Excited to share our first Career Success Digest of the year! Many successful Interview Intervention clients, plus offers, negotiations, and someone making the hard decision to leave the academy. Also, new this time: reactions from Karen’s on-campus workshop participants. And a successful tenure case! And people realizing academia is a cult. So many definitions of success!
(You can work with us on any of these things! Just comment or email at gettenure@gmail.com!)
Client, TT Job Offer: “Hello Dr. Kelsky, Wanted you to know that I secured a tenure track position in English that begins in Jan. I ended this last season on the job market with three job offers! Two non tenure and one TT that I finally accepted. I tweaked my CV and cover letters many times but used your template you gave as a foundation along with overview bullet points a colleague advised me to use in my CV. I also paid for your $50 negations webinar and was able to negotiate a $2000 increase on my salary offer among other items , during my negotiation. It all worked plus my constant preparations and rehearsing my skills and background.
I’m a Black woman academic who finally got what I pursued and it was a long journey on the market!
Thanks for your service to academics and I’m writing you in hopes that you’ll let other women of color know not to give up and to highlight their strengths in digital instruction and what makes them unique that can benefit the school, while interviewing!”
TT Job offer, Client: “Thank you very much for the intervention. The interview went successfully. I had my interview on Tuesday, and received my offer on Wednesday.”
Tenure dossier, client: “I thought you would want to know that I was granted tenure by my institution. I am exhausted and gratified. Along the way my dept. Chair mentioned to me that my Dossier was “beautiful.” Thank you for all you do.”
Interview Intervention client: “Just a quick note to tell you that I think my interview with [Ivy] went very well. Thank you for all your great suggestions! I’ll definitely be in touch if they call me for an on campus interview (I’ll know in early Jan).”
Interview intervention client: “The interview this morning went really well, I think. I felt confident and the grounding and framing language you gave me HELPED HUGELY. Thank you so much. I learned so much from you and I will make sure to let colleagues know about your site and services.”
Interview Intervention client: “Thank you so much. I was completely prepared for the interview. They asked all of the questions that we reviewed and I saw them nodding and smiling the entire time that I talked. Thanks so much for your help!”
Negotiation Client: “I am happy to inform you that I have received a great revised offer and have accepted it. They matched everything except a credit toward a promotion that I didn’t care too much about to start with. Thank you so much for your help! I never knew I would be so nervous when it comes to negotiating at this stage of career! “
Client Making Decision to Depart: “I am updating you on my job search. Thanks to all your advice regarding job documents and interviewing, I was a finalist for [Elite R1] and [SLAC] and eventually got the offer for the TT at [SLAC]. However, they pressured me to accept as I was still waiting… I have spoken to 4 other people (2 of which recently left the institution) who have shared red flags about the atmosphere there.
I know that it is not usual to refuse a TT offer, especially during these trying times, however, I have now made peace with the decision and trust my abilities to make the best decision for myself, my partner and family, while entertaining a plan B. I have learned a lot during my time on the job market.
Thank you so much for all the support provided by the TPII community. I am also pleased to say that thanks to the Unstuck program, I have gained the self esteem to send out articles and have two R+R this Spring.”
TT offer, reader, Ph.D. at a mid-tier R1, offer in philosophy, R1. I have used the Professor Is In book and the blog twice now – first when I was ABD applying for jobs for the first time and now, in the year I applied for tenure, to apply for better jobs. The book is invaluable! The first time I used it, I got two post-doc offers, one of which I took AND a tenure track position, so I got out of my Ph.D. with a postdoc and a tenure track after it already laid out for me. Now I applied for jobs again (just two), and one of them made me a TT offer. When I compare my materials to those of others who apply without using the book, I can see the differences very clearly. Even if you cannot afford one-on-one help, just reading the book carefully can make a huge difference!
Negotiation, Reader: Hi Karen Just wanted to let you know that I used your “stop negotiating like a girl” blog to negotiate for the pay and start up funds I wanted for my second job. And got exactly what I asked for! I had done all the typical things that your example candidate had done and I didn’t even realize how bad it was until I re-read your blog. Your resources also helped me a land my first tenure-track job at a top program in my field in Australia, without a PhD in hand. I can’t thank you enough!
Karen’s TedX talk viewer: I just watched your TEDx video and felt inspired to write to you. Your video spoke to my experience as a PhD (in anthropology) who is 58 years old and severely underemployed as a freelance copyeditor. I have given up applying to academic positions, since even for adjunct positions they want years of experience, student evaluations, letters of recommendation, etc. Doing an academic job application is intensely time consuming and tedious and mostly leads to getting no response in the end. I barely survive on my meager part-time remote income and have been close to homeless a couple of times. I have published several books, but even that seems to make no difference in hiring me. You mentioned that there is a lot of support out there for people in my position. I would like to get more information on this support system, because frankly, being in this position is like having a disease that I/we have to live with day after day. I don’t know what it’s like anymore to have a stable income or any security in my life. “
Karen’s TedX Talk viewer: “I just finished watching your TedX Talk, Academia is a Cult, and I wanted to thank you for your candor and incisive analysis of the culture of the academy. You put into words a lot of the thoughts and feelings I have been having about it for a while, especially over the past year of being out of my PhD program and onto the academic job market. I wish when I was in my 20s I had met someone like you, someone who would have been brutally honest of what the dream of becoming a professor actually entailed. I plan on recommending your talk to every young person I meet who may be remotely interested in going to graduate school or doing a PhD. From one anthropologist to another, you are both a truth-teller and a terrific anthropologist. Thank you for the work you do, it is necessary and validating.”
Postac on-demand course client: “I’ll say that as a former academic, your courses actually brought me to tears (in a good way!)–wish I’d heard this advice when I was making the transition out of the academy. Can’t wait to share these.”
Karen’s Campus workshop: “ I’m so sorry for leaving before we officially ended! I But that was electrifying! It was one of the most frank and yet so warm and honest conversation I’ve had at an [Ivy] workshop! And all the WOC students appreciated it! I know It was smaller than the morning event but I think It helped for us to be able to be honest and vulnerable! And so for that I thank you!!!”
Karen’s Webinar participant: “I wanted to send a quick note of gratitude for your “Campus Visit” webinar this past February. I’m delighted to share that I had a day-long, remote campus visit at the end of February, and was offered the position I applied for with Oregon State University! I will be teaching for their Human Development and Family Sciences department as a full-time instructor this Fall 2021. After 20 years of mostly being an adjunct and my first time applying to anything other than an ‘instructor pool,’ this felt like a huge victory! Thanks again and here’s to a success story! Your training was great!”
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