Now that so much information is available on the internet, this question arises more and more frequently. Why go to university? Why pay all that money to learn things you could learn on your own using resources available on the internet and in public libraries. Or, on a smaller scale, why take a class like […]
Read More »Career Planning
A class provides structure
Now that so much information is available on the internet, this question arises more and more frequently. Why go to university? Why pay all that money to learn things you could learn on your own using resources available on the internet and in public libraries. Couldn’t you just do this stuff yourself? Perhaps with the […]
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The importance of quitting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The importance of quitting Quitting has a bad rap. Winners never quit and quitters never win. When the going gets tough, the tough keep going. I can see how you don’t want to give up at the first hurdle, but sometimes quitting is actually a good option. The option […]
Read More »Holiday parties: turning dread into opportunity
It’s that time of year. No matter what you celebrate (if anything) you are going to be invited to parties. Many of these parties will involve talking to people you don’t know very well — the husband of your department chair, the best friend from out of town, the new neighbor from a few streets […]
Read More »PhD programs are not career training
A degree may be necessary but it is never sufficient
There is no job for which an educational qualification is enough to get you hired.
There is no job for which an educational qualification provides all the necessary skills and knowledge.
A degree, whatever it is, is always but one piece of a complex puzzle.
Read More »What if teaching really is your thing?
As I’ve said before, not all academic jobs are the same. Some people really value teaching. They do it well. They figure out how to do it better. Seeing students get it is what motivates them. They are, as Chris Atherton noted recently, “exactly the kind of person you’d want teaching your kids when they […]
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What is your best contribution?
Instead of asking yourself: what you are going to do with all this education you have … Instead of wondering: what you have to do to get someone to hire you … Instead of focusing on all the external expectations, constraints, etc … Why not ask yourself this question? What is my best contribution? How […]
Read More »Eyes wide open to Sessional Teaching
This post is part of a series on sessional teaching. The first installment: Because you need the money. The second: Because you need the experience The third: What if it’s not worth it? The fourth: Make sure sessional teaching develops your skills As term time approaches, those of you who don’t have tenure track or […]
Read More »On the topic of teaching experience…
The University of Windsor is working on a project supporting Graduate and Teaching Assistants. They are collecting information about what is happening elsewhere. Here’s the intro from their site: … a team working with Graduate Studies in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. We’re building […]
Read More »Why are you a professor? (or want to be one)
The other day Alex Sévigny, a professor at McMaster University, posted a wonderful answer to this question on his blog. I encourage you to read it. Here are some excerpts to tempt you, though I fear they lose some of their power separated from the whole. Universities should strive to build in students a yearning […]
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Making difficult decisions
Recently I had to make some difficult decisions about my capacity to review grant proposals in advance of a fall 2010 deadline. It was a hard decision to make and a hard decision to communicate to clients. I have gifts to share with my clients. I genuinely enjoy helping people. And from 2005 to now, […]
Read More »Ever considered being a program officer for SSHRC?
They are advertising. Some of their program officers have been around for a long time but all of them start on short term contracts. You could focus on the short-term part, and the lack of security, or you could see it as a good opportunity to try out a job that is related to your […]
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