Update from the other half

Hi everyone, it's Dustin.

Leslie asked that I give our family
and friends (you) a brief update on my work/school life. On October 13
and 14, I took my department's annual comprehensive examinations. Each
year, the 3rd year students take these so-called "comps" together.
There were only 4 of us who took the exam this year. I was the only
native English speaker, so any chance of anonymity and blind grading
was shot! :- ) I think the professors would know who we are anyways
given the particular studies we cite to support our responses.

Students
spend the summer prior to the exams studying for this monster. The test
consists of essay questions asking about topics in five different
research areas:
(1) Strategic management -- e.g. competitive advantage, mergers & acquisitions, CEO compensation, etc.
(2) Organizational theory
-- e.g. understanding how firms maintain their boundaries, how they
gather resources from their environment, how people in organizations
make sense of their surroundings, etc.
(3) Human resource management -- e.g. selection, performance appraisal, work design, etc.
(4) Organizational behavior (my major) -- e.g. emotions, leadership, teams, decision-making, etc.
(5) Research methods -- e.g. philosophy of science, experimental design, statistics, etc.

On
comps, we're responsible for all of the major research findings and
knowledge in each of these areas. Unfortunately, we don't have any
textbook or reading lists. If it was published in a top journal or
popular book, we're responsible for knowing it. The only thing we're
allowed to bring to the exam is a one-page reference list (author,
date, and title information). It must have been quite hysterical
watching me read my 4.5 size font with a magnifying glass during the
exam! :- )

We won't get the results back for another couple of
weeks, but I think I did okay. I don't know for sure, of course, and
I'm not holding my breath! Many people before us have failed...
Whatever happens, happens. It was honestly one of the most miserable
and emotionally exhausting things I've ever done in my life. I should
note that it did give me a broad overview of the literature to support
my future research. Plus, it's a rite of passage in our department.
Suffering is part of the fun.

After passing comps, students can
start working on their dissertations. So, I will be starting that soon
and finishing it up (hopefully) in mid-2012. It's common to do one's
job search the year before that, so I'll be on the job market during
fall of 2011.

Mostly, I'm happy to be able to re-introduce myself
to Henry and spend time with the family instead of jumping from my
office, to a coffeeshop, to another coffeeshop, back to my office, then
home each day. It sure is nice to be back to normal. The experience was
tough on the whole family, especially Leslie! She was fantastic
though... watching Henry night and day and letting me study so much.
Thanks Les :- )