One thing that frustrates me, is how often researchers seem to be giving over control of their research to others. You don’t think about planning your research until a funding deadline looms. You do that planning within the constraints of this particular grant. You are trying to figure out what makes a good 3-5 year […]
Read More »Finding Your Way: Academic life as a journey
One of the great attractions of an academic career is the level of autonomy and freedom that you have. Some possible paths are clearly marked. Others are less obvious. Roadblocks are a frequent problem. Regardless of your stage of career, posts in this section help you identify the signposts and make decisions.
Change is hard
Whether you want personal change or institutional change, there are some things you need to accept about how it will happen. There is no magic wand It would be really nice if there were. Imagine “Poof!” and things are the way you’d like them to be. No messy transition. Some things are better but […]
Read More »
Applying for promotion: Research Trajectory
While helping a client with her application for promotion, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior colleague when I applied for a promotion many years ago. “The promotion committee will be looking for a trajectory in your research.” I checked the guidelines for promotion from my client’s institution. Sure enough I […]
Read More »
Jumping off cliffs
Making decisions about your career and your next best steps is like standing on top of a cliff. It seems really scary. It’s a long way down. You can’t really see what’s at the bottom, but you suspect there are rocks. You’d really like to avoid the rocks. Other people confirm your fears. They tell […]
Read More »
What you can change
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What you can change God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. (The Serenity Prayer —Reinhold Niebuhr) Whether you believe in that god or not, the sentiment of this prayer is just […]
Read More »What are you waiting for?
Are there things you’d really love to be doing but aren’t? It could be anything: spending more time with your kids writing something different from what you’ve been writing using your research to serve the needs of some community … You are probably telling yourself some story about why you can’t do it. That story […]
Read More »
Goals and magical thinking
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Goals and Magical Thinking You will not be surprised to learn that I read blogs which provide business advice and decided to hire a business coach to help me with my career. Naomi Dunford at IttyBiz wrote a series about goal setting back in 2013 (it’s no longer available […]
Read More »
You can ignore the grading.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You can ignore the grading This post refers to the break between the first and second semesters of an academic year, which in the Northern Hemisphere tends to incorporate the Christmas holidays. Often the exams and assignments that come in at the end of the semester need to be […]
Read More »Reruns: Holiday Parties: turning dread into opportunity
I originally published this post in November 2010 and reran it in November 2011. 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, […]
Read More »
The cardinal rule of time travel
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The cardinal rule of time travel Last week I talked about how helpful my Magnificent Metaphorical Time Machine is. Travelling forward in time can help you see the outcome you want, without worrying about the messy and difficult process of actually getting there. However, there is a cardinal […]
Read More »The value of time travel
I have a Time Machine. When I first started using it, I was a bit nervous. I worried that my clients would think this was a bit too weird. I was probably a bit tentative because of that and so it maybe didn’t work as well as it could have. But it still worked. Now […]
Read More »
Research produces more questions than answers
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Research produces more questions than answers The popular view of research is that it produces answers. This is not untrue. If you need answers, research is going to help you find them. The problem is that research also produces questions. In fact, it often produces more questions than answers, […]
Read More »
