Sometimes I think that you will all just think I’ve lost my mind. (cue Robbie Williams “…It was mine to give away…”) The academic labour market, heck the entire labour market, is going to hell in a handbasket and I’m telling you to think about your passion and your best contribution. I’m suggesting that you […]
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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 »Also found at …
Just a quickie to say that I wrote an article about considering post-doctoral fellowships for University Affairs. It’s in the most recent issue on the back page. Or find it online here. University Affairs is about to relaunch their careers blog, too. And I’m one of the regular writers for it. It’ll be called Careers […]
Read More »The value of education
Trying to articulate the value of your PhD is complicated by the fact that debates about the value of education (at any level) are dominated by an instrumentalist, employment preparation discourse. I recall having a conversation with a friend back in the early 1990s in which she told me that her 6 year old son’s […]
Read More »Useful answers for “What are you going to do with that?”
It’s all well and good for me to say it isn’t the right question. People still ask it. People you care about. People you have trouble ignoring or being snarky to. So what do you say? Assume the best intentions Whenever you are faced with a stomach cramp inducing question like this, it is always […]
Read More »What are you going to do with that?
How many people have asked you this question? I bet you’ve lost count. It is such a common question, someone used it as the title of a book. About non-academic careers for PhDs, of course. (It’s a good book. Well worth it.) And it’s probably your number one source of anxiety while working towards your PhD and […]
Read More »Believe it or not, I do this for a living
I never would have imagined it were possible. Given that there was no internet when I was a teenager, running my own business over the internet is obviously not something I’ve wanted to do forever. In fact, running my own business at all only came to me as an option fairly late in the game. […]
Read More »Confession: I find mind mapping difficult
The trouble is that they have their own aesthetic. Not a linear one but … You see, the examples I see all look good. They use colour. They group similar things together. And when I set out to get all the ideas out of my head onto paper, I worry about where on the page to put them.
Read More »Catch Yourself Doing Something Right
Ann has been struggling with finding time to write regularly. She wants to build this habit. The other day she mentions that she is writing and adds that she didn’t get as much done as she wanted to. Barb has been feeling overwhelmed by teaching preparation. When she talks about it she says things like “I […]
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If someone’s crying, something needs to change.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · If someone’s crying, something needs to change Although initially written about teaching, this post applies to any area of your work or life where you feel the things in the first set of bullet points. No one said teaching would be easy but … You shouldn’t be exhausted. You shouldn’t […]
Read More »Is the beginning of term chaos over yet?
I was talking to a client who was feeling a bit like she’d been hit by a truck. She’s teaching a class for the first time. Even though it is directly in her area of expertise, she’s overwhelmed by how much work it is. And surprised by how exhausted she is. Even if you have been doing […]
Read More »Taking responsibility for your PhD
There is a lot of discussion out there about attrition rates (high) and time to completion (long). Beyond asking questions of your prospective programs, what can you do to make sure that you finish and finish in a reasonable time? Take responsibility. Here’s an extended example from one cur
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