Job Responsibilities
With only 10 hour per week to make an impact here in Los
Angeles, 400 miles away from the university, my major
responsibility is providing online support for 100 students.
Times have changed, and new tools are being used in the
classroom. Some of my professors type with two fingers and they
have PhDs. I've introduced my mentor to Listservs, personal
websites, manage an online strategy game called Capstone, and
have even migrated to a new beta platform powered by Moodle
(open source). The .com wave is just now hitting main stream
academia with open source making a strong push into classrooms.
Amazing, in just 10 hours per week I've brought a prominent
professor into the 21st century.
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Job Requirements
Academically, we learn to hone a few important skills: teamwork,
presentations, analysis and reading and writing. An important
managements skill, decision making, is not typically found at
our MBA program. In addition, research is quite weak at the MBA
level, as most do not go on to pursue doctoral degrees,
contributing to a growing shortage of professors with business
doctoral degrees. Some are reported to make over $100K right out
of school in response to this shortage.
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Uppers
Helping people, specifically students who are still searching for interests and
career paths, move forward, compete and learn. In addition, the academic
community support is paramount in getting foward. Having a mentor made all the
difference!
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Downers
Only downer is being 400 miles away from the classroom. It's a
sacrafice I'm making for my wife who is also a student, doctor
of psychology, who had to relocate for an internship that only
pays $18,000 per year, sign of the times. The academic career
takes decades of hard work, and the payoff is so far off, and
not worth it if you're in it for the money.
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Lifestyle
Introverted and alone. Independence, freedom and cyclical.
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Compensation
$14.75 per hour, my mentor pays the highest rate possible to his
graduate assistants. Many volunteer. Academia does not pay in
terms of dollars.
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Advice to Jobseekers
LEARN TO USE THE LIBRARY, LEARN ABOUT JOURNALS, DATABASES, AND
WRITING USING CITATIONS. LEARN TO RESEARCH AND WRITE. PUBLISH
BEFORE YOU APPLY TO A PHD PROGRAM!!!
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