Justyna Miszkiewicz
Were there any particular personal or professional attributes that you think made you stand out from other job applicants, such as professional affiliations, language skills, leadership experience, lecturing/tutoring experience, number of papers published, and hobbies?
Firstly, I came to Australia from the British system where PhD programs usually include compulsory teaching training, so by the time I applied for my lectureship at the ANU I had already convened several courses and, generally, had plenty of teaching experience from other non- and voluntary opportunities. I am not sure whether that made me stand out from other job applicants, but it most certainly helped me highlight my suitability for the position in my interview.
Secondly, peer-reviewed publications are a must. Academia is becoming increasingly competitive, and so having publications on your CV is considered standard. However, do not be fooled by the idea that a high number of papers will get you far. It is all about quality over quantity.
Finally, I wanted to undertake a PhD, because I love the idea of being an expert in “something”. I had always known that I have good technical skills, I am not a generalist, and enjoy spending hours researching obscure topics. Therefore, I chose to specialise in histology, which is rarely used in bioarchaeology. If anything made me stand out from the crowd, it may have been a unique set of skills.
Did you experience rejection letters/phone calls after job applications, if so how did you deal with that? Did you have to apply for many jobs before you were successful? What channels did you use to apply for jobs?
My “job applications” folder contains 32 individual job applications sent all over the world. Out of the 32 applications, four got me to an interview stage, and two of those were successful. As for the remaining 28 applications, six of those came with a rejection letter, but for the rest I heard nothing back. Of course I was down, of course I felt inadequate, but I learnt that success in academia is about determination, and willingness to pick myself up and go upwards and onwards.
I remember, really vividly, walking down a corridor at one of the UK universities where I had just delivered, what I thought at the time, an exceptionally good interview, thinking to myself “this is going to be my new department”. I was unsuccessful. In hindsight, it could not have been a better outcome, because the rejection took me to Imperial College London, and then ANU – two world class universities.
There is no single channel to find “the” job – I stayed proactive, attended talks, went to conferences, searched for jobs online and through universities, and research centres. However, most importantly, I was driven by scientific curiosity, and so I only looked for jobs in places where I could flourish and further my research agenda.
Do you maintain a social media presence? How important are sites such as Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter etc. to networking and maintaining a presence in the academic/research world?
I use Twitter quite actively in work capacity. I mainly tweet links to interesting papers, and use it to promote my own research. Tweeting lets me stay in control of my own research interpretation, which can be easily misconstrued in the media otherwise. This allows the public to seek information from the primary source, and it is also a great way of networking with scientists all over the world.
Is there any advice from your supervisors (or anyone else) that you either wished you had really listened to…or not taken?
I had an incredibly supportive PhD supervisor, who is an exceptionally professional scientist, and has admirable integrity. Three key pieces of advice I owe the world to him for are that 1) PhD journey is a marathon not a sprint, 2) scientific writing is like telling a story, 3) I need to look after myself so I can be the best me.
Did you have a break after finishing your thesis before finding work, if so was this beneficial in anyway?
I had one, unintended, four-month long break in between my first two academic post-PhD jobs. I had very little money, worked part-time, and learnt a lot about myself. The break gave me time to identify where I want to go, and how I see my research develop over the coming years. Most importantly, I did not stay idle. I kept working on papers and applying for jobs. I had always held non-academic part-time jobs throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate university training, but when the break struck it really made me realise that I miss academia and the intellectual stimulation it comes with.
Tell us a little about your current work, for instance what has been the most rewarding/surprising thing that you have experienced so far, and is the job what you had expected?
I love research, and I love teaching. A lectureship is a perfect position for me. University teaching is incredibly rewarding, especially when I receive hand written “thank you” letters from students. Students inspire my every day, they keep me sane (yes!), and expose me to a broad range of thinking styles. I am lucky that I get to teach topics that I specialise in, because I can deliver research-led teaching (which is also what attracted me to ANU – a research intensive university), meaning that I genuinely enjoy running my lectures and labs, and keep up-to-date on literature that pertains to my research questions.
Do you have any wonderful advice that you would like to pass on to students?
There is a lot I would like to say, but I will go with the following two quotes:
Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
Is there anything you wished you had done differently whilst you were a student, for instance, chose a different research topic for your thesis, gained more fieldwork/practical experience, taken up tai chi?
