Career decisions, or longing for certainty where none is to be found
I'm in the 5th year of my doctorate now, just finished my dissertation proposal last week. That's when you propose the shape of your final doctoral deliverable to your committee. For me, its also when I pivot in my fieldwork from mostly data collection and a little analysis to mostly analyses and a little data collection. I now need to start thinking about what comes next. Over this summer, I'm going to go "on the market" as it were, attending conferences, presenting my ongoing research papers, helping organize things, and generally be seen by people who make hiring decisions. I will probably apply to many universities, wherever the jobs are, in Canada, the US, Europe and India. I am torn, in a sense, about where to focus my efforts. On the one hand: go broad, put together a good application packet, apply to many places in many countries. I think I may have a shot at a good school in the UK or Europe, perhaps even in the US if they're in the market for som...