STUDENT’S VOICE Home Stretch
Kristina Pourtabib, SA-3410
pour1824@vandals.uidaho.edu
Being a graduate student has been has been a mixture of highs and lows. Like any other research experience, you need to learn when to take breaks, acknowledge a job well done, and to know that failures can be good learning experiences. There have been days that I couldn’t wait to get into the office and get cracking on my research while other times I found myself conjuring up any excuse I could to keep myself away from doing work. Despite my present excitement to be finishing up my last year of graduate school, a part of me knows that I am going to miss this time in my academic life. Don’t get me wrong; I still have yet to face the most stressful part of my graduate career, defending, and finishing up my thesis. I can’t help but feel kind of sad knowing that next spring I will be done, but what’s the next step after graduate school for me? Truthfully, I’m still not too sure.
Before starting graduate school I never really thought much about what type of geology career that I wanted to pursue. All I knew is that after getting a taste of the research experience as an undergrad I wanted to chase that feeling by attending a graduate program in geology, with a focus in mineralogy. After attending field camp the summer following my senior year of undergrad many of the other students had their eyes set on post-undergraduate positions in mud logging, doing geo- technical work, working in oil, or looking to get into graduate programs (just to name a few). Getting into a graduate school program was a way for me to continue to develop my skills as a researcher and to delay the stress of getting a job for a few more years, but like it or not, the time to seriously think about a career is approaching quickly. In order to combat my anxiety of finding a job, I have been perusing recent geology job postings online, and I have found that there are quite a
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few job options in the geologic field. However, when it comes time for me to start seriously thinking about applying to jobs related to my research specialties, that pool of once vast job possibilities gets smaller and smaller. Ultimately, when it comes to looking for a job after graduate school I’m not sure if spending more time involved in research will help or hurt my prospects of finding a job. On one hand, some employers may be looking for someone with a MS degree to bring on as a potential supervisor, but by deciding to go for my PhD will I be eliminating myself from certain jobs because people will look at me as being overqualified for a position? Another thing to think about with getting a graduate degree is that post undergrad, many students take a gap year before starting their careers, but does taking some time off after graduate school before getting a job impact your job prospects negatively? And when it comes to listing previous relevant work experience on a job application, how do employers look upon research experience versus real-world work experience? I understand that every job and every employer is unique, but these are relevant questions that every graduate student should think about while applying for a job.
Overall, attending graduate school is an experience that I wouldn’t change for anything. By taking more time to develop my research interests and learn new skills tailored to those interests I believe that I have narrowed down the types of careers that I am wanting to pursue. If I wasn’t given the time to explore those interests, then I would have ended up down a very different geology career path. I just hope, when it comes time for me to start filling out those job applications, I will be prepared for whatever life throws my way.
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