Good Evening Ecolog,
I am potentially approaching a crossroads in my early career and I would
appreciate some feedback from those of you who may have been through a
similar situation or just have some perspective to share. I have
recently finished my second year as a post-doc and have the opportunity
to transition onto a new grant here at the same institution in
California in an amazing lab that will provide me funding for another 1
or 2 years. I would generally continue the same research, but also
branch out into a slightly different arena. However, I am also waiting
to hear back from a position in England that is a 3-4 year post-doc
where I would get research experience doing different work that I am
also very interested in.
As with most young researchers, I am ready to settle into a permanent
position, as I have lived on every coast in U.S. during my schooling.
But since I have not been able to secure a faculty/government research
position I am left (fortunately) with these two options (potentially). I
believe that my CV will have enough publications to be competitive for
faculty/government positions within the next year, but teaching is
somewhat of a weakness on my CV.
Both positions have their pros and cons and the pay would be about the
same (accounting for exchange rates). Staying in my current position
would be more continuous, whereas starting over in England would require
a little time to get settled. I would also be able to get teaching
experience at the position in England. The other major difference is the
length of each contract.
I was wondering what advice Eco-loggers may have for me given my
potential options and career stage? Should I start over with a new
experience in a new country? Would I be better suited to stay grounded
here and hopefully get a more permanent position in a year? In the long
term I would want to work in the states, but how hard would it be for me
to move back after a few years? I've been told that this can be tricky
for some reason.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Please respond
to me off the list if possible.
Thank you in advance.
Jeremy
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*Jeremy L. Conkle*
Post-doctoral Researcher
<http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jeremy-conkle/26/158/8a1>
