Resources for Young Scientists/Job Seekers:

``Both new Ph.D.s and pollution are unmarketable by-products of a desirable process: research in graduate schools in the first case and most industrial processes in the second.''--from ``The Production of Astronomers: A Model for Future Surpluses,'' Harley A. Thronson, Jr., 1991, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 103, p. 90-94.

The job situation in astronomy (and many other sciences) is tough. We've put together an estimate of the difficulty of getting jobs in a steady state astronomy job market. We've also put together this list of resources which will help (I hope) provide good information about how to survive this job market, by both in and out of the traditional research career path [Hint: Start early]. We'm always looking for new links, especially in the first and third categories, where my ignorance is greatest. Where do astronomers (or scientists in related fields) go after grad school? What makes them successful at finding/getting/keeping interesting jobs both in and out of the field? If you have a particulary useful link, please email me.

Career Info for Scientists

These sites tend to address both the issue of whether or not there is a job problem (the short answer is yes) and offer advice on action job seekers can take, from finding an alternative career to making yourself more competitive in your chosen field.

• Science's Next Wave: From the AAAS. Requires free registration. Lots of good stuff, from feature stories to ``nuts and bolts'' career advice.
• The Young Scientists Network Archive: Good site for exploring issues from alternative careers to political involvement.
• Network of Emerging Scientists.
• APS Careers/Employment Information: Good statistics on physics job market, career starting hints, see especially the ``Graduate Student Package.''
• NAS Career Planning Center: From the National Academy of Sciences, requires registration.
• AIP Carreers Bulletin Board: ``ask a physicist'' e-panels, career packets.
• The Young Mathematicians Network Site.
• Alternative careers page from the UIUC Physics Dept. The manifesto is wonderful.
• Contemporary Problems in Science Jobs, written by Arthur E. Sowers.
• Bio Online Career Center, written and/or edited by David Jensen. Lots of advice for job seeking.
• sci.research.careers Lots of discussion about science careers and alternatives. Often the signal to noise on this group leaves something to be desired.
• Check out Careers in Science and Engineering: A Student Guide to Graduate School and Beyond and Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers, both online at the National Academy Press Reading Room.
• The WISE page at NAS, a nice page maintained by Erika Shugart, a former Biology grad student at the University of Virginia.
• The Guide to Alternative Careers in Science, a nice page maintained by Erika Shugart, a former Biology grad student at the University of Virginia.
• Careers in (and Out of) Science . A very nice list of science career related links.
• Tomorrow's Professor, a link promoting a book subtitled, Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering. One full chapter is available on-line.

Recommended Reading

• Feibelman, Peter J. A Ph.D. is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1993).
• Fiske, Peter S. To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists (Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union, 1996).

Finding a Job

• Astronomy/Physics type listings
  • AAS Job Register: Jobs in Astronomy.
  • NASA and Related Jobs.
  • Los Alamos Job Register: Jobs in Physics.
  • Jobs outside of LANL but are still in NM. This is a nice site with many different employers and help pages. The other National Labs are listed here too.
  • An index of jobs sites from the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at Jena. Contains links to other science-related jobs sites.
  • The Internet Pilot to Physics TIPTOP Jobs list.
  • NRC Postdocs
  • A page where you can look up opportunities for NRC postdocs.
  • U.S. Office of Personell Management
  • The Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics Employment Network.
• Rumor Mills on Current Status of Job Searches
  • Astronomy / Astrophysics Rumor Mill (with names)
  • Pat Hall's Astronomy Rumor page (no names)
• Almost Science
  • APS/AIP Congressional Science Fellowships.
  • National Association of Science Writers
• If you need a little help...
  • List of scientific recruiters (i.e. headhunters) from Career Magazine.
  • KellyScientific uhhhhhhh, ouch.
• Sell your problem-solving skills to business
  • Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University has a 12 month MBA option for scientists and engineers, if you can stand more education at this point in your career.
  • A short list of management consulting firms' recruiting pages.
  • Business Job Finder from the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State, for info on what those management consulting and investment banking jobs are really like.
• The online version of What Color is Your Parachute?, just in case you have no idea what you want to do next.
• General Job/Job Fair Sites
  • Canada's HiTechCareer Center
  • 21st Century Career Fairs
  • The Monster Board
  • Online Career Center
  • U.S. Government Job Listings, presumably most ``non-essential.''
  • JobHunt: an index of sites with job listings on the Web.
  • Yahoo's list of job related sites on the Web.
  • Professional Hotjobs on the Web.
  • Snap.com's Career Center on the Web.
  • The Washington Post's Job Search link on the Web.

Organizations

• List of sites relating to Women in Science and Engineering
• AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science
• AAS American Astronomical Society
• AIP American Institute of Physics
• APS American Physical Society
• NAS National Academy of Sciences
• NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• NSF National Science Foundation