, 2023, 03:48:03 PM
Career:
Put a granola bar in your bag and forget about it. You'll remember it when the time is right.
Keep friendships with non-academics.
Find the hidden best bathroom. Every campus has one. Guard that secret with your life.
This last is advice for the ages. My big sister sussed out good bathrooms in New York City in the late '50s, early '60s, and she told me about them. The absolute best, confirmed by personal testing, was in an Alexander's department store, probably the one on 59th Street. Alas, Alexander's went down the tubes in 1992.
Some facts are more useful than others.
Quote from: Diogenes on February 26, 2023, 03:48:03 PM
Career:
Put a granola bar in your bag and forget about it. You'll remember it when the time is right.
Keep friendships with non-academics.
Find the hidden best bathroom. Every campus has one. Guard that secret with your life.
Unless you have a dog who will rip your unprotected bag apart, in order to steal your forgotten granola bar.
Lincoln Center in NYC has really good public bathrooms, but you have to be on the west side for it to be worth it.
Yup - the uni will never love you back. Put your family ahead of everything else.
At times, they will pretend to ask your opinion on something. Feel free to tell them your thoughts. But realize that "we value your opinion" has 3 unspoken words at the end of that phrase - "when it's convenient."
Play the long game. Deans, provosts and presidents come and go. When possible, see if you can just out wait them.
Quote from: secundem_artem on February 26, 2023, 05:21:19 PM
Yup - the uni will never love you back. Put your family ahead of everything else.
Explain academic hiring to your family too. Most seem to think that finding a teaching job in higher ed is like a corporate job hunt.
Quote from: clean on February 26, 2023, 01:16:22 PM
Financial: (follow- up) Do You REALLY need to buy a house pre-tenure?
Renting is NOT a Sin! Selling a house is Expensive! Not all houses increase in value! Until you are tenured, your university can fire you with 1 year's notice (maybe less!). Renting provides Mobility!!
Counterpoint: If I'd followed this advice I would now be completely priced out of buying here (yes, the housing prices have gone up that much in the last 3 years, never mind interest rates). I would also being paying a lot more in rent, as rental prices have also risen steeply. Instead, I'm sitting pretty with a house I love at an affordable fixed rate.
The second sentence also isn't true everywhere (here, we get a 3 year contract, then a 4 year contract after 3rd year review-- not 1 year contracts pre-tenure. I don't think that is unusual).
So my advice is that while you should't rush into buying, do your own research and make a call that is right for you, your circumstances and your housing market.
Quoteyes, the housing prices have gone up that much in the last 3 years, never mind interest rates)
It has been an interesting 3 years!
Heck, in the early 2000's market, I bought and sold, so did my wife, we both made profits, and put them towards our new house, and then refinanced in 2012 or so. So, markets aren't always bad. But they aren't always good either, so, sure, buy carefully and be happy to rent before you have a decent down, good rates, and decent supply.
QuoteCounterpoint: If I'd followed this advice I would now be completely priced out of buying here (yes, the housing prices have gone up that much in the last 3 years, never mind interest rates). I would also being paying a lot more in rent, as rental prices have also risen steeply. Instead, I'm sitting pretty with a house I love at an affordable fixed rate.
You got lucky! House prices and rents hang together, obviously. Clean's original advice -- don't be afraid to rent -- is the correct advice. All this fluctuation in house price or rent is there, but you are taking less risk committing to use rights for a year than for taking on the lifetime risk of housing prices fluctuating coming with owning that asset.
Somehow the propaganda that an appreciation of your house price is good for you is ingrained. [Probably from biological evolution.] It is good for you, if you can afford the higher imputed rent! So you wish to pay more and more for the same space. Or do you wish to own an asset that returns less and less as the price rises? If not, sell out and buy a smaller house.
When you buy a house you pay rent to yourself and gamble at the same time. With renting from others there's a substantially smaller gamble. Instead of paying off the house, you could invest in the S&P 500. That's much less gambling. :-)
Obviously, you can't do it in an anonymous forum, but when you ask for and receive rent vs. buy advice on a home, this is one instance where you consider who is giving the advice. People that made out like bandits owning a home will tell you to buy a home. People who lost their shirts buying a home, will tell you to rent.
I will tell you to buy, without hesitation, for most situations.
Renting is great for one thing for sure-- if you lose your shirt by renting your home, it doesn't feel nearly as bad as losing your shirt by owning your home. And, that's because the money loss is incremental and not as noticeable in everyday life. Losing money on home ownership is obvious to yourself and others in everyday life. So, it's humiliating and really makes you feel like total crap about yourself.
