Cynicism explained

One of the most annoying things for a doctoral candidate is when people ask you what you do for a living. What ensues in an inevitable explanation of school, course work, dissertation, and idealized employment goals. Most people assume that PhDs want to teach. That's funny, because that is exactly what most PhDs want to do. What is difficult is explaining to people how hard it is to get any kind of academic job. That's not to say that it can't be done, but there are a number of limiting factors both within and beyond the control of any single individual. One of the most patronizing things is when, after explaining in layman's terms the difficulty of the job market, folks still say, "oh but you'll be fine." Just because I have enthusiasm for my work doesn't guarantee me a job. I hate to say it. So with all this pessisimism and cynicism in mind, this does a good job of explaining how dire the situation is and what some of the underlying factors are that contribute to the problem, but are beyond the control of the average PhD. Like most PhDs I hope to be one of the 30 or so percent of folks that lands a full-time tenure track job, and when my time comes I'll try my damnedest to get one, but at the same time, it's impossible to ignore the current status of the job market and higher education.