1998 CEDAR Survey of Recent Graduates

by John D. Sahr, updated by David L. Hysell
dlh37@cornell.edu (607) 255-0630
Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Science
2108 Snell Hall, Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

I have been asked to conduct a survey of people who have studied upper atmospheric physics (mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere) and earned their PhD in the last ten years or so. We are especially interested in students who have attended CEDAR workshops over the years.

Your answers to the survey are confidential. Only I and one or two assistants will see the answers - we certainly encourage written comments, too.

Some preliminary results may be available.

Your Employment Since Getting Your PhD

  1. Has your history of employment been regular?
    • constantly employed
    • employed most of the time
    • employed half the time
    • rarely employed
    • none of the above
  2. Are you satisfied with your employment since getting your PhD?
    • completely satisfied
    • mostly satisfied
    • somewhat unsatisfied
    • completely unsatisfied
    • none of the above
  3. Are you satisfied with the salary and benefits of your current employment?
    • completely satisfied
    • mostly satisfied
    • somewhat unsatisfied
    • completely unsatisfied
    • none of the above
  4. Are you satisfied with the work in your employment?
    • completely satisfied
    • mostly satisfied
    • somewhat unsatisfied
    • completely unsatisfied
    • none of the above
  5. Are you working in your graduate field?
    • the very same field
    • closely related
    • it's science, but different
    • it's completely different
    • none of the above
  6. Does your current work make use of your scientific training?
    • definitely
    • frequently
    • occasionally
    • never
    • none of the above
  7. How would you describe your current position?
    • post doc
    • industry
    • research - non academic
    • academic
    • none of the above
  8. Which kind of position, if any, did you try and fail to get? (select more than one if appropriate)
    • post doc
    • industry
    • research - non academic
    • academic
    • none of the above
  9. Is your current position the one you sought as your highest priority?
    • yes - definitely
    • mostly
    • somewhat
    • no - it is a compromise or stepping stone
    • none of the above

Your Graduate Education

  1. How long did it take you to get your PhD (starting from your BA or BS)?
    • 9 or more years
    • 7 or 8 years
    • 6 years
    • 5 or fewer years
    • none of the above
  2. In which year did you get your PhD?
    • 1997 or later
    • 1994, 1995, or 1996
    • 1991, 1992, or 1993
    • 1988, 1989, or 1990
    • 1987 or earlier
    • none of the above
  3. Did your graduate training prepare you for your current job?
    • very well
    • fairly well
    • not very well
    • not at all
    • none of the above
  4. Are you satisfied with your graduate training?
    • completely satisfied
    • mostly satisfied
    • somewhat unsatisfied
    • completely unsatisfied
    • none of the above
  5. Was your faculty advisor helpful when you were looking for jobs?
    • extremely helpful
    • fairly helpful
    • didn't contribute
    • interfered with my job search
    • none of the above
  6. How deeply involved with CEDAR were you as a student?
    • Attended meetings regularly, made frequent presentations in workshops, poster sessions, etc.
    • Attended meetings often, may have made a presentation or two
    • Attended a few meetings but did not participate actively
    • Attended one or two meetings, just to see what they were all about
    • none of the above

Your Job Search

  1. How was your job search constrained? (you may select more than one)
    • by my spouse, significant other, children, etc.
    • by interest in a particular line of work
    • by interest in a particular institution or geographic location
    • by salary requirements
    • none of the above
  2. Did you send out lots of resumes?
    • over a hundred
    • over twenty
    • a few
    • didn't really send any out
    • none of the above
  3. Did you do much "networking"? (select any that apply)
    • connections through faculty advisor
    • looked at ads in EOS, Physics Today, etc.
    • made important connections at meetings (eg. AGU, CEDAR, URSI)
    • used some electronic resources
    • none of the above

The Post Doc Experience

  1. Did you apply for a post doc position?
    • seriously applied
    • tried, but tried other things, too.
    • took a shot at it
    • didn't try
    • none of the above
  2. How long did you do a post doc?
    • four or more years
    • three years
    • two years
    • a year or less
    • none of the above
  3. Were you satisfied with your post doctoral experience?
    • completely satisfied
    • satisfied
    • somewhat unsatisfied
    • completely unsatisfied
    • none of the above
  4. How important is post doc training for your current or desired job?
    • absolutely required
    • useful
    • doesn't matter that much
    • completely irrelevant
    • none of the above

Industrial Experience

  1. Did you apply for any jobs in industry?
    • seriously applied
    • tried, but tried other things, too.
    • took a shot at it
    • didn't try
    • none of the above
  2. What describes your primary opinion about industrial jobs?
    • It's interesting work
    • The salary and benefits are good
    • The work is uninteresting
    • There is little opportunity for research
    • none of the above
  3. What describes your secondary opinion about industrial jobs?
    • It's interesting work
    • The salary and benefits are good
    • The work is uninteresting
    • There is little opportunity for research
    • none of the above

Non Academic Research - not closely affiliated with a University

  1. Did you apply for any non academic research jobs?
    • seriously applied
    • tried, but tried other things, too.
    • took a shot at it
    • didn't try
    • none of the above
  2. What describes your primary opinion about non academic research jobs?
    • the work is interesting
    • get to do research without teaching
    • don't like the "soft money" part
    • have to work some stray projects
    • none of the above
  3. What describes your secondary opinion about non academic research jobs?
    • the work is interesting
    • get to do research without teaching
    • don't like the "soft money" part
    • have to work some stray projects
    • none of the above

Academic Jobs

  1. Did you apply for an academic position? (tenured or non-tenured)
    • seriously applied
    • tried, but tried other things, too.
    • took a shot at it
    • didn't try
    • none of the above
  2. What describes your primary opinion about academic jobs?
    • the work is interesting
    • get to do research and teach
    • spend too much time on things other than research
    • the tenure process is daunting and/or distracting (if appropriate)
    • none of the above
  3. What describes your secondary opinion about academic jobs?
    • the work is interesting
    • get to do research and teach
    • spend too much time on things other than research
    • the tenure process is daunting and/or distracting (if appropriate)
    • none of the above

The End

As I mentioned above, it will help me if you can include some sort of personal identification that I can use to keep your answers separate from everyone else's --- but it's not strictly necessary.

some identification

When you're all done, please press the button to

We'd be very interested to hear your comments on the survey, things which you think are broken or biased or difficult to answer right.

Send questions and comments to:

Dave Hysell (daveh@vlasov.geo.cornell.edu)