Escape the Ivory Tower

Monday roundup

Monday roundup

A weekly collection of interesting things I find around the Internet. Find something I didn’t? I’d love to hear about it the comments!

The tightened job market means going out ABD is tougher than ever. Worse, positions that accept ABDs may be structured in ways that prevent ever finishing the dissertation.

Is the university predicated on an assumption of honor? Stephen G. Kellman believes it is — and that it makes dishonorable behavior in higher ed even more disturbing.

Tenured Radical thinks about the importance of single-sex education and the feminist project. (part 1 / part 2 / part 3)

Dean Dad says goodbye to Bitch, PhD, one of the early and influential academic blogs. I appreciate his sense of blog history here, since I’d been reading her since near the beginning.

A few comments about comments

The whole question of being unhappy in academia — no matter what stage you’re in — can feel fraught. If you’d like to comment but are feeling shy about “being out there,” feel free to make up a persona or comment anonymously. You can also email me directly.

First-time commenters are always moderated (because you wouldn’t believe the spam I get), so if your comment doesn’t show up immediately, hang tight! Chances are, I’m not right on my email.

And most of all, let’s all practice compassion for ourselves and others in this difficult time and space.

Advice from a hiring manager

Advice from a hiring manager

Turning a life lived in academia into something else can feel overwhelming. But there are strategies that work, and more resources than you can begin to imagine. Want to see all of the ones I’ve talked about so far? Click here for the job-search archives.

A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with my friend Kara, who works as a hiring manager for a small company, and picking her brain about the dos and don’ts of applying to jobs after academia.

Here’s what she had to share with me.

Don’t make her do all the work

She’s seen many applications that were “inside baseball.” In other words, these applicants assumed that she knew and understood the world they were coming from — instead of translating their skills, experience, and usefulness to this new context.

That means explaining your background in terms an outsider would understand, instead of relying on titles or job-specific rankings or arcane terminology.

That means explaining what you actually did and what you actually achieved and how those things would help the organization you’re applying to, instead of assuming that everyone knows what bench work or assistant professoring or “doing research” entails.

Don’t take things personally

Having done this for many years, Kara has seen as many searches get called off as filled. Sometimes the economy tanks and the company decides it can make do with the personnel it has. Sometimes the company’s plans change and they no longer need that position. Sometimes they’re running a search to prove to INS that they can’t hire a citizen for this position in order to help a current employee earn a green card and no one was ever going to get hired anyway. (That last one makes my toes curl, but I know it’s true.)

In other words, the vast majority of the time, people don’t get hired for positions for reasons that have absolutely nothing at all to do with them, their skills, or their credentials, much less their worth as human beings.

By not taking it personally, you’re less likely to get discouraged. Remember: Every single application is a new opportunity. Your odds have nothing to do with what’s happened so far.

Be able to explain why you’re leaving

Every candidate is going to get asked why they’re leaving their last position — it helps the hiring manager figure out if the candidate is going to be a good fit. That goes double for people who are changing careers.

Have an answer that doesn’t throw anyone under the bus. Whatever your situation, however you actually feel about it, your answer should depict you as a thoughtful, conscientious person who has a lot of goodwill for everyone you’ve previously worked with.

Explaining the change in terms of the job market, in terms of new discoveries about yourself (so long as they don’t appear to arrive every six months), in terms of exploration and excitement, in terms of wanting to apply your skills in a new arena, will get you much further.

Assume you have things to offer

No one wants to hire Eeyore. Figure out what your transferrable skills are, and be confident that those are skills not everyone has and that companies really love to see.

If you’ve successfully made it through a PhD — hell, even the coursework of a PhD — you obviously have piles and piles of transferrable skills in the form of critical thinking, ability to analyze, ability to define questions, synthesizing information, and the ability to write. If you spent any time teaching, you’ve also got public speaking, instructional design, and management.

And those are just the “general PhD” skills. You’ll also have content-related skills and knowledge, and you might well have skills related to other academic endeavors, like running conferences or editing a journal.

And on top of those, you’ve also got all of the skills you’ve developed in all the other areas of your life.

In other words, you are literally bursting with skills that employers desperately need — and that not everyone, despite the attitude of people in academia, actually have. So go into every application knowing that you have a lot to offer that company.

The big picture?

Most of all, Kara said, research the company you’re applying with, make a case for why you can help them achieve their goals through this position, and keep the faith.

Make a Life List

Make a Life List

Finding a job is one thing — and an important thing, to be sure. But unless we spend the time and energy to figure out what we really want to be doing, we’re going to land right back where we are now: frustrated, restless, lost, and unhappy. This is where we talk about how we can uncover the things we most want to do with our lives. Click here for past posts.

They’re all the rage these days, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t incredibly useful when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Yep, I’m talking about life lists.

What’s a life list?

Simply put, a life list is a, well, list of a bunch of things you want to do before you die. Sometimes called “bucket lists,” these lists contain everything from “taste 50 rums” (one of Karen Walrond’s items) to “visit every country in the world” (one of Chris Gillebeau’s items).

Exactly how to go about it varies depending on who you’re talking to. Some people swear by 100 items, or 77 items, or “as many as you want.” Personally, I like using 100 as a goal, both because it’s a nice round number and because stretching for a longer list than we might initially come up with can help uncover things that really are important to us.

