• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Professor Is In

Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers

  • Home
  • Courses & Webinars
    • How To …
    • The Art of the Academic Cover Letter
    • The Art of the Article
    • Unstuck: The Art of Productivity
    • On Demand Courses
    • Upcoming Live Webinars
    • Free Productivity Webinars
    • Gift Certificates
  • Personalized Job App Help
    • Document Editing
    • Quick Reviews
    • Specials
    • Interview Prep
    • Personal Negotiating Assistance
    • One on One Career Consults
    • Testimonials
    • Interview Testimonials
    • Graduate School Application Assistance
  • The Professor Is /Out/
    • It’s OK to Quit
    • Our Art of Leaving Program
    • Prof Is OUT Services
    • Our Prof Is OUT Team
    • Prof is OUT Client Testimonials
  • Workshops
  • Coaching
    • Pre-Tenure Coaching Group
    • Leaving Academia Coaching Group
  • Blog
  • Podcast

Introducing TPII Staff: Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya

By Karen Kelsky | July 1, 2016

Over the next few weeks I’ll be introducing the wonderful members of the Professor Is In staff, who assist me in editing client academic job and grant documents and welcoming and directing old and new clients to the best range of services available for them suited to their particular needs.  We work side by side (in a virtual sense–since we’re scattered across the country), corresponding by email and text throughout the day, every day, on client documents, evaluating not just the writing, but also the fit of the documents for the particular job or grant, and beyond that, tracking new and emergent trends in the job market to constantly adapt and update the editing and advising help we provide.  We pool our years of experience with different disciplines, campuses, departments, jobs, and grants, and departmental politics in a kind of continual, ongoing daily training in all elements of the academic (and postacademic) experience.  I constantly learn from my staff, and the expertise they bring from their respective fields (as a social scientist I’m particularly grateful for their expertise coming from the humanities and sciences).  The Professor Is In is what it is because of them!  Feel free to say hello in the comments, or ask them any questions you might have for them!


Dr. Margarita (Maggie) Levantovskaya

Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya

Maggie completed a PhD in Literature at the University of California, San Diego in 2013. She has taught a wide range of courses at UCSD, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Lafayette College, from Russian language to graduate seminars in Translation Studies. She brings this experience to her work at TPII, where she helps clients of all disciplinary backgrounds wow search committees by presenting their qualifications in specific and exciting ways. Maggie will make your materials stand out within ever-growing pools of applications! She currently lives in the Bay Area, where continues to teach, write and live her best life as a culture vulture.

What do you do for TPII?

I edit job market documents, job talks, grant proposals and book proposals. I also help clients strategize about ways to make their record stronger.

What did you do before TPII?  Tell us about your background and career path to this point.

In 2013, I received a PhD in literature from UC San Diego. My research is in Russian-Jewish literature and I have been an active member in the fields of Slavic Studies, Comparative Literature and Jewish Studies. After defending my dissertation, I took a couple of visiting positions in different parts of the country (Midwest and East Coast), leaving my partner and the rest of my family in California. I gradually learned that VAP-hopping was, for me, not conducive to managing my chronic illness or achieving personal and professional fulfillment. For this reason I decided to return to the Bay Area. Currently, I’m working for TPII, adjuncting at a local university and figuring out my Plan B.

What has been the biggest surprise for you about working for TPII?

By far, the biggest surprise was how fast I became at identifying client writing issues! When I first started, I spent a long time identifying problems, racking my head over how best to help clients solve them. Now, I spot mistakes a mile away and I have a whole reserve of solutions for all kinds of job document pitfalls. Basically, I’ve become very efficient about problem solving, whereas I always thought of myself as a “slow but meticulous” editor. Similarly, our clients learn that they can get very good at this. Producing good documents requires skills, not magical powers. I’ve also been very pleasantly surprised by our clients’ ability to take constructive criticism and maintain a positive attitude throughout the editing process. Our clients often make me laugh and it’s always delightful to see academics have a sense of humor about their (often) serious research projects.

Maggie hard at work on client docs

How do you like being an academic job market editor?

This job has been empowering for me in a number of different ways. Being an editor at TPII has helped me gain a sense of control over the job market, albeit in a limited way. I feel confident in my ability to produce strong materials that are going to catch the attention of the search committee. I still cannot do anything about the shrinking job market, the fickleness of search committees or that elusive problem of fit. However, I can represent myself honestly and clearly and can help others do the same. Also, for me, editing and teaching are intersecting and mutually-beneficial activities. My editing makes me a better teacher, especially when it comes to working on students’ writing. Working at TPII has only helped me in this. On the other hand, I bring my teaching into my editing. The most rewarding aspect of working at TPII is helping clients express themselves better and learn from the editing process. What I didn’t expect was the pedagogical nature of my work at TPII.

