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Jo VanEvery

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academic careers

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Using the supports you need: Part 2

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Using the supports you need, part 2 I have written previously about how I learned in yoga that it can be helpful to use supports in your practice. I’ve been thinking about this principle again recently in a different way. I think this might help you see the difference […]

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Surviving and thriving in uncertain times

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Surviving and Thriving in Uncertain Times Uncertainty is stressful. Things are always uncertain. We have limited control over the future. My approach to supporting academics focuses on identifying the things you can control, while being flexible enough to change track if necessary. The most important component of this approach is […]

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Do you suffer from Imposter Syndrome?

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you suffer from impostor syndrome? That’s one of those faux-medical terms for a Very Real Thing. You feel like you don’t really belong, you aren’t really qualified, and at any moment someone is going to find out and your whole life will come crashing down. It’s related to […]

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Be an amateur.

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Be an amateur I’ve been thinking about the term amateur. I’m particularly drawn to the origin — “French, from Italian amatore from Latin amator lover”. I note that prior to the 19th century, usage is merely: “A person who is fond of something; a person who has a taste […]

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Applying for promotion: Research Trajectory

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

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 […]

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Goals and magical thinking

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

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 […]

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The cardinal rule of time travel

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

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 […]

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The Spectre of Professionalism: Field, discipline, interdisciplinary

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Chances are you were not attracted to academia by the professional identity of “Historian” or “Literary Scholar” or “Sociologist” or whatever they call people in your field. You were attracted by the possibilities of particular research questions. You selected a program that would enable you to explore those questions. That may have been in a […]

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Approach the CV/resumé actively

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

My friend and colleague Julie Clarenbach has written an excellent post on building your resumé. Think about the job you’d really love to have. Think about what skills and qualifications you would need in order to land that job. … what would your resume (not someone else’s, or your resume from a different, parallel life, […]

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Why you get hired

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

What will you contribute to the success of the organization?

This is the primary question every person or committee who has ever hired anyone is trying to answer.

As with any other writing you do, audience matters. The people doing the hiring are the audience for your job application materials. They need to be written in such a way that they can find the information they need to answer this question.

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You aren’t looking for a job for life

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

You are not behind. You haven’t wasted your time. It’s easy to think that you made a mistake somewhere along the line. Studying for a PhD was a wrong turn. Most people have their career figured out by the time they are 30. You should have learned these career research skills when you were younger. […]

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Job hunting in times of change

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

It’s not just that the labour market is awful right now. Higher education is changing More students. Less public funding per student. Major shifts in the balance of public and private funding, even in public institutions. Stable or declining numbers of full-time, permanent faculty positions (what gets called “tenured” and “tenure track” in North America). […]

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