Two, two kinds of useful!

Whenever I read someone’s life list, I immediately learn things about them — what’s important to them, what they value, what they care about. Writing your own list can have the same effect, showing you themes and connections you might not have noticed otherwise.

But life lists are more than intellectual. When you have a life list, it’s a hell of a lot easier to start doing or planning for some of the things you really, passionately want to do in your life. And bringing into your life the things you really want to be doing — no matter the state of your career planning — is going to increase your happiness, unleash your creativity, and give you reasons to go after big dreams.

Are you game?

I’ll be honest — I’ve never sat down to write my own. But I’m pledging, here in public, to do just that, and I’ll post it over at Holy Longing. I’d love to hear what’s on yours!

A few comments about comments

The whole question of being unhappy in academia — no matter what stage you’re in — can feel fraught. If you’d like to comment but are feeling shy about “being out there,” feel free to make up a persona or comment anonymously. You can also email me directly.

First-time commenters are always moderated (because you wouldn’t believe the spam I get), so if your comment doesn’t show up immediately, hang tight! Chances are, I’m not right on my email.

And most of all, let’s all practice compassion for ourselves and others in this difficult time and space.

Finding a job is one thing — and an important thing, to be sure. But unless we spend the time and energy to figure out what we really want to be doing, we’re going to land right back where we are now: frustrated, restless, lost, and unhappy. This is where we talk about how we can uncover the things we most want to do with our lives. Click here for past posts.

They’re all the rage these days, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t incredibly useful when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Yep, I’m talking about life lists.

What’s a life list?

Simply put, a life list is a, well, list of a bunch of things you want to do before you die. Sometimes called “bucket lists,” these lists contain everything from “taste 50 rums” (one of Karen Walrond’s items) to “visit every country in the world” (one of Chris Gillebeau’s items).

Exactly how to go about it varies depending on who you’re talking to. Some people swear by 100 items, or 77 items, or “as many as you want.” Personally, I like using 100 as a goal, both because it’s a nice round number and because stretching for a longer list than we might initially come up with can help uncover things that really are important to us.

Two, two kinds of useful!

Whenever I read someone’s life list, I immediately learn things about them — what’s important to them, what they value, what they care about. Writing your own list can have the same effect, showing you themes and connections you might not have noticed otherwise.

But life lists are more than intellectual. When you have a life list, it’s a hell of a lot easier to start doing or planning for some of the things you really, passionately want to do in your life. And bringing into your life the things you really want to be doing — no matter the state of your career planning — is going to increase your happiness, unleash your creativity, and give you reasons to go after big dreams.

Are you game?

I’ll be honest — I’ve never sat down to write my own. But I’m ple

Finding a job is one thing — and an important thing, to be sure. But unless we spend the time and energy to figure out what we really want to be doing, we’re going to land right back where we are now: frustrated, restless, lost, and unhappy. This is where we talk about how we can uncover the things we most want to do with our lives. Click here for past posts.

They’re all the rage these days, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t incredibly useful when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life.

Yep, I’m talking about life lists.

What’s a life list?

Simply put, a life list is a, well, list of a bunch of things you want to do before you die. Sometimes called “bucket lists,” these lists contain everything from “taste 50 rums” (one of Karen Walrond’s items) to “visit every country in the world” (one of Chris Gillebeau’s items).

Exactly how to go about it varies depending on who you’re talking to. Some people swear by 100 items, or 77 items, or “as many as you want.” Personally, I like using 100 as a goal, both because it’s a nice round number and because stretching for a longer list than we might initially come up with can help uncover things that really are important to us.

Two, two kinds of useful!

Whenever I read someone’s life list, I immediately learn things about them — what’s important to them, what they value, what they care about. Writing your own list can have the same effect, showing you themes and connections you might not have noticed otherwise.

But life lists are more than intellectual. When you have a life list, it’s a hell of a lot easier to start doing or planning for some of the things you really, passionately want to do in your life. And bringing into your life the things you really want to be doing — no matter the state of your career planning — is going to increase your happiness, unleash your creativity, and give you reasons to go after big dreams.

Are you game?

I’ll be honest — I’ve never sat down to write my own. But I’m pledging, here in public, to do just that, and I’ll post it over at Holy Longing. I’d love to hear what’s on yours!

A few comments about comments

The whole question of being unhappy in academia — no matter what stage you’re in — can feel fraught. If you’d like to comment but are feeling shy about “being out there,” feel free to make up a persona or comment anonymously. You can also email me directly.

First-time commenters are always moderated (because you wouldn’t believe the spam I get), so if your comment doesn’t show up immediately, hang tight! Chances are, I’m not right on my email.

And most of all, let’s all practice compassion for ourselves and others in this difficult time and space.

dging, here in public, to do just that, and I’ll post it over at Holy Longing. I’d love to hear what’s on yours!

A few comments about comments

The whole question of being unhappy in academia — no matter what stage you’re in — can feel fraught. If you’d like to comment but are feeling shy about “being out there,” feel free to make up a persona or comment anonymously. You can also email me directly.

First-time commenters are always moderated (because you wouldn’t believe the spam I get), so if your comment doesn’t show up immediately, hang tight! Chances are, I’m not right on my email.

And most of all, let’s all practice compassion for ourselves and others in this difficult time and space.

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