December 9, 2017 | Rob

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an unemployed man in possession of a large amount of schooling must be in want of a job. Or, he could be a stay-at-home dad, which is also cool. 

This past year, that man has been me as I've lived the gamut of employment scenarios.

After completing my time as a postdoctoral biochemist at ASU, I left the comfort of the ivory towers for a job in public health in January of this year. That job was at the virology laboratory of the state health department.

I had some great coworkers there, many of whom I knew from ASU. And, I got to do some interesting things, like test animals for rabies – sometimes animals that your hear about on the news.

Unfortunately, the optimism and ambition I brought with me my first day on the job were eventually replaced by a constant fear that I was going to make a mistake or take too long to finish a task. It haunted me for eight hours every day, as I never knew what mood to expect from my supervisor on a given day. So, I didn’t take breaks, I didn’t socialize with coworkers, I didn’t slack, and I certainly didn't enjoy it. It was just clock in, clock out.

After eight months, I decided I was wasting my time there and I needed to hang up the lab coat, to put it briefly. I wasn’t an isolated incident. In a group of four full-time employees that worked in my section under my supervisor, I was the third to leave in a period of two months (fortunately for the state of Arizona, no crazy flu or Zika pandemic broke out during those months).

It really bothered me that I couldn’t just suck it up, work through the nonsense, and excel at my job – even if I didn’t like it. Lots of people dislike their jobs, or their bosses, or both. But they do it anyway. I know how irresponsible it seems to just quit like that – especially with a wife and baby at home, and no other job around the corner to use as an excuse for bailing on your current one.

But I also knew that most of my best job skills were not being put to use, and the longer I stayed there, the more those skills were fading into the background on my resume.

I also had reason to hope that finding a new job soon wouldn’t be impossible. I started applying for new positions a few weeks before I quit, and already had a couple phone interviews before my last day. 

Becky was very supportive and willing to take on extra clients in her job to help pay the bills in the meantime. Plus, we were fortunate enough to have money in savings to fall back on, which is quite empowering in these situations, as I have learned. 

By far, the best part about being unemployed during the past few months has been the ability to spend so much bonding time with Alex during his first year. It is a joy and privilege that not many new fathers get to experience outside of Nordic countries. Everyday is a surprise and adventure to him, and I got to be a big part of that.

In the last couple years, I took an interest in science writing and wondered if I could transition into that field someday. At first, I did freelance science writing for free to build my portfolio (which you can see here if you are interested). It was my side-hustle. By the time I quit my job at the health department, I was starting to get paid for it. 

For instance, during the last couple months I have been writing articles about acne for a business owner's website: acne.org. This involves taking scientific studies on a particular topic related to acne, and translating them into language a teenager can understand. It was helpful in sharpening my writing skills.

My plan was that either I would eventually find a full-time job, or become a professional freelance science writer while also being a stay-at-home dad. Either way, I wanted my next job to be in some form of science communication.

Compared to when I was searching for jobs during my last year as a postdoc back in 2016 (more about that here), my more recent job search has been surprisingly more productive. I ended up having at least some kind of phone interview, writing test, or other follow up for almost half of the jobs I recently applied for. I made it far into the interview process for science writing jobs with the National Psoriasis Foundation in Portland, Sandia National Lab in Albuquerque, and Binghamton University in upstate New York. 

Although I came close, I didn’t get offers for the jobs in Portland and Albuquerque. But I did get flown out to interview for the job at Binghamton University in New York. That came after doing a writing test and a Skype interview with them. By this time, I was learning more about the school, which I knew nothing about prior to applying for the position.

Binghamton University is a small state school. It has about 17,000 students. It used to be a liberal arts college (and still kind of is). It is very selective and has an average ACT score of 29. They are ranked #38 among public universities by U.S. News. Although it is not a huge research institution like ASU, they focus on fewer areas of science and engineering research, and do well at those things. 

It is the kind of school I would want to work at if I were a research professor, which was my original ambition in graduate school.  

When I arrived for my interview, my future hypothetical boss met me at the airport, took me out for a nice dinner, and set me up in a decent hotel. The next day, I met with the search committee, which included about 5 people who have related positions. Then I met with one faculty member after another for the rest of the day, with a break for lunch with another staff member. I flew back to Phoenix that night.

They covered all the expenses, tried to sell me on the institution, and it was as much about me interviewing them as vice-versa. In that sense, it was a lot like the interviews I experienced years ago for grad school or postdoc positions.

The job title is Research Development Specialist, which means that my job would be to coordinate with faculty members in science and engineering and help them write grant proposals for big interdisciplinary research ventures. Basically, the goal is to bring in more funding for research and other programs. 

What I like about it is:

1) It is in my native habitat of academia, which is where I have been working for 12 years.

2) I would get to work with smart people and help them come up with big ideas on the cutting edge of research.

3) I would get to draw from my experience working on large interdisciplinary research projects and build on it.

Also, I would get to work in a fancy building (see photo below).

The city itself is nothing remarkable. As far as I can tell, it is another one of hundreds of towns scattered across upstate New York. But maybe it will grow on me, as cities can do. It is only a few hours away from New York City, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, the Finger Lakes, and the Adirondack Mountains. So, there are at least plenty of options for weekend getaways. 

The weather there is cloudy and rainy like Seattle, just colder in the winter. Housing is very cheap out there because IBM was once based there, and no longer is.

It was only a little more than a week after I interviewed there that they called me to offer the job. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and they suggested I take the long weekend to think about it. The offer included a salary that is 14% more than my previous job, plus good state benefits and some help with moving expenses. They also offered to help Becky find work at the university if she is interested. They said the decision to offer me the position was unanimous among the search committee, which was nice to hear. 

Although I have wanted to live on the east coast for a while, the thought of moving across the country to place where we don’t know anyone does terrify me a little. I have come to really love Arizona. I feel like the southwest is in my blood. I hoped to someday take Alex hiking in all of the canyons I have bben to, plus the many I have not yet explored. If the gecko is my spirit animal, then the Saguaro is probably my spirit plant.

But I also had the same kind of reservations when I moved to Arizona from Utah over a decade ago, and I’d say the adventure has been worth it. 

Becky perhaps has fewer reservations. She doesn't enjoy the 118°F summers as much as I do. And, being from a military family, she moved a lot growing up. Plus, New York offers more support than most states for the services she uses in her work with kids with autism. As long as she was on board with moving, it was a hard offer to turn down.

And so I accepted it. I’ll begin there on February 5 next year.

In the meantime, we’ll enjoy the holidays and start putting a plan together to make the big move. If you have any suggestions on how to move the belongings of a 2-bedroom house, 2 cars, and a 1-year old across the country, I am all ears.