Author Archives: Karen

Karen

About Karen

I am a former tenured professor at two institutions--University of Oregon and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I have trained numerous Ph.D. students, now gainfully employed in academia, and handled a number of successful tenure cases as Department Head. I've created this business, The Professor Is In, to guide graduate students and junior faculty through grad school, the job search, and tenure. I am the advisor they should already have, but probably don't.

Why Your Job Cover Letter Sucks (and what you can do to fix it)
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For the next few months I will be posting the “best of the best” Professor is in blog posts on the job market, for the benefit of all those girding their loins for the 2013-2014 market.  Today’s post was originally … Continue reading

Posted in Bad Advisors and Good Mentors, How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Stop.Acting.Like.A.Grad.Student, Strategizing Your Success in Academia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 126 Comments

The Dutch Academic Job Market for Americans and Other English Speakers (A Guest Post)
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One of my blog commenters, Veronica Davidov, who has worked for many years in the Netherlands, remarked that American job seekers would benefit from knowing more about the Dutch job market, which is relatively open to American candidates. I asked … Continue reading

Posted in International Perspectives, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Strategizing Your Success in Academia | 2 Comments

The Six Ways You’re Acting Like a Grad Student (And how that’s killing you on the job market)
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For the next few months I will be posting the “best of the best” Professor is in blog posts on the job market, for the benefit of all those girding their loins for the 2013-2014 market. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today we have … Continue reading

Posted in How To Do Conferences, How to Interview, How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Stop.Acting.Like.A.Grad.Student, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Tenure--How To Get It, Yes, You Can: Women in Academia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

How To Identify Yourself as a Diversity Hire
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One of the most important things a job document can do is communicate an applicant’s status with regard to diversity hiring. If you qualify as a diversity hire, you must make sure the committee knows it. But how does one … Continue reading

Posted in How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Promote Yourself!, Race/Gender/Sexuality, Yes, You Can: Women in Academia | 33 Comments

Of Cover Letters and Magic (A Follow-up Post)
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There is some advice I give that I believe in fiercely and will defend to the death (ref: Should I Do an Edited Collection?).   And then there is some advice I give that I am very willing to concede … Continue reading

Posted in How To Build Your Tenure File, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Publishing Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Tenure--How To Get It, The Campus Visit, Writing Instrumentally | 4 Comments

How To Write a Journal Article Submission Cover Letter
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Today’s post is a special request post for several clients who have written to inquire how to write a cover letter for the submission of an article manuscript to a journal. ****Addendum (4/29/13):  Please read the follow up to this … Continue reading

Posted in Major Job Market Mistakes, Publishing Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Tenure--How To Get It, Writing Instrumentally | 22 Comments

Chronic Illness, Disability and Heternormativity on the Tenure Track (A Follow-Up Guest Post)
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This post is a follow-up to the guest post earlier this week, “The Real Life of a Tenure Track Faculty Person.”  That post generated an enormous amount of reaction and comment that is still going on.  One of the commenters … Continue reading

Posted in Adjunct Issues, Advising Advice, Alt-University Critique, Graduate Student Concerns, Mental Illness and Academia, Ph.D. Poverty, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Work/Life Balance in Academia | 2 Comments

The Real Life of a Tenure Track Faculty Person (A Guest Post)
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This guest post came out of a conversation that’s been percolating among readers on the blog, facebook page, and over email, about the actual financial risks and repercussions of doing a Ph.D..  Indeed, last week’s blog post, Should You Go … Continue reading

Posted in Adjunct Issues, Alt-University Critique, Graduate Student Concerns, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Ph.D. Poverty, Quitting--An Excellent Option, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Surviving Assistant Professorhood, Tenure--How To Get It, Work/Life Balance in Academia | 60 Comments

Should You Go To Graduate School?
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The “don’t go to graduate school” debate has flared up again this past week with the publication of this piece in Slate, “Thesis Hatement: Getting a Literature Ph.D. Will Turn You Into an Emotional Train Wreck, Not a Professor.  The … Continue reading

Posted in Adjunct Issues, Advising Advice, Alt-University Critique, Graduate Student Concerns, Quitting--An Excellent Option, Strategizing Your Success in Academia | 51 Comments

Postpartum Depression: On Motherhood, Academia, and Mental Health (A Guest Post)
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In January, I posted a request on Facebook and Twitter for resources related to mental illness and academia.  I had been contacted by a reader recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, who was seeking information.  The response to my request was … Continue reading

Posted in Mental Illness and Academia, Work/Life Balance in Academia, Yes, You Can: Women in Academia | 8 Comments