The point about renting in this context is that it leaves you more mobile if you don't get tenure or decide to make a move pre-tenure. And since a tenure track professor should always be ready to move, there is a certain logic to renting for the first several years.
For my part, I did buy a home while on the TT and it turned out well, both because home prices went through the roof during covid and because I got tenure. But I did not buy until I was fairly sure that I was above the tenure-bar at my institution.
Quote from: Diogenes on February 26, 2023, 03:48:03 PM
Find the hidden best bathroom. Every campus has one. Guard that secret with your life.
Either I never found it in all the years I was associated with that campus as a grad student and later staff member, or else the best there wasn't really that great. Mind you, some
were better than others....
Quote from: Sun_Worshiper on February 27, 2023, 06:32:15 AM
The point about renting in this context is that it leaves you more mobile if you don't get tenure or decide to make a move pre-tenure. And since a tenure track professor should always be ready to move, there is a certain logic to renting for the first several years.
For my part, I did buy a home while on the TT and it turned out well, both because home prices went through the roof during covid and because I got tenure. But I did not buy until I was fairly sure that I was above the tenure-bar at my institution.
I had a TT for two years before I moved on to another TT position. In the weeks before I started the old job, I bought a home, knowing that I was going to springboard to a better job sooner rather than later. After two years, even after realtor commissions, property taxes, insurance costs, and repairs/maintenance, I lost no money. Had I rented for those two years, I would have been out $2x,xxx dollars.
Before that, I had a home for a similar amount of time, but in that hot real estate market, I made out like a bandit. The funny thing about that other home where I made out like a bandit, I was renting it out for part of the time, so someone else was paying my mortgage (!!), while the value of my home increased, until I sold it when the values were peaking.
I'm currently in a home that I paid off quite a while ago (paid off relatively quickly because of earnings from my previous real estate "gambles"). It's game-changing for your finances when a house is paid off. It feels almost like the game-changing tenure, in terms of pure finances. In terms of how it makes you feel, it's like winning at the poker or blackjack table in Vegas, but unlike Vegas, the house and cards are not rigged against you.
Now, if your horizon is one year out for sure (like if you have a one-year contract, or you hate your new job/location and you want out at any costs), then yeah, rent. Duh. But, if you think there is a good chance you will be there for at least two years, buy.
Quote from: clean on February 24, 2023, 08:35:20 AM
I think that I have done pretty well.
I hope to retire 'soon', and well before normal retirement age (for a lot of reasons).
We just interviewed 2 fresh, young faces for a career at our campus, and I was asked many, many questions - some I expected that a PhD in my field of Finance would already know!
So thinking back to when You were a fresh, newly minted graduate (or even as far back as just starting your graduate studies), What advice would you give yourself (or what do you wish you were advised)?
Please put the general advice type (Personal, Financial, Research, Career - or whatever you think is most appropriate) on the first line.
Frankly, I would have been happy to get any advice at all!
I think it would be bad to buy a house right off the bat for any number of reasons, but after a couple of years, if you don't think you'd leave, your chances for tenure are good, the market is in your favor, and you'd rather be in your own house, and you can afford it, then go for it. Really the most important factors are market conditions and your own ability to purchase. Yeah, it would be dumb to buy a house in your first year on the TT at Harvard, but heck, I bet a lot of folks who got dumped by Ivies (or anyone really) made money on houses!
Be really nice to the department office staff. They are the glue that holds the place together, and they have way more power than you think.
Clean- how the heck did the DEAN know what your living situation was? I didn't even have a substantive conversation with my dean for at least the first 3 years!
Quote from: clean on February 26, 2023, 01:16:22 PM
Financial: (follow- up) Do You REALLY need to buy a house pre-tenure?
Renting is NOT a Sin! Selling a house is Expensive! Not all houses increase in value! Until you are tenured, your university can fire you with 1 year's notice (maybe less!). Renting provides Mobility!!
