Back when I started my PhD, my supervisor told me that if I was able to push out 3 first author papers in as many years, that I'd be in a pretty good position to get a postdoc in my chosen field (astronomy). So that's what I did; my thesis defence is taking place at the end of February, and I've finished my PhD with 3 first author papers, and am a co-author on 9 others. Both of my supervisors were certain I'd do well with the job hunt. Despite all this, my search for a postdoc has gone absolutely terribly.

Now part of this is my fault -- I probably applied for too many fellowships without enough experience under my belt, and to be completely honest my PhD thesis was on a fairly specific area of astronomy, so there are only so many jobs I can apply for. Of the 13 or so positions I applied for, I've only heard back about an interview for one (and I didn't get that position). Some of the others have not responded, but from the rumour mill I can see the shortlists don't include me. I've got a couple more places to hear back from, but at the moment things aren't looking too good. I know that many people apply for far more jobs, but I honestly applied for everything that was related to what I do, and I felt like I had a chance at.

With the number of new jobs coming out each month getting smaller and smaller, I think I am beginning to get quite sad, depressed, and frustrated about the process. All I've ever wanted to do since I was 15 is to be an astronomer, but now it looks like I might need to put that off for a while. I can't escape the feeling that my PhD was an absolute waste of time, and I feel misery creeping up on me every day.

I guess this thread is partly to vent, and partly to ask for advice from people who might have been in a similar situation, particularly in astronomy. Am I absolutely hosed if I get an industry job for a year and fire out more applications come next hiring round? Should I try and get something unpaid/underpaid with a group somewhere instead? Is my academic career dead in the water? If you went through something like this, how on earth did you keep your hopes up?