I've been trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up! I arrived here with a certain plan in mind, but I've had to do some revision to that plan - some of it pretty radical, and now I'm wondering if I'm making the right choice. So, it's career planning all over again - actually, it would probably be more accurate to describe it as career positioning...because as much as it is important to me to like what I'm doing, I also need to be able to get a job at some point!

I had intended to pursue a specialization in medieval literature, but was strongly advised by my supervisor to abandon that plan for a specialty in contemporary British literature. That kind of specialization works well with many of my other interests (fantasy & sf e.g. Rowlings, Adams, Tolkein, Lewis, Gaiman) as well as film. The problem comes when I want to market myself. I'd like ideally to be able to move almost anywhere to maximize my options, but there are distinct differences in focus and specialization between the U.S. and other English speaking Commonwealth countries. A specialization in British literature is viewed differently in the British commonwealth than in a country that divides its discussions of English literature almost evenly between American and British lit - back home, British lit, even if limited to contemporary lit, is still a really, really broad specialization. And in English departments, you have to be able to fit into a funding category, since there is no such thing as a generalist.

The problem is, the more I think about it, the more I'd like to follow the contemporary British lit line, but I might limit my possibilities if I do that. But to follow the medieval line, I would need to do a LOT of extra work, and then find a project that could capture my attention long enough to spend three solid years of intense work on it.

So...I face a quandary. I do have a year to figure it out, so I'm not losing any sleep, but it's certainly been an upset to what my original plan was.