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Interview Questions About a Career as an Astronomer

-- | June 2, 2016

Question: Hi! My name is Jonathan and I’m interested in becoming an Astronomer. I need these interview questions answered for a career plan project in school. — Jonathan

What is your job title? Believe it or not, my official job title is “Scientist”.

How many years did you study in college? Four years for an undergraduate Bachelor’s degree, which was followed by five years of graduate school to earn a Masters and PhD, all in Astronomy.

What university did you study at? University of California at Berkeley for undergraduate and University of Virginia for graduate study.

What minors and or majors did you take? I was an Astronomy major for my entire college career.

As an Astronomer how long do you work for? I think that you are asking how long are typical work weeks. Scientists in general tend to work long hours. A 60 hour week is not uncommon.

How many years have you been an Astronomer? All of my life really, as I never wanted to do anything else for a career. Professionally I have worked as an astronomer for 36 years.

Did you intern in anything related to Astronomy and if so what? I actually did not participate in an internship before starting my undergraduate or graduate career.

Jeff Mangum

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