NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
I'm in my MBA work term now, but I'm thinking about going for a professional certification, like the PMP or something.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Is there an MBA. graduate, doctorate crowd here on GAF?
- Thread starter Dr. Feel Good
- Start date
- Status
Blackpanther25
Member
I'm an Occupational therapist planning of getting my Doctorate (OTD) in another year or two. Really thinking of pursuing a PhD to teach but Im not sure I have the time to dedicate to it.
Darryl M R
Member
What are the benefits of getting a PMP?
Elven_Star
Member
Just started an MA in literature, but some of my tutors keep telling me to get out as soon as possible! The job prospects are pretty much non-existant apparently, unless you're willing to go on to PhD and become a professor with dismal wages in some obscure university. I don't even like teaching or doing research that much. I do love my field, but I'm not sure if it's worth all that time and effort to get an MA.
Laevateinn
Member
Awesome, congrats. Or, as my advisor would say, "Get back to work! If you have time to post on GAF, you have time to be in the lab!"
AntraxSuicide
Banned
All depends on what you want to do with it. If you aren't considering careers that would need that Master's, then it may not be worth it. Especially for something like Lit where you say you don't care for teaching or research.
NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
I can introduce myself as a pimp and not get in trouble.
I have to say I love my PhD (psychology). It had created so many opportunities and my trajectory for promotion is fantastic.
It is hard work with the publishing and applying for grants but I love research-led teaching.
Getting my PhD was probably the best life decision I have ever made.
It is hard work with the publishing and applying for grants but I love research-led teaching.
Getting my PhD was probably the best life decision I have ever made.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Getting annoyed contacting people for post docs and 90% are like they arent looking for new personnel at this time (though at least they respond)
RumblingRosco
Member
What field are you looking into? Do you have any weaknesses in your CV? How are you going about contacting these people?
What would constitute a weakness in such a CV?
RumblingRosco
Member
For example, if you're applying for a post-doc position at a top lab at a top university, you probably need to have had a few good publications in a relevant area of study. I guess, I'm wondering if the person I quoted can recognize that maybe they're lacking in publications as a cause for their struggle to find a post-doc position.
My question was mainly to suggest that the poster looks at potential weaknesses in their application. I'm not sure if you can do much about a lack of papers, for example, but it is still helpful to reflect on where you stand overall.
Isn't that kind of a catch 22, though?
Well I just started my MBA classes, but I had to drop to 1 class a semester. Disappointing that I will finish much slower, but it fills up too much family time taking multiple classes right now. With more than one class I'm studying way too much, so if family life gets busy, or work life gets demanding it can get stressful since my time is always needed. Found that 1 class is much easier to juggle.
Dedication Through Light
Member
I have a book chapter and a letter to the editor. Though Im writing my first author paper now, but by the time it comes out Id already have defended and need something for after May 2017. I really hope my record wont make it impossible to get a post doc. I should have worked on a very easy project.
Does every PhD student really have 5+ or the number that constitutes "excellent publication record" in some of these post doc listings?
opticalmace
Member
What field are you in?
Dedication Through Light
Member
Biology ---> immunology/fungal allergy.
RumblingRosco
Member
1) It will be a bit easier once you've actually defended. Not that you should wait to look for a position, but, it should help once you can say "I've defended" as opposed to "I will be defending."
2) I would argue that having only a book chapter and a letter to an editor is below average for a completed Ph.D., at least in biology. I don't mean this to be insulting, but to give you some context. By no means does that mean you cannot get a post-doc, but, it means you'll have to really sell yourself in your cover letter when you apply.
3) You are sending a cover letter along, right? It makes a world of difference.
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
First year was awful as I did 32 credits which was basically full time on top of full time work. Had no weekends for a year. Now it has slowed down tremendously with only 6 credits a semester (21 credits over Fall/Spring/Summer). Managing downtime and breaks at work helps... do a lot of reading and assignments during lunch.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Shouldnt that depend on your project, that seems like going under the assumption that every project will lead to 1 paper in 4/5 years, when that could not be the case? That being said Im not leaving here without getting one paper, but itd probably not be in print until im done here. (assuming it does take 6 months to go from submission to publish)
What's life like post-master's degree? I've been wondering this for a while. Is it still a lot of hard work after graduating? Does it ever get to a point where you get to sit back at work and get home full of energy every night? I know it highly depends on the field of work, I'm curious to hear if it's a rare thing or if it's more common.
Is that a thing that exists in any field? I don't think that exists.
I have a PhD in a science-based discipline and currently work at Cambridge University. By the time I finished my studies, I had eight publications under by belt, of which five were first-author papers and three were published in very high impact journals. This isn't at all typical. Although students are encouraged to publish research as a means of demonstrating critical thought and the ability to complete tasks, the ability to do so is highly dependent upon the discipline and project.
When it comes to post-doc employment, a lot will depend upon the overlap between your skill set and what they're specifically looking for. If they need someone to help write up research papers for two years, you're not going to rank highly.
If it helps ease any anxiety you might have, my first post-doc position applied skills I'd never learned previously. What got me the job was an eagerness to learn and an aptitude for digesting new concepts quickly.
I'm sure plenty of people get to work part-time with a good salary. It's not very ambitious but it would allow them to pursue more outside of work.
Some very smart people work only a day a week with good income. Doesn't necessarily require a master's but the acquired skills and knowledge certainly lead them to that position.
