Looking for some Help - Job Hunting
Okay, so I figured it was time for me to reach out and use my blog for some help for a change.

I'm in the last stages of my doctorate, being ABD (All But Dissertation) in the spring semester, which means in my discipline (sociology) I am staring down the finish line. Realising I am going to be done soon is an incredible thing.

However, if I stay a full time student for the remainder of this time (which, for me in February, will be something I have been for 15 years since my freshman year at university), finishing the dissertation will mean another series of rounds of loans and scrabbling for subsistence funding, particularly as an international student here in the US. I'm going to get more in debt, more having to put getting my career underway off, not to mention negotiating the fellating feudalistic fiefdom that is academia.

Not to mention, after 15 years, I am simply burnt out. I am recognising the signs as they are walking around with rather large neon signs (my Dad mentioned I've gone way longer than him, who managed 4 years on a tiny scholarship living internationally). I am good at what I do, I'd like to think, but I am literally getting to the point of dreading having to beg and cajole for just one more semester of teaching. Living on a graduate school stipend is painful, especially now as a woman in my mid-30s. The consistency of a paid career is a pink fluffy cotton-wool dream to me.

So, I'm done. REALLY.

This doesn't mean I'm going to quit my doctorate. Rather, instead, after talking to professors, I have discovered that many graduate students, especially those that aren't planning on going the academic route, once they have gotten to ABD, go part-time on the writing of the dissertation, as they can do that from anywhere on the planet, and start their careers.

Hence, that's my plan.

I'm thinking just after the summer semester 09, giving me something like 9-10 months to find something (although if an excellent position came into my lap that started before that, I'd certainly take that). I'll be able to get my career underway, actually start earning, stop getting further into debt, stop being stressed out of my brain for funding constantly (try waking up at 3am and not going back to sleep, having near panic-attacks), AND nonetheless finish my doctorate.

It so ridiculously sensible it's simultaneously scary and relieving.

I want to go into international diplomacy/negotiation/relations ... though at this point I'd also love policy work, etc. My dream positions would be UN, EU-government, or (dreaming) working in the US State Department, now that it is going to be headed by Hilary Clinton under an Obama Administration. But I'm really open to a LOT of things, dependent, of course, on income; I'm willing to consider whatever. I'm also willing to relocate anywhere, whether it be Europe, anywhere in the US, Canada, etc ... whatever. I am possibly one of the most mobile-non-adverse people around, not to mention with Dutch-parentage, British-Commonwealth citizenship, etc., living in the US, I have a lot of doors open.

My parents want me to come back to New Zealand and work in Wellington, which does have a lot of options going for it, given that in NZ it is the centre of government, and where all the embassies are located. But as much as I love Wellington (seriously, love that city, not to mention it is where my incredible sister lives), there are two reasons I am resistant to this idea. The first is that as much as I love and adore New Zealand, it is a tad at the arse-end of the world and removed from anything really when it comes to the centrality of international politics. The second is that honestly, if I start paying off my American student loans with NZ dollars, the exchange-rate is going to KILL me. Not to mention if I am earning US-dollars, or Euros, paying off my NZ student loans will go a hell of a lot faster, and I won't be spending so much of a chunk of my life paying those suckers off.

So, what I thought as a part of this strategy of getting the ball rolling with job hunting, I'd put out a note here on my blog, so that anyone that reads this that might have contacts, or know people with contacts, in this kind of work, I could reach out and touch. I know that getting work in this area is as much about who you know as it is about what you know. So, if all of you out there could think for a moment, even if you personally don't have contacts, about the people you know maybe having them, I'd really appreciate it.

I have two bachelors degrees (one of science in physics, the other of arts in sociology), a first class honours degree (sociology), a masters degree with distinction (in sociology), and am about to be ABD on my doctorate. My study has primarily been about how groups articulate their identities, behaviours, and understandings in their language use and presentation. I have had paid work for numerous campus units, including advising the university on LGBT issues, pushing for gender-equality in science, tech, math, and engineering fields, and working for the campus judiciary unit in student affairs. I've also run a student LGBT organisation, as well as doing considerable volunteer work for such organisations as the National Organisation for Women, Lambda Legal, the local chapter of the Human Rights Campaign, amongst others. My complete CV is totally available.

So, please, everyone, give me some help on this ... I'd appreciate every little bit.

Time for me to move on to my next stage in life.