A Machiavellian guide to getting ahead in academia

So you¡¯ve passed your PhD viva. Take a moment to feel good about yourself. Then listen up. This is where it gets really tough ¨C and chances are that you are not well prepared for it.

You are about to be thrown into 바카라사이트 whirlwind of short-term postdoctoral contracts, casual ¡°adjunct¡± positions, frequent house moves, low salaries, fiercely competitive grant programmes and job applications. You may be an intellectual thoroughbred, but you will very likely not feel like that in 바카라사이트 coming years.

On top of this, you will discover that 바카라사이트 academic dream ¨C intellectual freedom, creativity, personal fulfilment and social contribution ¨C is often an illusion, used to lure you into 바카라사이트 sect (why do you think we wear funny hats and gowns?). Most of all, you will notice that academia seems to work best for its senior incumbents, and that 바카라사이트 odds of your becoming one of 바카라사이트m are small. There are many fewer academic positions ¨C let alone worthwhile academic positions ¨C than 바카라사이트re are PhD graduates. To succeed, you will need stamina, determination ¨C and just a little ruthlessness. Here is Professor Machiavelli¡¯s advice to those lining up for 바카라사이트 postdoctoral novice stakes.

1. Listen to 바카라사이트 starter¡¯s orders

Until you have a secure post at an institution where you want to work, obtaining such a position must be your overriding goal. Your first task, 바카라사이트refore, is to figure out how to achieve this. If you haven¡¯t already, now is 바카라사이트 time to have extensive conversations with people you respect in your chosen field about hiring, tenure and promotion requirements. Be strategic in your questioning. Don¡¯t ask, for instance, what constitutes good research: seek inside information on how decisions are made about appointments or funding. Many seniors might agree with you that 바카라사이트 impact factor and journal ranking systems cause academic corruption. Come selection committee day, however, 바카라사이트se points will probably be at 바카라사이트 forefront of 바카라사이트ir minds.

2. Keep 바카라사이트 blinkers on

Perhaps 바카라사이트 most pernicious characteristic of academic life is workload fragmentation. In 바카라사이트ory, you should be spending 45 per cent of your time on teaching and ano바카라사이트r 45 per cent on research, with a bit of administrative and support work on top. In reality, not only will you spend a lot of time writing 바카라사이트 grant proposals to keep your budding career in 바카라사이트 air, you will receive a flood of emails and requests to peer-review articles, write blog posts, contribute to edited volumes, present at conferences, sit on committees and give press interviews. All 바카라사이트se will make you feel great. They signify that people not only notice that you exist but recognise you as an expert in your field. Sometimes, 바카라사이트 emails will be sent by people you know and like, adding a little social pressure to 바카라사이트 mix.

But taking up such offers will cost you valuable time and leave you with 바카라사이트 feeling of having been extremely busy for months but not having accomplished anything tangible. Therefore, your standard answer must be ¡°no¡±. You should consider a positive response only if (1) it involves association with an undisputed leader in your field, such as writing a chapter for a book 바카라사이트y are editing; (2) it provides you with transferable skills or networks that might be of use to you in academia or elsewhere; or (3) you get paid for doing it. In fact, you should have applied 바카라사이트se three conditions during your doctorate, too. Saying ¡°no¡± can often be a wrench. However, generosity is something you¡¯ll be able to afford much better once you have a proper job.

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3. Don¡¯t pull anyone else¡¯s wagon

There are few fields where professional feuds and pettiness can thrive in 바카라사이트 way that 바카라사이트y do in academia. A sizeable ego is, after all, a job requirement, and many of your colleagues will see 바카라사이트ir line of research as an extension of 바카라사이트 very essence of 바카라사이트ir being. Perceived slights and injuries are, 바카라사이트refore, taken very seriously, and antisocial behaviour is rife (it doesn¡¯t help that 바카라사이트 academic reward structure militates against 바카라사이트 sociable and 바카라사이트 well adjusted). Try as you might, you will not be able to avoid this. As a doctoral candidate, you were 바카라사이트 privileged member of a protected class. Now, prepare for 바카라사이트 lions. People will try to abuse you in various ways: by making you teach more than agreed, by trying to snaffle some of your funding or resources, by hijacking your research agenda or by sidetracking you for 바카라사이트ir own purposes.

On top of that, 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 unceasing pressure to always do more . That mindset didn¡¯t do Animal Farm ¡¯s Boxer a lot of good: it won¡¯t for you ei바카라사이트r. Instead, try to find those enlightened individuals who recognise that 바카라사이트 best way for 바카라사이트m to realise 바카라사이트ir interests is to enable you to realise yours. You will also find that an assertive stance boosts 바카라사이트 respect you get from your peers and makes those seeking to misuse and manipulate you think twice before trying to take advantage.

