Your Employment Since Getting Your PhD

1. Has your history of employment been regular? (73)
   • constantly employed (66)
   • employed most of the time (7)
   • employed half the time
   • rarely employed
   • none of the above
2. Are you satisfied with your employment since getting your PhD? (72)
   • completely satisfied (31)
   • mostly satisfied (30)
   • somewhat unsatisfied (11)
   • completely unsatisfied
   • none of the above
3. Are you satisfied with the salary and benefits of your current employment? (72)
   • completely satisfied (27)
   • mostly satisfied (30)
   • somewhat unsatisfied (12)
   • completely unsatisfied (3)
   • none of the above
4. Are you satisfied with the work in your employment? (72)
   • completely satisfied (29)
   • mostly satisfied (40)
   • somewhat unsatisfied (3)
   • completely unsatisfied
   • none of the above
5. Are you working in your graduate field? (73)
   • the very same field (38)
   • closely related (24)
   • it's science, but different (4)
   • it's completely different (6)
   • none of the above (1)
6. Does your current work make use of your scientific training? (73)
   • definitely (55)
   • frequently (10)
   • occasionally (6)
   • never (2)
   • none of the above
7. How would you describe your current position? (73)
   • post doc (21)
   • industry (7)
   • research - non academic (23)
   • academic (19)
   • none of the above (3)
8. Which kind of position, if any, did you try and fail to get? (select more than one if appropriate)
   • post doc (7)
   • industry (7)
   • research - non academic (10)
   • academic (22)
   • none of the above (29)
9. Is your current position the one you sought as your highest priority? (72)
   • yes - definitely (34)
   • mostly (21)
   • somewhat (7)
   • no - it is a compromise or stepping stone (10)
   • none of the above

Your Graduate Education

1. How long did it take you to get your PhD (starting from your BA or BS) (73)?
   • 9 or more years (13)
   • 7 or 8 years (17)
   • 6 years (20)
   • 5 or fewer years (22)
   • none of the above (1)
2. In which year did you get your PhD? (73)
   • 1997 or later (47)
   • 1994, 1995, or 1996 (16)
   • 1991, 1992, or 1993 (9)
   • 1988, 1989, or 1990 (1)
   • 1987 or earlier
   • none of the above
3. Did your graduate training prepare you for your current job? (73)
   • very well (37)
   • fairly well (30)
   • not very well (3)
   • not at all (3)
   • none of the above
4. Are you satisfied with your graduate training? (73)
   • completely satisfied (23)
   • mostly satisfied (45)
   • somewhat unsatisfied (4)
   • completely unsatisfied (1)
   • none of the above
5. Was your faculty advisor helpful when you were looking for jobs? (73)
   • extremely helpful (30)
   • fairly helpful (25)
   • didn't contribute (15)
   • interfered with my job search (1)
   • none of the above (2)
6. How deeply involved with CEDAR were you as a student? (73)
   • Attended meetings regularly, made frequent presentations in workshops, poster sessions, etc. (31)
   • Attended meetings often, may have made a presentation or two (26)
   • Attended a few meetings but did not participate actively (8)
   • Attended one or two meetings, just to see what they were all about (2)
   • none of the above (6)

Your Job Search

1. How was your job search constrained? (you may select more than one)
   • by my spouse, significant other, children, etc. (23)
   • by interest in a particular line of work (55)
   • by interest in a particular institution or geographic location (30)
   • by salary requirements (15)
   • none of the above (10)
2. Did you send out lots of resumes? (73)
   • over a hundred (3)
   • over twenty (8)
   • a few (44)
   • didn't really send any out (16)
   • none of the above (2)
3. Did you do much "networking"? (select any that apply)
   • connections through faculty advisor (44)
   • looked at ads in EOS, Physics Today, etc. (41)
   • made important connections at meetings (eg. AGU, CEDAR, URSI) (44)
   • used some electronic resources (28)
   • none of the above (6)

The Post Doc Experience

1. Did you apply for a post doc position? (73)
   • seriously applied (43)
   • tried, but tried other things, too. (11)
   • took a shot at it (2)
   • didn't try (13)
   • none of the above (4)
2. How long did you do a post doc? (65)
   • four or more years (8)
   • three years (8)
   • two years (15)
   • a year or less (18)
   • none of the above (16)
3. Were you satisfied with your post doctoral experience? (65)
   • completely satisfied (14)
   • satisfied (26)
   • somewhat unsatisfied (8)
   • completely unsatisfied
   • none of the above (17)
4. How important is post doc training for your current or desired job? (64)
   • absolutely required (15)
   • useful (22)
   • doesn't matter that much (15)
   • completely irrelevant
   • none of the above (12)

Industrial Experience

1. Did you apply for any jobs in industry? (72)
   • seriously applied (13)
   • tried, but tried other things, too. (7)
   • took a shot at it (10)
   • didn't try (38)
   • none of the above (4)
2. What describes your primary opinion about industrial jobs? (64)
   • It's interesting work (9)
   • The salary and benefits are good (18)
   • The work is uninteresting (4)
   • There is little opportunity for research (20)
   • none of the above (13)
3. What describes your secondary opinion about industrial jobs? (63)
   • It's interesting work (6)
   • The salary and benefits are good (27)
   • The work is uninteresting (7)
   • There is little opportunity for research (8)
   • none of the above (15)

Non Academic Research - not closely affiliated with a University

1. Did you apply for any non academic research jobs? (72)
   • seriously applied (28)
   • tried, but tried other things, too. (10)
   • took a shot at it (9)
   • didn't try (20)
   • none of the above (5)
2. What describes your primary opinion about non academic research jobs? (67)
   • the work is interesting (30)
   • get to do research without teaching (12)
   • don't like the "soft money" part (10)
   • have to work some stray projects (1)
   • none of the above (14)
3. What describes your secondary opinion about non academic research jobs? (65)
   • the work is interesting (7)
   • get to do research without teaching (13)
   • don't like the "soft money" part (20)
   • have to work some stray projects (8)
   • none of the above (17)

Academic Jobs

1. Did you apply for an academic position? (tenured or non-tenured) (71)
   • seriously applied (23)
   • tried, but tried other things, too. (9)
   • took a shot at it (5)
   • didn't try (30)
   • none of the above (4)
2. What describes your primary opinion about academic jobs? (65)
   • the work is interesting (10)
   • get to do research and teach (28)
   • spend too much time on things other than research (11)
   • the tenure process is daunting and/or distracting (if appropriate) (8)
   • none of the above (8)
3. What describes your secondary opinion about academic jobs? (64)
   • the work is interesting (11)
   • get to do research and teach (10)
   • spend too much time on things other than research (7)
   • the tenure process is daunting and/or distracting (if appropriate) (26)
   • none of the above (10)

The End

Dave Hysell (daveh@vlasov.phys.clemson.edu)