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Postdoc Issues

Ivory Tower in The Rearview Mirror: Dr. Rachel Horak

By Kel Weinhold | March 3, 2020

We continue with our new column, featuring interviews with PhDs who have charted a course unrelated to the tenure track, putting academia squarely in the rearview mirror. Our hope is that seeing and hearing from a wide range of PhDs who are … [Read more...] about Ivory Tower in The Rearview Mirror: Dr. Rachel Horak

Filed Under: Goodbye Ivory Towers, Post-Ac Free-Lancing and Small Business, Post-Ac Job Search, Postdoc Issues, Rearview Mirror

Ivory Tower In the Rear-View Mirror – Dr. Ben Dumbauld

By Karen Kelsky | February 13, 2020

This month we introduce our new column, "Ivory Towers In The Rearview Mirror," featuring interviews with PhDs who have charted a course unrelated to the tenure track, putting academia squarely in the rearview mirror. It will go up every Tuesday. … [Read more...] about Ivory Tower In the Rear-View Mirror – Dr. Ben Dumbauld

Filed Under: Goodbye Ivory Towers, Post-Ac Job Search, Postdoc Issues, Quitting--An Excellent Option, Rearview Mirror

Dispatches From the Front: Dealing with a Difficult Dean/Chair

By Karen Kelsky | January 13, 2020

Welcome to our inaugural Dispatches From the Frontlines - our new weekly advice post based on the crowdsourced wisdom of our wonderful readers! Each Monday, we crowdsource a question we get from a reader on Facebook and Twitter with a link to a … [Read more...] about Dispatches From the Front: Dealing with a Difficult Dean/Chair

Filed Under: Dispatches, Postdoc Issues, Promote Yourself!, Publishing Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Surviving Assistant Professorhood, Tenure--How To Get It, Work/Life Balance in Academia

Interview with Karen Kaplan, Senior Careers Editor at Nature

By Karen Kelsky | September 6, 2019

Karen Kaplan reached out to share thoughts on the academic job market. We had a great conversation and I learned a lot about STEM career paths which I am already bringing to clients and audiences. Then, she kindly allowed me to persuade her to do … [Read more...] about Interview with Karen Kaplan, Senior Careers Editor at Nature

Filed Under: Advising Advice, Bad Advisors and Good Mentors, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Post-Ac Job Search, Postdoc Issues, Quitting--An Excellent Option, Strategizing Your Success in Academia

Buy My Book!

By Karen Kelsky | April 10, 2015

Love the blog? Now get it in handy book form--only $11.40!  Available for pre-order now--comes out August 4! Buy it at all these places! It also makes a great gift for all those struggling grad students in your life! For bulk orders for use … [Read more...] about Buy My Book!

Filed Under: Advising Advice, Alt-University Critique, Bad Advisors and Good Mentors, Book Proposals and Contracts, Graduate Student Concerns, How To Build Your Tenure File, How To Choose and Manage Recommenders, How To Do Conferences, How to Get Grants and Fellowships, How to Interview, How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, How To Write CVs, International Perspectives, Intersectional Analyses, Landing Your Tenure Track Job, Major Job Market Mistakes, Mental Health and Academia, Negotiating Offers, Ph.D. Poverty, Post-Ac Job Search, Postdoc Issues, Promote Yourself!, Publishing Issues, Quitting--An Excellent Option, Resumes & Postac Docs, Shame, Stop.Acting.Like.A.Grad.Student, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Surviving Assistant Professorhood, Teaching and Research Statements, Teaching Portfolios, Tenure--How To Get It, The Campus Visit, What Not To Wear, Work/Life Balance in Academia, Writing, Yes, You Can: Women in Academia, Your Second and Third Jobs

Don’t State the Obvious

By Karen Kelsky | January 16, 2015

There is a kind of line in job documents that is technically blameless, but is so generic, so very much "stating the obvious" that it also completely pointless.  This kind of line fills space while doing nothing to distinguish you in any way. The … [Read more...] about Don’t State the Obvious

Filed Under: How To Build Your Tenure File, How to Interview, How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Major Job Market Mistakes, Negotiating Offers, Postdoc Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, What Not To Wear, Writing

Managing Your Postdoc Year(s): Avoid These Mistakes (A Guest Post)

By Karen Kelsky | September 12, 2014

A few months ago I wrote a column in Chronicle Vitae about managing your time for a postdoc; the main point being, get your writing done!  A reader wrote to follow up and share her own story about failing to effectively manage her writing time on a … [Read more...] about Managing Your Postdoc Year(s): Avoid These Mistakes (A Guest Post)

Filed Under: Major Job Market Mistakes, Postdoc Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Writing

The European Project-Based Postdoc

By Karen Kelsky | May 30, 2014

I've worked with a handful of clients applying to project-based postdocs in Europe.  We've had some bumps in the road, as I had to learn the expectations of these postdocs.  A successful reader recently gave me a few pointers, which are below.  The … [Read more...] about The European Project-Based Postdoc

Filed Under: How to Get Grants and Fellowships, International Perspectives, Postdoc Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia

The Big Issue In Your Grant Proposal

By Karen Kelsky | September 13, 2013

In the Foolproof Grant Template I ask for an opening sentence or two that quickly engages the reader on the "big topic" of the research. My clients have a terrible time grasping what that opening should look like.  They've been so disciplined through … [Read more...] about The Big Issue In Your Grant Proposal

Filed Under: How to Get Grants and Fellowships, Postdoc Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Writing

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Topic vs. Contribution

By Karen Kelsky | August 30, 2013

When writing job letters clients often struggle to understand the distinction between their dissertation TOPIC and their dissertation CONTRIBUTION.  In the first dissertation paragraph you talk about the content of your dissertation--main argument, … [Read more...] about Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Topic vs. Contribution

Filed Under: How To Write Academic Job Cover Letters, Major Job Market Mistakes, Postdoc Issues, Strategizing Your Success in Academia, Teaching and Research Statements

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