AAS Employment Committee Special Session

What does it take to land a job anyway??

Charge of the AAS Employment Committee:

To facilitate the professional development and employment of astronomers at all career stages and on all career paths, and to promote

balance and fairness in the job market.

Current EC Members:

Stefi Baum – Rochester Inst. Of Technology

David Bazell – Eureka Scientific

Rolf Danner – Northrup Grumman

Anita Krishnamurthi (Chair) – UMd/NASA GSFC

Travis Metcalfe – NCAR

Fred Rasio – Northwestern University

Anil Seth - CfA

Barbara Whitney – Space Science Institute

Graduate Student Networking Reception

Thursday, 6.30-7.30pmHilton Austin Salon H

The Production Rate and Employment of Ph.D. Astronomers

Travis S. Metcalfe

High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Travis S. Metcalfe – High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Travis S. Metcalfe – High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Travis S. Metcalfe – High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Travis S. Metcalfe – High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

arXiv:0712.2820

The Production Rate and Employment of Ph.D. Astronomers

Metcalfe, 2008, PASP, in press

Prize Fellowships

Nancy Evans

Chandra Fellowship Program, CfA

Employment

The Chandra Fellowship Program

Chandra Fellowships

• Further the understanding of X-ray sources

• X-ray observations: Chandra, XMM, Swift, Glast, RXTE

• Ground-based, other wavelength observations of X-ray sources

• Theory

Post-docs

• Chandra, Hubble, Spitzer similar

• Within 3 years of PhD

• 3 year duration

Aim

• Time for research

• Work with a new group, learn a new skill

Requirements

• CV

• Summary of previous research

• 3 letters of reference

• Research proposal

• US institution

Demographics

• Roughly half are new PhD’s (no previous post-doc)

• Roughly half do some further post-doc work

Benefit

• Plan a 3 year project

Mechanics

• New committee each year (except Chair)

• Cover all areas

• 2-body problem

Aside: Satellite positions

• Wide variety of specialized work

• Mission planning, software, data processing, archive, user support, calibration

• Variety of sizes, variety of lifetimes

Aside: IT specialists

• All the Chandra groups have “IT specialists”

• Typically recent college graduates

• Visit the Chandra booth

Faculty positions and grant-funded postdoc positions

Neal Evans, University of Texas

Postdocs and Faculty at Big State U.

Neal Evans

Generalities• Elements

– CV and Publications• At least 3 pubs in grad school, ~10 in postdoc

– Research Statement– Teaching Statement (maybe)– Keep it SIMPLE and SHORT

– Letters of Recommendation• Most critical, but least immediate control• Depends on actions long before

Guidelines and Suggestions

• From committee evaluating postdoc applicants, but mostly general– Committee will not be all in your field– Tailor your application

• Do your homework; know people and facilities

• Be specific; with whom would you work?

• Avoid jargon, acronyms, details of your field

• Explain how your work fits into big picture

• Be brief; we don’t need to know– All observing runs, programming or spoken languages,

hobbies, marital status,…

The Letters!

• Phrases from letters for top 3:

– Very smart, works very hard– Would make excellent use of your facilities– Most gifted researcher …– Cannot think of a better match– One of the most creative thinkers…– Gifted young scientist– Original thinker– Extremely dedicated– Has my unqualified support– Highly recommend

The Letters!

• Phrases from letters for bottom 3

– Responsible person– Good skills– Best in a collaborative environment– Diligent researcher– Competent– Friendly and direct– Strengths in data analysis– Easy to collaborate with– Will soon be generating own ideas– Enthusiastic and adaptable

How to get good letters?

• Start early; impressions built over time• Work with several people

– Especially outside your institute– Collaborate, but find a way to lead– Demonstrate competence AND originality– Don’t be satisfied with “good enough”– Choose your advisor and collaborators wisely– Don’t alienate your letter writers– Marketing: find a way to get noticed

Jobs in Government

Jonathan Gardner

NASA GSFC

Government JobsJonathan P. Gardner, Observational Cosmology Lab, Goddard Space Flight Center

• Best sources of information: AAS Job Register, Networking• Goddard, JPL, Ames, Postdocs: http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc/• Goddard, Ames, “Faculty Level”: http://www.usajobs.gov/• JPL: https://careerlaunch.jpl.nasa.gov/• DOE Labs: http://wdrs.fnal.gov/employ/; http://jobs.lbl.gov/• Policy jobs:

– APS Congressional Fellowship: http://www.aps.org/policy/fellowships/congressional.cfm

– AIP Congressional Fellowship: http://physicists.org/gov/cf.html– AIP State Dept Fellowship: http://www.aip.org/gov/sdf.html– Presidential Management Fellows Program:

https://www.pmf.opm.gov/– AAS Bahcall Fellowship:

http://www.aas.org/policy/John_Bahcall_Fellowhip.php– Contact your congressional representatives, Senators, etc.

• NSF, NASA HQ, DOE HQ, Other Government Agencies: http://www.usajobs.gov/

Jobs in Industry

Gary Matthews

ITT

Getting a JobAn Industry Perspective

Gary Matthews

JWST AI&T Program Manager

ITT Space Systems Division

Background

• 1979 graduate of Penn State University in Mechanical Engineering

• 1988 graduate of the University of Rochester MBA• 28 years experience in building large optical systems• Notable achievements

– Chief Engineer on the High Resolution Mirror Assembly for Chandra X-ray Observatory

– Program Manager for the Advanced Mirror System Demonstrator ultra-lightweight active glass mirror for segmented optical systems

– Program Manager for the JWST AI&T Program at ITT– Director of Space Science Programs at ITT

The Difference Between Academia and Industry

Academia• Pursuit of knowledge• To query the unknown• Knowledge for knowledge

sake• To ask the hard questions that

have no answers

Industry• To drive programmatics that

compel revenue and enhance shareholder value

Scientists and Engineers

Scientists

• To figure out how to do something that has never been thought of or done before

Engineers

• To build something that has never been built before

They are cut from the same cloth

Scientists are the interpreters between science and engineering through Systems Engineering

The Secret is Systems Engineering

Science insight into stellar ages

• “It's difficult to garner ages from isochrone fitting for mature solar-type stars.”

• “Young stars with bright exodis will be particularly interesting and should receive close attention, including integral field spectroscopy.”

Engineering insight into how things work

• PV=nRT

• F=Ma

• You can’t push on a rope – Not so sure about a cryo

rope

Systems Engineering • Creating the link between mission needs and system configuration• Understanding the advantages and limitations of various

configurations to drive trades• To flow down engineering requirements to various aspects of a

design to insure mission success• This allows industry and academia to succeed

– Academia gets an instrument to explore the unknown

– Scientists learn about the unknown

– Engineers build the impossible

– Industry makes money and pays taxes to build more instruments while rewarding shareholders

In all cases you will be working side-by-side with engineers and manufacturing people with critical expertise and insight to allow the creation of instruments to explore the unknown

Fill out surveys!

Graduate Student Networking Reception

Thursday, 6.30-7.30pmHilton Austin Salon H