There is nothing I would change. My past choices have got me to the present point. I could not be more grateful for all the ups and downs along the way. I look forward to more of those in the coming years!
Firstly, I came to Australia from the British system where PhD programs usually include compulsory teaching training, so by the time I applied for my lectureship at the ANU I had already convened several courses and, generally, had plenty of teaching experience from other non- and voluntary opportunities. I am not sure whether that made me stand out from other job applicants, but it most certainly helped me highlight my suitability for the position in my interview.
Secondly, peer-reviewed publications are a must. Academia is becoming increasingly competitive, and so having publications on your CV is considered standard. However, do not be fooled by the idea that a high number of papers will get you far. It is all about quality over quantity.
Finally, I wanted to undertake a PhD, because I love the idea of being an expert in “something”. I had always known that I have good technical skills, I am not a generalist, and enjoy spending hours researching obscure topics. Therefore, I chose to specialise in histology, which is rarely used in bioarchaeology. If anything made me stand out from the crowd, it may have been a unique set of skills.
Did you experience rejection letters/phone calls after job applications, if so how did you deal with that? Did you have to apply for many jobs before you were successful? What channels did you use to apply for jobs?
My “job applications” folder contains 32 individual job applications sent all over the world. Out of the 32 applications, four got me to an interview stage, and two of those were successful. As for the remaining 28 applications, six of those came with a rejection letter, but for the rest I heard nothing back. Of course I was down, of course I felt inadequate, but I learnt that success in academia is about determination, and willingness to pick myself up and go upwards and onwards.
I remember, really vividly, walking down a corridor at one of the UK universities where I had just delivered, what I thought at the time, an exceptionally good interview, thinking to myself “this is going to be my new department”. I was unsuccessful. In hindsight, it could not have been a better outcome, because the rejection took me to Imperial College London, and then ANU – two world class universities.
There is no single channel to find “the” job – I stayed proactive, attended talks, went to conferences, searched for jobs online and through universities, and research centres. However, most importantly, I was driven by scientific curiosity, and so I only looked for jobs in places where I could flourish and further my research agenda.
Do you maintain a social media presence? How important are sites such as Linked-in, Facebook, Twitter etc. to networking and maintaining a presence in the academic/research world?
I use Twitter quite actively in work capacity. I mainly tweet links to interesting papers, and use it to promote my own research. Tweeting lets me stay in control of my own research interpretation, which can be easily misconstrued in the media otherwise. This allows the public to seek information from the primary source, and it is also a great way of networking with scientists all over the world.
Is there any advice from your supervisors (or anyone else) that you either wished you had really listened to…or not taken?
I had an incredibly supportive PhD supervisor, who is an exceptionally professional scientist, and has admirable integrity. Three key pieces of advice I owe the world to him for are that 1) PhD journey is a marathon not a sprint, 2) scientific writing is like telling a story, 3) I need to look after myself so I can be the best me.
Did you have a break after finishing your thesis before finding work, if so was this beneficial in anyway?
I had one, unintended, four-month long break in between my first two academic post-PhD jobs. I had very little money, worked part-time, and learnt a lot about myself. The break gave me time to identify where I want to go, and how I see my research develop over the coming years. Most importantly, I did not stay idle. I kept working on papers and applying for jobs. I had always held non-academic part-time jobs throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate university training, but when the break struck it really made me realise that I miss academia and the intellectual stimulation it comes with.
Tell us a little about your current work, for instance what has been the most rewarding/surprising thing that you have experienced so far, and is the job what you had expected?
I love research, and I love teaching. A lectureship is a perfect position for me. University teaching is incredibly rewarding, especially when I receive hand written “thank you” letters from students. Students inspire my every day, they keep me sane (yes!), and expose me to a broad range of thinking styles. I am lucky that I get to teach topics that I specialise in, because I can deliver research-led teaching (which is also what attracted me to ANU – a research intensive university), meaning that I genuinely enjoy running my lectures and labs, and keep up-to-date on literature that pertains to my research questions.
Do you have any wonderful advice that you would like to pass on to students?
There is a lot I would like to say, but I will go with the following two quotes:
Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
Is there anything you wished you had done differently whilst you were a student, for instance, chose a different research topic for your thesis, gained more fieldwork/practical experience, taken up tai chi?
There is nothing I would change. My past choices have got me to the present point. I could not be more grateful for all the ups and downs along the way. I look forward to more of those in the coming years!