Letter to my younger cousins that my friends may find helpful:

Here are some tips for the younger cousins, a lot of which I learned this week from talking to professors who are my coworkers here...

(1) If and when you get your PhD, be sure to go straight into teaching as an asst professor for a few years before going into work outside of academia (private sector, govt, etc). It is easier to go from being a professor to working for a consulting firm (1 ex) and back to being a professor, than if you were never a professor at all. It has to do with publications, credibility, experience, etc. Uncle1's experience shows us that teaching at a university is a great way to retire. So not teaching right after grad school would limit yourself out of academia, who do that?

(2) Get grants. Apply for the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, etc. Receiving grants puts you on the "gravy train," as Mary and I joke, meaning that once you get one, others follow more easily. Getting a grant for research validates your work, tells others that what you do is impt enough for people to fund, and reflects on the quality of your research. Bad research is hard to get funded, and getting funded prompts people to throw more money at your later. Plus, independent grants are fun and give you so much freedom to do whatever.

(3) Positioning. One interesting lesson I learned in DC is that the job doesn't usually go to the most qualified (edu, experience), but to the best positioned. Positioning, to me, refers to qualifications plus where you are and who you know. It is the combination of education, experience, living in a "cluster" for what you do (politics = DC; business = NYC; bio = SF, SD) to benefit from the "positive externalities," and being connected to the right people.

Continuing on with positioning... I have a surfing analogy. I like surfing analogies bec I'm often out in the ocean during a beautiful sunset waiting for a wave and thinking about life. With positioning, education is like your board, experience is past surfing experience, but without good positioning you might as well be on the beach holding a board and looking at the waves. You need to be out there, properly positioned, to catch the wave. This means timing the wave break (hiring cycles), exact breaking distance from the shore (geographical location), the right amount of paddling (pursuing your goal), and keeping the nose of the board just 1" above water (being careful, paying attn to all other factors). I think this surfing analogy also works well with getting a gf/bf, work, applying for schools, etc.

I feel like a freak for writing a long email about random thoughts and surfing analogies, but I thought it might benefit you guys to just take a lot at what I consider valuable lessons. I really care about my extended family and want to help you succeed according to your own goals. I'm humbled when compared to our parents, who have so much more experience than me, so I really don't claim to know everything. I hope I didn't sound like a "self help" book.