What do you wish clients knew about applying for jobs or grants?

That it’s a nearly full-time job. Producing documents that sing takes a lot of time and labor – intellectual and emotional! Some clients say that producing job and grant documents is more difficult than conducting research and writing. Throughout the job market process, clients have to keep an open mind and do the tough work of figuring out what their research is about, who they are as scholars and teachers. I think that most clients do not expect to have to tackle existential questions while working with us. However, the ones who use the application process to define their academic identities, end up gaining something valuable, regardless of how their search turns out.

What’s your big picture plan for yourself, now and moving forward?

I plan to continue working as a teacher, writer and editor. My current goal is more abstract than it has been in a while: to remain intellectually engaged while striking a work/life balance.

Similar Posts:

  • Banish These Words: Sexism and Binarism Edition – Guest Post by Maggie Levantovskaya
  • The Job of an Academic Editor: Part 1 (Fruscione #Postac Post)
  • I Don’t Know You
  • Working With a Developmental Editor (A Guest Post)
  • Editing is Not Grading (and Clients Aren’t Students) – Horton #postac post

Filed Under: Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Post-Ac Free-Lancing and Small Business, Post-Ac Job Search, Strategizing Your Success in Academia

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Introducing TPII Staff: Dr. Petra Shenk | The Professor Is In says:
    July 20, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    […] ← Introducing TPII Staff: Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya Introducing TPII Staff–Dr. Verena Hutter → […]

    Reply
  2. Introducing TPII Staff: Dr. Kristy Lewis | The Professor Is In says:
    July 26, 2016 at 12:01 am

    […] members of the Professor Is In staff (Dr. Verena Hutter is here, Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya is here, Dr. Petra Shenk is here) who assist me in editing client academic job and grant documents and […]

    Reply
  3. Introducing TPII Staff–Dr. Verena Hutter | The Professor Is In says:
    June 16, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    […] be introducing the wonderful members of the Professor Is In staff (Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya is here and Dr. Petra Shenk is here) who assist me in editing client academic job and grant documents and […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Buy My Book!

4.8 stars on Amazon!

The_Professor_Is_In.indd

Get Immediate Help

In addition to our blog and book, we have upcoming live webinars, pre-recorded webinars and other programs that you can get started on right away:

The Art of the Academic Cover Letter
The Art of the Article
Unstuck: The Art of Productivity
Quick Reviews
Free Productivity Webinars

Categories

  • #MeTooPhD
  • #Resistance
  • Academic Job Search
    • Administrator positions
    • How To Choose and Manage Recommenders
    • How to Interview
    • How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters
    • How To Write CVs
    • Landing Your Tenure Track Job
    • Major Job Market Mistakes
    • Negotiating Offers
  • Adjunct Issues
  • Advising Advice
  • Alt-University Critique
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Christian Colleges
  • Coronavirus
  • COVID19
    • Adapting
  • Dispatches
  • Goodbye Ivory Towers
  • Graduate Student Concerns
    • Bad Advisors and Good Mentors
  • How To Do Conferences
  • How to Get Grants and Fellowships
  • International Perspectives
  • Internet and Social Media
  • Intersectional Analyses
  • Makeup
  • Marginalized Voices
  • Mental Health and Academia
  • Ph.D. Poverty
  • Podcast
  • Post-Ac Free-Lancing and Small Business
  • Post-Ac Job Search
    • Careers Outside
  • Postdoc Issues
  • Productivity
    • Book Proposals and Contracts
    • Publishing Issues
    • Writing
  • Promote Yourself!
  • Quitting–An Excellent Option
  • Racism in the Academy
  • Rearview Mirror
  • Resumes & Postac Docs
  • Sexual Harassment in the Academy
  • Shame
  • Stop.Acting.Like.A.Grad.Student
  • Strategizing Your Success in Academia
  • Teaching and Research Statements
  • Teaching Demos
  • Teaching Portfolios
  • Tenure–How To Get It
    • How To Build Your Tenure File
    • Surviving Assistant Professorhood
  • The Campus Visit
  • Unstuck
  • Webinars
  • What Not To Wear
  • Women of Color in Academia
  • Work/Life Balance in Academia
  • Yes, You Can: Women in Academia
  • Your Second and Third Jobs

Footer

About Us

  • Who Is Dr. Karen?
  • Who Is On the TPII Team?
  • In The News
  • Contact Me
  • FAQs
    • Why Trust Me?
  • Testimonials

Community

  • #MeTooPhD
  • Peer Editing
  • PhD Debt Survey
  • Support Fund
  • I Help With Custody Cases for Academics

Copyright © 2022 The Professor Is In·