Time to completion and academic jobs

[Ollie123]

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Quick question for those who have reviewed apps for internship and post-doc (or faculty jobs, for that matter). This is pretty nuanced, so the answer may well be "no one cares".

For those of you going through applications, how much weight, if any, is given to time to completion? Are people primarily going to be looking at the aggregate experience (total number and quality of the pubs, clinical hours, etc.) or do they take into account the number of years in school.

Basically, I'm already on a "high-average" plan (6+1 - which is probably the mode here) but am applying for an F31 this fall that could possibly push that to 7+1 if I get it. I wanted the experience with the NIH system before leaving, but might reconsider if time to completion might be held against me. Though obviously sooner would be better, I'm in no particular rush and at least early on we were notoriously slow to get pubs out so given my career goals it might be helpful to have more to show by the time I'm done. I just don't want that to be an issue down the road.

Basically, if one has a reasonable amount of productivity in that time (should definitely be 10+ pubs by then, with many being extremely intricate and complex studies), would having a long time to completion hurt and if so, how much?

 

[erg923]

I don't know the answer, Ollie (although I doubt it would unless it was like 10 years or something nuts like that), but did want to comment that I wish I could be one of those people who wasn't in a rush to get out of grad school. But frankly, I just cant wrap my brain around it. Ever since my first year, all I've wanted is a job and an income (and to not be 35 before my first kid) so I can go buy myself a boat and spend my weekends goofing off, like the rest of America does.

 

[Ollie123]

Jon: Not sure you'd do it as in "If I was looking at a job candidate I'd wonder what took them so long and pick someone else" or not sure you'd do it as in "Not worth the lost income/time". Taken into consideration either way, but wasn't sure which you meant.

Erg: Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be done with this ordeal but am trying to balance that against making sure I have a strong enough vita when I leave given the competition on the academic job market, and have milked my opportunities here for all they are worth. Delay discounting and all that😉

 

[LM02]

Personally, when I review internship apps, I do look at this data point. When things are stretching out like that, I start to look for explanations as to why. An F31 isn't going to make much a difference in my mind - I would want to know why you hadn't submitted the grant earlier in grad school. But it probably varies by faculty member. And even moreso, that is just a looong time to be in grad school if you don't have to be.

Plus, you can always decline a fundable F31 - put it on your CV, showing that you can get submit a grant and get a competitive score, but otherwise get on with your life! Postdoc is the time to really beef up for your job apps anyway.