By Christopher Moore
Like every other Virginian, I am literally numb. More than 32 innocent people lost their lives today on the campus of Virgina Tech. If you live in Virginia, then chances are you know someone who either attends or works at the University, and chances are you have been paralyzed by today’s senseless violence. I have former students who go there, and I pray they are alright. I have colleagues who work at the school, and I pray they are alright. And of course, I pray that the 27,000 others are alright, though I know that is not the case for those 32.
Although I am currently a VCU Ram and in August I will be a Longwood Lancer, I am a Hokie today.
We are all Hokies today.
By Christopher Moore
The ink is dry on the contract, so I can announce the results of my recent job search. If you didn’t know, I have been hunting down an academic job since September and I just recently bagged one. Come August 10th, I will become Longwood University’s newest faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Physics.
I’m working on a two part series of articles about the academic job search in physics titled: How to Become a Physics Professor. The article will focus on what a young student needs to think about if they think they might want to pursue an academic career. Keep an eye out over the next few weeks to learn more about what an academic job search entails. For now, the quick and dirty details for my search are as follows:
Applied for 18 positions
Went on 5 interviews
Turned down 2 other interviews
Received 3 job offers
Accepted 1 job offer (duh!)
I sent out over 120 pages of application materials. I spent up to three months waiting to go on interviews. I spent a total of one month on the road visiting potential schools. My search sent me to 5 different states (I got to visit 2 states during one interview). I spent some time in the mountains, and then a day later I was headed to the beach. The final result: I’m moving 1 hour down the road from where I am now, and 45 minutes away from free babysitting (Balin’s grandparents).
I look forward to working with the students and faculty at Longwood come August. Now I must go and finish my dissertation.