All markets are different. All situations are different. What is not different is that until you have tenure, you may find that you need to move with little notice. Unless you have no alternatives to renting (and there are few reasons to really own pre-tenure),
Definitely depends on the market, the situation, etc. We are currently renting. Last place we owned, we couldn't find a suitable rental. Sold at a small profit. Previous place, buying was cheaper than renting, by a lot, even taking into account the things you have to pay for as a homeowner. Sold well above purchase price. Had previously always rented. Spouse's extra pay in Afghanistan paid for a down payment on the first house. Will always prefer to buy, when circumstances permit, as no one else, besides spouse, can tell me what to do with the place where I live. Will likely rent the next two years during postdoc - makes no sense to buy when I don't know where we will end up. After that, hopefully homeowners again, whether I find a job in academia or elsewhere. Have much preferred owning over renting. I'm in Canada, though.
1) Learn how to teach while in grad school - take an education course or two or become a TA, or both. Becoming a self-taught teacher takes too long and by the time you're comfortable in front of a classroom, your degree will be far too stale for the job market.
1a) A graduate degree goes stale about as fast as artisan bread.
1b) Your grad school is done with you the moment you complete your walk across the graduation stage.
2) Form as specific a plan as possible for what you want to do once you finish grad school and how to accomplish it. Maybe more than one plan in case things go south. Keep in mind 1a and 1b.
3) An artist can't afford to be shy. Join groups, give readings, attend other people's readings, attend workshops. Be as social as your introvert self can stand. Keep active.
QuoteClean- how the heck did the DEAN know what your living situation was? I didn't even have a substantive conversation with my dean for at least the first 3 years!
It was a small college in a small university. Student body was never much above 4000 students.
Dean wasnt always dean either, but promoted from within.
Quote from: mythbuster on February 27, 2023, 09:56:39 AM
Be really nice to the department office staff. They are the glue that holds the place together, and they have way more power than you think.
Clean- how the heck did the DEAN know what your living situation was? I didn't even have a substantive conversation with my dean for at least the first 3 years!
The DEAN at my place called me into the office, when I was a mere 1-month into the job. They asked where I was living. Then they asked if I was renting or buying--invasive questioning, but not illegal to ask.
At this same job, I was really nice to the office staff when I was interviewing. They remember . . . oh, they remember.
Our landlord died and the title company had no desire to rent. So we bought. We are going to use the proceeds from my inheritance to pay off the house. The inheritance is not enough money to make us wealthy for the rest of our lives but it would be a nice nest egg for retirement. The house will take a good chunk of it. Our reasoning is that A) it is amazing how much interest a bank makes off mortgages and B) our school is looking a little shaky, so we figure if we own the house outright we cannot be put on the street. Even if my wife loses here job, I think we can work at Starbucks if we have to and squeak by once the house is paid for; COL is very low here.
My fear is that we will find some other opportunity, academic or not, in a better part of the country, and we will be stuck with a house that we cannot sell.
Career
* Regarding career, I think I did most everything right except for one thing, and I'll share that one thing:
When in doubt, STFU.
Financial
* I wish I knew more about the government's loan forgiveness programs, deferment options, and balloon payment programs. I was prudent with my relatively small loans, but some of my cohort who racked up six-digit loans and lived much more lavishly than I did during grad school, and continued to live lavishly after school by deferring payments, are now getting their big loans forgiven.
Personal
* Meet more people in grad school; do try to have a social life in school, and not just for professional networking. Maybe my social life in grad school suffered because I didn't hang out at restaurants and bars very much and go on expensive spring break trips, because I wasn't funding an otherwise unattainable lifestyle with student loans . . . . .
* Get a dog.
Quote from: lightning on March 08, 2023, 03:13:06 PM
Career
* Regarding career, I think I did most everything right except for one thing, and I'll share that one thing:
When in doubt, STFU.
On the flip side, I would add
When not in doubt, say something--even if it feels like you're stating the obvious. Unless it gets you fired, of course. I can't relate how many bad ideas have been enacted because no one would say, "Bruh, that just ain't gonna work."
It depends. If you have an impulse to say something, ask yourself why. If its just to throw out a comment or because you don't like the person, or the comment is trivial, then don't say anything. But if you feel that that something is wrong, say so, and especially if someone asks you. 99% of the time its not a weird trick (though I have seen that 1% that are weird tricks!),
Career/life:
Work on your mental health problems sooner rather than later. They aren't going to fix themselves. They'll only get worse.
Friends (and friendly colleagues) will be more supportive of this process than you might fear.
Quote from: lightning on March 08, 2023, 03:13:06 PM
* Get a dog.
This is the single best advice of the thread.
1. Too often, undeserving people will win, be rewarded, or pass you by on their climb up the ladder. Sometimes, they'll even step on your hands as they climb. Frequently, you can't do a thing about it, because life isn't fair; you'll just have to accept that as a given.
