.. or should I say, I have a calling?
According to psychology researchers (I'm reading about it in Tal Ben-Shahar's Happier right now), how you look at your employment has a significant influence on how much satisfaction and happiness you derive from it. If you call it a derogatory 'job', you are likely to see it as a chore and do it only for the monetary benefits. Doing things only for the money doesn't make anybody happy. If you call it a 'career', you'll see it as a rat race: once I achieve this next promotion, I'll be happy. This, of course, never happens: when you get a promotion, you are happy for a while, but then your happiness level adjusts and you're right back in the rat race for the next promotion. However, looking at work as a 'calling' puts you in the position to actually enjoy the process - you enjoy the act of doing your job. Now THAT's a big step towards happiness, isn't it?
What I found most fascinating about this research is that it's all just a question of perception. Even if outside circumstances do not change, and you only change how you perceive your work, job satisfaction and happiness rise. How you look at things changes things! Isn't that amazing?
But now, back to what I wanted to write about in the first place: updates from my job hunt.
I put a lot of hard work into my attempt towards rejoining academia in the past two months: I wrote cover letters; I crafted a research statement detailing my past research and plans for the future; and I put my thoughts about what good teaching should incorporate into a teaching statement.
I used these documents to apply at some universities that had posted suitable job openings. I was quickly invited to a few interviews, and much to my surprise none of the universities insisted on seeing me personally, but instead agreed to do it via Skype. I did two interviews and, in the end, received much praise - and two offers. Last week I accepted one of them, which is for a position at the Lecturer/Assistant Professor level. It seems all my hard work has paid off and I have successfully rejoined academia!
I have to say, I would never have expected my applications to be such a big success. Especially with the huge gap in my publication history (results of my extended travels, of course). One of the interviewers even asked about it, and then almost apologized for not remembering that I had explained it in the cover letter. I had expected (and prepared for) a few very critical questions, asking for reasons and justifications of my trip - but apparently, a gap period spent traveling isn't an issue for anybody at all in academia.
Overall, I am especially pleased that my new strategy worked out: put hard work into all the tasks; keep at it even if it is difficult at times; and only worry about the task at hand - neither future nor past tasks are important.
So, I worried about cover letters when it was time to write cover letters. I worried about research and teaching statements when I needed them for the next application. With the help of many Internet resources and a trusted friend who gave me valuable comments, I slowly wrote and improved all my documents. At times, I was tempted to think ahead and worry about possible interviews - the presentation I would have to give, the questions I would be asked - but I am proud to say that I managed to see the temptation for the unproductive waste of time that it was, and stayed focused on the task at hand (most of the time, anyway ;-)).
When the first interview invitation came, I started worrying about interviews - good that I hadn't done it before! The preparation for the first interview was horrible. I was scared shitless and had trouble concentrating for fear of being taken apart by the interview panel. The interview came - and it wasn't half bad! The interviewers were really nice, asked perfectly polite and constructive questions, most of which I had even prepared for using lists of questions-to-expect I found on the Internet. Preparation for the second interview, then, was a lot less terrifying, even though I expected to be taken apart once again. Needless to say, this didn't happen and the interviewers once again were really nice and friendly.
Now, with the end of my trip in the near future and the beginning of my new job shortly after, I have a whole new host of things to worry about. There are so many things waiting for me that I've never done before, but that are now part of my job, that I would have plenty of reason to be terrified. Instead, I'll just do the same thing I've done throughout the application process: I'll take it one task at a time, put in hard work, enjoy the things I learn on the way, and everything will be fine.
