Interview with Jen Harrison, dissertation coach and owner of Read.Write.Perfect. I met Jen Harrison a few weeks ago and we had a great conversation about the challenges dissertators face. One of the topics that came up was how folks can better leverage their dissertations (specifically) as career preparation. I asked Jen if she’d be willing to write up a few of her thoughts on this. This post is the result. Jen Polk: Let me come right out and ask the question: Is doing a doctoral dissertation good career preparation? Jen Harrison: The quick answer is yes, but not necessarily in the way you thi ..read more

Recently, I was reading advice about how to apply for industry jobs for PhDs. It got me curious about how folks were defining “industry” in this context. I had a sense in my mind that “industry” referred mainly to STEM PhDs working in research roles at companies. But I also knew that some folks — and some PhD career advising companies — use the term more broadly. So I asked directly: What does “industry” mean? (What’s your answer, if you have one?) Defining “industry” for PhDs Well, as expected, I got a variety of responses, some of them quite different from each other. It turned out that a b ..read more

Guess who is the featured guess for the launch of season 4 of the Papa PhD podcast? Yup, that would be me. I’m episode 190. (It’s about time, eh! ) Thanks to David Mendes from Papa PhD for hosting me on his channel(s). We talked about my career journey as well as tackling this question: Are you a sellout if you leave academia after your PhD? Listen to this podcast episode, “Are You a Sellout if You Leave Academia After Your PhD? With Jennifer Polk,” on the Papa PhD website. You can also watch our discussion on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. The post Are you a sellout if you leave ac ..read more

Are you an introvert? If so, you’ve probably wondered how you can network as an introvert without doing anything icky. A lot of PhDs identify as introverts. I do! I am definitely introverted. Introversion can be a strength in an academic environment, certainly while you’re in graduate school. But then folks worry when they hear about all the networking you’re supposed to do to get a job outside academia. Like, “no, I don’t want to and I’m bad at this and I don’t want to bother other people and whyyyyy.” I get it. I too was super nervous about asking folks to give me some of their time and en ..read more

One of the concerns PhDs have when contemplating leaving academia is wanting to do research without selling out to giant corporations that only care about profits. A social science PhD may well worry that leaving academia means working as a researcher at Meta (Facebook) or another soulless entity where their insights will be used to manipulate users for corporate ends. Yikes, eh? A lot of PhDs are thinking “no thank you” right now! Now there’s a lot we could talk about here. (Me to these narratives: ) Let me focus on just one thing. While it’s true that corporations hire academics t ..read more

I watched a webinar for PhDs where the presenter pushed back against the advice to network in order to get a job. “No, you don’t have to network,” she said. “That’s not true.” Now, the thing is, she’s right: You don’t have to network to get a job. You don’t. But it’s also true that without networking you’re missing out on a lot of good and useful stuff. Because here’s the thing: You don’t network so the people you network with will hire you. Sometimes that does happen. And that’s awesome (and lucky). But networking as a job search strategy isn’t about talking your way into a job offer. (Altho ..read more

Okay, yes, that’s a cheeky headline. You probably aren’t wrong about postdocs But a lot of folks do have mistaken views about postdocs. What are common misconceptions about postdoc positions and the people who hold them? I asked this question last week on Twitter (tweet) and got lots of great responses. This is my attempt to categorize them and provide a few explainers: Postdocs are students (and have access to student benefits) Postdocs are trainees (and receive training and mentorship from advisors) Postdocs are staff members (and receive benefits like other employees) Correction: Admini ..read more

I teach PhDs how to identify job and career options that align with the life you want. That includes alignment of skills, tasks, interests, values, money, and all the rest. Ideally, there is a clear path that offers it all, and soon. But sometimes, maybe usually, a job doesn’t provide all the things. When your job doesn’t give you X thing you really want or need, it doesn’t mean you can’t have X thing in your life. This is where volunteering can come in (and hobbies and side jobs and other personal life). Take me as an example: I’m self-employed, and my business is just me ..read more

Interview with Vanessa Corcoran, author of It’s A Marathon, Not a Sprint: My Road to the Marathon and Ph.D. In her memoir, Dr. Corcoran chronicles her journey through higher education. Along the way, she turns to running, and becomes a competitive distance runner. Readers will root for her at every step, and will hopefully root for themselves, too. Humanities PhDs will particularly appreciate this look back at the process including discussions of imposter syndrome and mental health, career concerns, working with advisors, and navigating life and love as a young adult. Thanks to Vanessa for ans ..read more