I mean I guess I can see how in theory a really good stock broker or hedge fund manager would do that but for real jobs that's pretty much unattainable unless you have some sort of connections or start-up funds.
RumblingRosco
Member
It depends on the project, the mentor, the institution, and the individual. But, overall, because there's no metric to easily account for whether a project was "difficult" or "easy," we're left to a system where having publications is very important for job prospects.
As a side note, are you including your in-progress manuscript in your CV or on your cover letter? It'll especially look better once you get it submitted, even if it hasn't been accepted yet, just to show that you've had a complete, original research project at least get to the point of submission.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Oh I guess I should mention that in my letters/cv. The one that did respond back to me asked about if I was submitting a paper and if I could give a summary of my project.
RumblingRosco
Member
When I was applying for post-docs and I had several papers in various states of progress, but nearing submission, I would put the author list, title, etc in my publications list of my CV, but clearly indicate [Expected submission December 2016] or whatever date was what I truly felt was realistic. It won't hold as much weight as a submitted or especially accepted paper, but, it beats having nothing at all.
And, yeah... what is in your cover letter if you aren't even discussing your in-progress paper/your research project? I feel like that's a key aspect of a cover letter for post-doc positions.
Dedication Through Light
Member
I usually mention the overall relevance of my project the specific techniques I used, results, career aspirations.
Is it okay to use the same research proposal for multiple graduate scholarship applications? I am just finishing up my applications for CGS-M and OGS and I am uncertain as to whether I should mix up on of my proposals to make it a bit more unique, or just use the one proposal for both?
opticalmace
Member
Probably fine. If they were both going to NSERC I might inquire about it.
I don't recall OGS needing a proposal. I had a bunch of OGS/QE2GST scholarships and I only ever wrote one proposal for them, IIRC.
edit: what field/school btw? can PM if you don't wanna divulge here, just curious as I recently finished my phd.
Working on my personal statements for the MPA/MPP programs I'm applying to (Pitt, Syracuse and Carnegie Mellon). I fucking hate writing these things, oh my god. I find it hard to talk myself up without being disingenuous in describing the skills I do have. I've been working for an environmental advocacy non-profit (social media/IT stuff/fundraising) for two years now and would like to study environmental policy.
Medical Physics at Carleton University.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Anyone been to a gorden research conference before?
RumblingRosco
Member
Nope. Closest I came was I was the second author on a poster that was presented at a GRC. They're generally considered to be in the upper-echelon in terms of quality regarding medical conferences/research, so if you're going, you're in luck!
saveweyard
Banned
The deadline for most of the neuroscience PhD programs I applied to was on the 1st so now I'm playing the waiting game to hear back from programs.
I did have a chat on the phone with a PI at one of the top schools today that went well, so fingers crossed!
I did have a chat on the phone with a PI at one of the top schools today that went well, so fingers crossed!
dream
Member
You're probably either past or brushing up against the deadline now, but it's totally fine since you can't hold two external scholarships simultaneously. This might require a rewrite though, since (at least in the humanities and SS), SSHRC and OGS have different length limits for their statements. The doctoral SSHRC proposal is 2 pages, for example, while OGS limits you to 3785 characters or whatever it is now.
Yeah, finished them both up yesterday. I used basically the same proposal since NSERC gave me a one page limit and my OGS proposal ended up being one page. Crossing my fingers now!
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
Good luck! I understand the struggle as a fellow graduate student in neuroscience
currently working on my thesis to finish up my M.S in Physiology & Neuroscience
saveweyard
Banned
Thank you! What's your thesis project, if you don't mind me asking?
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
I am currently looking into magnesium transporter and TRPM7 currents in Jurkat cells. I been performing whole-cell patch clamp and perforated patch on Jurkat cells with and without mutations in those channels I mention. Along with changing the external solution as well.
Haha frankly I just started this project about 2 months ago so I am still unsure of the details ¯\_(ツ
_/¯BTW I hate patch clamping. Even though I was able to pick it up "fast".
saveweyard
Banned
I am currently looking into magnesium transporter and TRPM7 currents in Jurkat cells. I been performing whole-cell patch clamp and perforated patch on Jurkat cells with and without mutations in those channels I mention. Along with changing the external solution as well.
Haha frankly I just started this project about 2 months ago so I am still unsure of the details ¯_(ツ
BTW I hate patch clamping. Even though I was able to pick it up "fast".
I don't have any experience with any of that (I'm coming from a neuroimmunology background with most of my experience in macrophages/microglia and blood-brain barrier) but sounds really interesting!
I feel like everyone has that one technique they really don't like but are nonetheless "naturals" at. I picked up flow cytometry super quickly, but I'd die happy if I never had to do it again.
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
I see, I always liked immunology aspects. I actually did handle some macrophages for calcium imaging when I first started my lab rotation in my current lab.
Haha true dat. I guess after doing the same thing hours during a day, you should pick up fast on it
But for real patching a tiny ass cell is a pain! Well regardless, I wish you the best of luck and let me know when you get in
BTW we should keep in contact as fellow neuroscience students :3
Dedication Through Light
Member
I want to get into more flow cytometry (only use one laser) and wasnt really using it for the traditional sorting with antibodies, used it to quantify protein in cells.
Western Blotting and is my fav technique. Followed by ELISAs.
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
👌
- Status