It is an exciting thing to be nearing the end of a PhD project. However, it can also be somewhat overwhelming. So many tasks yet to be completed before the project will be “done” and I can submit the thesis. In tandem with completing these myriad tasks, I am also contemplating “what comes next”. There are so many different directions which sound appealing at the moment. I have very much enjoyed this project, therefore a post-doc position which involves research on metamorphic rocks sounds interesting. I very much enjoyed my Master’s thesis project, therefore a project involving structural geology sounds like fun. I also am terribly fascinated with the art of the Migration period, the Viking Age, and the early Middle Ages; therefore I might enjoy making the transition into “geo-archeology” to see what can be learned about trade routes based upon the sources of the materials used, as determined from their chemical compositions. I also like the idea of teaching, and have been working on a “statement of teaching philosophy” to go with an application for a position that has been advertised at school that has an educational philosophy that very much mirrors my own.
I wonder if it would be any easier if I had only *one* direction in which I wished to go? Is it better to spend my precious time allotted for “job search” looking for one, specific, thing, or to send out many e-mails of inquiry in a variety of fields? I have no idea where on the planet I shall be next year, nor what I will be doing, but, given how very many things sound like fun, I suspect that I will enjoy it, whatever, wherever it may be!
But I hope that it is in mountainous area…
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For jobs, if you haven't decided exactly what you want to do, you could apply to everything that sounds appealing for one reason or another, and let the opportunities guide you. Coming fresh out of a PhD, you're more likely to get offers for temporary positions than for tenure-track ones. If you are committed to a research-university career, you would want to make sure that any short-term teaching position had time for research, as well. (And a post-doc might be a much better choice in that case, especially because you haven't committed to a particular research direction.)
I'm not sure how people get post-docs. I think it's mostly through word-of-mouth and connections, because I don't generally see them advertised in places like EOS. Since you particularly like mountains, you could search through universities in mountainous places (Colorado, Switzerland, New Zealand, etc) and contact anyone with research projects that sound like stuff you would like to do. Maybe someone has a project that needs a post-doc.
are you interested in paleontology??
While I have an interest in palaeontology (what kid didn't love dinosaurs?), I wouldn't know how to tell one fossil from another if they were in the same general category (e.g. both vertebrate bones, or both sea-creature shells)
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