2. Save time and energy for your own needs, relationships, hobbies, etc. Life's not all about work, even though you need the results of work (money) in order to live. So work to live, not the other way around.
3. Paraphrasing what Elrond told Frodo, you'll find unexpected challenges, obstacles, and difficulties along your journey, along with enemies who may or may not be targeting you personally. You'll also find unexpected opportunities, rewards, and recognition, along with allies/collaborators/partners who like and/or respect/admire you/your efforts. Make a series of plans, yes, but realize that these positive and negative aspects of your journey cannot be specifically planned for--you'll simply need to be ready to deal with them when they come.
4. Advocate for yourself, because you're the one who'll do it best.
5. Stay open to possibilities. Continue to be a lifelong learner. Step out of your comfort zone from time to time. Seek out new experiences. Live in the moment--this may be your only time to do so.
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on March 09, 2023, 04:20:21 PM
Quote from: lightning on March 08, 2023, 03:13:06 PM
* Get a dog.
This is the single best advice of the thread.
I dont know, I really regret getting my Dog and would say the best advice would have been not to get the dog. Nothing wrong with him, but now we can't go anywhere or do anything without a lot of planning etc.
Wanna go on a spontaneous trip?
Wanna go somewhere on sabbatical?
Too bad, you've got that bloody dog to deal with...
QuoteToo bad, you've got that bloody dog to deal with...
IF you have a 'bloody dog' then it seems that your path is clear! A vet is in your immediate future! And you wont have the money to go on a spontaneous trip OR sabbatical as you will have vet bills to pay, and then carpet and furniture to clean!
Quote from: Kron3007 on March 10, 2023, 01:32:20 PM
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on March 09, 2023, 04:20:21 PM
Quote from: lightning on March 08, 2023, 03:13:06 PM
* Get a dog.
This is the single best advice of the thread.
I dont know, I really regret getting my Dog and would say the best advice would have been not to get the dog. Nothing wrong with him, but now we can't go anywhere or do anything without a lot of planning etc.
Wanna go on a spontaneous trip?
Wanna go somewhere on sabbatical?
Too bad, you've got that bloody dog to deal with...
Quote from: clean on March 10, 2023, 03:37:30 PM
QuoteToo bad, you've got that bloody dog to deal with...
IF you have a 'bloody dog' then it seems that your path is clear! A vet is in your immediate future! And you wont have the money to go on a spontaneous trip OR sabbatical as you will have vet bills to pay, and then carpet and furniture to clean!
Yes, all of this is true.
Not going anywhere on spring break has mostly to do with me being too burnt out on traveling, but I also have a dog to worry about. And if I have a spontaneous urge to go somewhere, I have to consider the dog as part of my spontaneous travel plan.
Yeah, my vet bills so far are starting to look like out-of-pocket costs for a human being, and future planned surgery will have four digits in the price.
Yeah, I have to clean my carpets more often.
Yeah, the lawn that I work so hard to maintain is constantly getting ruined.
Yeah, I always have to worry about if the dog needs to use the bathroom.
Yeah, my dog smells and so does my carpet.
Still worth it, by a long shot (at least for me). When the dog is happy to see me and expresses that sentiment in so many ways (for example, it is cuddling next to me on the couch right now, as I type), for every conscious minute, no matter what, the dog makes me happy.
YMMV.
Career:
Asking a clarifying question can bring attention to an issue without gaining a reputation for being negative or quarrelsome.
When someone quiet makes a comment that's being overlooked by the motormouths on the committee, a question that begins, "[Name], you said something about [whatever]. Would you say a bit more about that?" is a useful strategy for turning the conversation and gaining an ally.
Re-read the promotion requirements every year and update your plan to meet them. Aim above the minimum. Plan to promote to highest rank, not just next rank.
Financial:
Bring your own beverage, lunch, and snack at least four days a week.
Invest in the voluntary retirement plan, not just the mandatory plan.
Personal/Health:
Take a short walk on campus twice a day, every day. Vary your path. Smile at people. Wave or say hello, but keep walking. You'll clear your head, get in a bit of exercise, and be noticed by admin critters dashing about as positive presence on campus.
General:
Be good to the administrative assistants. Respond to requests, fill out forms, and submit receipts promptly. Making their lives easier pays off, as they'll want to make your life easier in return. Plus you get reimbursements faster if you do the paperwork promptly.