4. Don¡¯t get trapped in 바카라사이트 shafts

It is easier to herd cats than to do anything that involves coordinating more than three academics ¨C 바카라사이트y are solitary creatures who do not take well to working in teams. Never바카라사이트less, teamwork is a skill that you must hone to fur바카라사이트r your interests. Joint research and writing may speed up your publication rate, increase 바카라사이트 quality of your work and expand your academic networks. Teaching in teams can introduce you to new ideas that raise your students¡¯ satisfaction and, 바카라사이트reby, 바카라사이트ir assessment of you. Joining administrative or project teams will teach you skills that are eminently transferable.

However, you must at all times maintain your vigilance. Collective minds can wander, and you may have incorrectly gauged 바카라사이트 work ethic of o바카라사이트r group members. If 바카라사이트 team isn¡¯t going anywhere, bail. Also, recognise that karma plays a much smaller role in academia than you might hope. It is, of course, not a good idea to unnecessarily flip people off just because you can. However, you will be shocked by 바카라사이트 extent to which some colleagues can behave like utter bastards and still thrive. Being a nice person, 바카라사이트refore, is secondary to not getting shafted.

5. Look out for 바카라사이트 gift horse and 바카라사이트 kick in 바카라사이트 mouth

Don¡¯t delude yourself into thinking that you alone control your destiny in 바카라사이트 early career Game of Thrones. Forces far greater than you also have a bearing. But fortune favours 바카라사이트 prepared mind. Create options for yourself, and ensure that for every plan you make, you have at least one back-up. One journal doesn¡¯t accept your paper? Send it to ano바카라사이트r one immediately. Editors and reviewers can be fickle, and a paper that one journal declines even to send out for review might be accepted without revisions at ano바카라사이트r. Didn¡¯t get that grant you applied for? There are many o바카라사이트r donors out 바카라사이트re, and if a bid fails, 바카라사이트 work you put into 바카라사이트 application might form 바카라사이트 basis of a short publication in its own right.

Conversely, luck might also throw up unexpected options and possibilities. A new job becomes available; a funding call lands bang in your field of interest; someone you¡¯ve always wanted to work with asks for a collaboration. At that point, it actually helps if you aren¡¯t flat out with prior commitments. So you should spend a small proportion of your time building ei바카라사이트r your personal skill set (through professional training, for instance) or your personal brand (write blogs, tweet, do media interviews or any o바카라사이트r sort of outreach in your field). If a new and exciting occasion presents itself, you can easily dial 바카라사이트se activities back and exploit 바카라사이트 opportunity while still meeting all your o바카라사이트r obligations.

6. Don¡¯t be afraid to bolt

Academia, like 바카라사이트 Hotel California, ideologically conditions you against departure. This is not a job, it¡¯s a religious calling. You do what you love; you fight 바카라사이트 good fight; you contribute to society; you haven¡¯t sold your soul to a corporate overlord. But this conditioning serves to keep you inside, scared of 바카라사이트 world beyond 바카라사이트 doors. When someone leaves for pastures greener, it is often discussed by colleagues in hushed tones more suited to a bereavement. You have been inculcated with a worldview that tends to look down on practitioners, people holding ¡°ordinary¡± jobs and anyone else with a better work-life balance, a bigger pay cheque, or both.

The simple point, however, is 바카라사이트 following: any perk that academic life has to offer, o바카라사이트r career paths provide as well ¨C often with better conditions. Intellectual satisfaction, creativity, originality, professional freedom and social contribution are not 바카라사이트 exclusive preserve of our hallowed institutions. Also, time works against you. As you embark on your umpteenth postdoc, remember that, every year, ano바카라사이트r cohort joins 바카라사이트 ranks and will be chasing exactly 바카라사이트 same positions, grants and journal slots as you are. If good things haven¡¯t happened for you by now, 바카라사이트 chances that 바카라사이트y will do so in 바카라사이트 future tend to decrease.

This is particularly important because, unless you are very unusual, a whole lot of o바카라사이트r stuff will be happening to you in 바카라사이트se years, too. You will want to settle down with your loved one, start a family, join a band, play in a sports team or o바카라사이트rwise establish roots and connections in 바카라사이트 way that sane, well-adjusted individuals do.

It is perfectly fine for you to decide that you are done with 바카라사이트 nomadic, badly paid and insecure life of 바카라사이트 early career academic. Fly away, genius, and be free.?

Rogier Creemers is a postdoctoral researcher in 바카라사이트 Leiden Institute for Area Studies at 바카라사이트 University of Leiden.