Articles
 |
"Preparing for a Nonfaculty Job," by Jennifer Polk and L. Maren WoodFor graduate students who are considering a career beyond the professoriate, Jennifer Polk and L. Maren Wood give advice on using the time in graduate school to develop skills and gain experience that set the candidate up for success in the job market. Polk and Wood advocate not only for developing a plan and to include internships and relevant part-time jobs in that plan, but also for ways in which the academic work itself can directly feed into job experience, by professionalizing and varying teaching experience and sharing research through blogs and public lectures. Sunday, November 11, 2018 - 7:00pm |
 |
"3 Informational Interview Mistakes," by Thomas MagaldiInformational interviews are highly useful for PhDs looking to transition into a different career path, but the fine art of the informational interview can be unclear. Thomas Magaldi explains how job seekers can avoid three common mistakes people make in informational interviews. Friday, October 26, 2018 - 10:45pm |
 |
"How Graduate Advisers Can Bolster Their Career Guidance," by James M. Van WyckWith the rise of Ph.D.s moving into careers beyond the professoriate, James M. Van Wyck argues that graduate advisors need to get out of their academic comfort zone to properly prepare their mentees for a career within or beyond academia. Van Wyck offers a few strategies that advisors can follow to strengthen their career advise, like following the careers of their former students and shadowing them at their jobs, and using the career resources their campus already offers. Sunday, October 7, 2018 - 5:45pm |
 |
"You’re Not Just Leaving Academe, You’re Leaving Your Students," by Erin BartramErin Bartram, whose essay on leaving academia went viral earlier this year, writes about the emotional weight of navigating student interactions as nontenured faculty, and particularly highlights the destabilizing consequences for students when their professors are contingent academics whose access to the university might end any semester. Saturday, September 22, 2018 - 5:30pm |
 |
"Uncovering the Secrets of the Cover Letter," by Joseph BarberWhen applying for positions beyond the professoriate, documents like cover letters and resumes can have a different meaning than you were taught in your PhD. Joseph Barber uncovers the elements of a "readable" cover letter for positions beyond faculty roles, and shows how a document with a basic structure of opening, middle, and final paragraph can be "interesting, engaging, unique, positive, energetic, relevant and optimistic" in one page. Wednesday, September 12, 2018 - 5:30pm |
 |
"CV or Resume? Or...Both!" By Jacquelyn H. ClementsNavigating the waters between academic and alt-ac positions in the job market can become quite a complicated feat. Here, Jacquelyn H. Clements weighs in on two important documents for these different job searches, the resume and the CV, and what counts as "experience" for both, as she applies for both academic and "extended academic" positions. Friday, August 31, 2018 - 4:45pm |
 |
"Transition Q & A: Rose Muravchick, Assistant Director," by Jennifer PolkRose Muravchick, interviewed by Jennifer Polk, explains how, after completing her PhD in religious studies, she hoped to find a teaching-intensive position. Thanks to the many informational interviews she did during graduate school, and the many contacts she acquired from that, she was able to apply to many different positions, and now works an administrative support role at a liberal arts institution, working with instructors to develop their teaching practices. Friday, August 24, 2018 - 3:30pm |
 |
Call for Papers: Affective Labor and Alt-Ac CareersTerms of Service: Affective Labor and Alt-Ac Careers is an edited collection of essays that critically engage the affective labor of being in an alt-ac or staff position inside or outside the academy. The editor of the collection, Lee Skallerup Bessette, invites short essays from people with PhDs on their experiences working in alt-ac positions. Friday, August 17, 2018 - 6:00pm |
 |
"Preparing for a Nonfaculty Job," by Jennifer Polk and L. Maren WoodJennifer Polk and L. Maren Wood encourage graduate students to use their time in graduate school to develop broadly applicable skills. They offer hands-on advice on how graduate students can use their time to explore career options beyond the tenure track, and start the process of finding what kind of career would suit them before they finish their PhD. Friday, August 10, 2018 - 1:30pm |
 |
"Transition Q & A: Helen Kang, Health-Care Communication Consultant," by Jennifer PolkIn an interview with Jennifer Polk, Helen Kang explains how she completed her PhD set on becoming a tenure-track professor, but after taking a job in health-professions education she realized that this suited her much better than a professorship. Now a self-employed heath-care communications consultant, Kang enjoys putting her academic research skills to use in a fulfilling, low-anxiety environment. Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - 5:15pm |