Where are you going?

 Before you begin a trip, don’t you need to know your destination? Have you considered this with your doctoral studies? At the start of your dissertation you should be considering your final goal, do you want to teach and do research at a college or university? Do you want to be a researcher in a corporate environment? Now is the time to set yourself on the course to make that happen. 

If you want to teach and do research in a college or university make sure you are getting the experience you will need to be marketable. Apply for teaching and research assistantships. If you do not have access to these then search for teaching positions in your geographical area and at online institutions. With a master's degree, you can typically teach at most junior and community colleges. Also consider professional schools; the important element is to experience in front of a classroom. Make sure that you save all teaching evaluations; these are proof of your teaching ability. Volunteer to help with faculty's research projects, if that isn't possible for you at your institution then search at local colleges and universities. 

Begin to consider doing a postdoctoral fellowship. These are one to two year paid positions in which you assist other researchers on their projects. In some fields, these are mandatory or as in psychology, they are optional. They provide you with the opportunity to gain important research skills and professional contacts. The negative is that they do not tend to pay well. Check out your professional organizations to see what is available. 

Begin to plan out your future and how you can make that future happen! Next time, we will have a guest writer share her lessons learned in the IRB process. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu