Pearls of Wisdom–The Blog

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~~ “You tell the truth, you tell it well. In the crowded and fetid swamp that is the job market, that is oxygen.” – a reader

The_Professor_Is_In.inddLove the blog? Now get it in handy book form!

Buy it at all these places!

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It also makes a great gift for all those struggling grad students in your life!

For bulk orders for use in classes, seminars, and workshops, please call Crown Publishing  (Random House) Customer Service at 1-800-733-3000.

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MORE ABOUT THE BOOK

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D.  into their ideal job.

Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers.

Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including:

-When, where, and what to publish
-Writing a foolproof grant application
-Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV
-Acing the job talk and campus interview
-Avoiding the adjunct trap
-Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right

The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.

“If you would like your academic career to begin in delusion and end in disillusionment, then by all means, ignore Karen Kelsky. If, however, you want unvarnished straight talk about the academic job market—and how to navigate it—then heed her, and heed her now.” —Rebecca Schuman, education columnist for Slate.

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ABOUT THE BLOG

I post once a week, usually on Friday, on topics related to the academic job market, academic life and politics, general professionalization skills related to writing, publishing, conferencing, networking, and scholarly comportment, and the tenure process.

I also put up posts on the Post-Ac/Non-Ac job search by my Panel of Post-Ac Experts, on Monday or Tuesday.

Let me know if there’s a topic you want to see me post on!  I am always happy to put Special Requests into the queue. Comment here, or email me at: gettenure@gmail.com.

You can  always get to a particular Category by clicking it in the Categories column to the right.———>

Please note that as of January 2013  the rate of comments to this blog has exceeded my ability to respond individually to each one. I’m sorry that not all comments will get a personal response by Dr. Karen.  If you have a really pressing question, do consider getting in touch to get on my calendar to work together.  I strive to make services affordable to all.

Here’s a short glossary to help you follow the discussions in the blog:

  • TT– tenure track
  • VAP–visiting assistant professor (position)
  • ABD–all but dissertation (status)
  • SLAC–small liberal arts college
  • R1–top ranked research-intensive institution with Ph.D.-granting departments, such as University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan, etc.
  • R2–research institution with primarily MA-granting departments

Banish These Words: Sexism and Binarism Edition – Guest Post by Maggie Levantovskaya

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By Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya

Maggie Levantovskaya is one of our TPII editors, and a writer and adjunct professor based in the Bay Area.

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Let’s talk about sexist language in job application materials. I read countless cover letters, teaching statements, syllabi, postdoc proposals and other docs in my role as editor at The Professor Is In and I continue to encounter terms and phrases that either fit into the category of sexist language or reinforce binary gender norms. First of all, this is something that I see in documents by clients in various fields, though as you can imagine, some fields are bigger offenders than others.

I also find sexist and binary phrasing articulated by clients at all stages in their careers and of different ages. Maybe there is a generational pattern (I haven’t gathered the data) but I see PhD candidates who are clearly spending a lot of time in the classroom writing in ways that I know can be avoided.

Clients who are coming from cultural or linguistic contexts where such attention to language is not important or even frowned upon, have an even bigger challenge to learn how to be mindful about the heteropatriarchy of English.

To this end, here is a very short list of phrases and observations that can get folx started in excising at least some of the more egregious examples of sexism and binarism in their job docs and beyond. I’m hoping that others can add to it and keep the conversation going.

“Freshman”

Always shocked to see this one in 2018! We have the phrase “first-year student.”

“Man”

This is going to be hard for some of you to believe, but it’s still out there. Academics are still writing sentences like “We explore the problems that continue to define man,” in their teaching philosophies. Eeeek!

“His or her”

That seems inclusive, right? Well, it’s better than just saying “his” (still happens!). But the phrase also promotes binary views of gender. We have the plurals they / their. Let’s keep working on normalizing that usage for gender neutrality.

“Members of the opposite sex”

I mean, what do I even say!

I also give feedback on syllabi and I constantly see that clients do not say anything about preferred gender pronouns under course policies and rarely mention asking students about their preferred pronouns in teaching philosophies. I realize that syllabi are impossibly long these days, but adding a line like “My preferred pronouns are she/her. Please let me know what yours are and correct me if I ever get them wrong,” is not going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

I’m a teacher myself and I put my preferred pronouns into my email signature to signal to students that pronoun usage is not obvious and that we should respect each other’s preferences in this matter.

Another issue that I regularly encounter in client cover letters and teaching philosophies has to do with how they discuss teaching gender norms in the classroom. A lot of our clients teach students to challenge norms and I think that that’s great. The problem is that some of the descriptions of these methods appear, well, problematic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read clients discuss teaching gender by saying something in the vein of “I get students to see that gender is a construct by dressing like a member of the opposite gender and then reflecting on the experience” or “my assignment asks students to interview an LGBTQ+ person.” Some clients say the same thing about homeless, immigrants and other groups.

Now, I don’t know what these clients are actually doing with their students and my job is not to critique their teaching. However, when I see this, I advise clients to avoid language that gamifies gender and sexuality or treats queer people instrumentally and hope that this resonates beyond job doc editing.

There are so many resources about this stuff online! Teen Vogue is telling us how to be gender neutral and many other publications have extremely accessible guides on how to make spaces less hostile for non-binary folx.

It’s 2018. Let’s do better!

 

#MakeupMonday Guest Post: Everyday Eye Makeup for Monolids

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I’m delighted to present another in my ongoing series of guests posts contributed by black women and other women of color.  I always want more!  I welcome post drafts or ideas for posts for consideration; email me at gettenure@gmail.com. I pay $150 for accepted posts. The posts can be anonymous or not, as you prefer.  I welcome content on #MakeupMonday (the initial impetus was a Twitter follower asking for #MakeupMonday posts oriented toward women of color) as well as anything related to the academic and post-academic career.

Today’s post is by Wendy Laybourn; this is a followup (requested by me) to her earlier #MakeupMonday post, Finding My Asian-American Mirrors.

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I’m definitely no makeup artist, however I do have some tips and tricks for everyday makeup application that I’ve learned along the way. First let me acknowledge that what I may think of as “everyday eye makeup” may not be what you want for your daily routine. However, I will share some eye shadow application prep and application tips that will hopefully help you as you put together your eye makeup look.

For me, on a work day, I pretty much always do some sort of eye makeup – brows and mascara are bare minimum, that plus eye shadow is more typical. My entire makeup routine takes about 12 minutes, with eye makeup taking up a good portion of that time. I won’t go into my CC cream, blush, and highlighter routine here, but instead I’ll focus on the eyes, something that’s sadly taken me my entire life to learn.

The first thing about eyes, especially for monolids, is primer. Primer helps create a smooth, even foundation for the rest of your eye makeup, and it also ensures that your eye shadow will “pop” and last through the entire day. My favorite eye shadow primer is Urban Decay Primer Potion. You’ll want to apply a thin layer over your entire eyelid. It’s also a good idea to set your primer so there’s no creasing when you apply your eye shadow. This can be done by lightly sweeping a loose and/or translucent powder over your eyelid. I actually do not do this (even though I’m telling you to! Lol) and have never experience creasing or folding of my eye shadow but apparently it can happen.

Next I usually do my brows but since brows can be super personal in regards to shape, desired thickness, etc. I am going to leave the brows to you. Instead, I will jump right to eye shadow application. For this How To, I am going to discuss the gradient eye shadow technique. I find it’s super easy to do though it does require some dedicated time to do all of the blending.

The key thing to know about this eye shadow technique is your eye shadow brush movement. Instead of a window washer movement (side to side, left to right), you will use an upward and small circular motion moving towards the outer corner of your eyelid. This will draw your eye shadow up, from your lash line to underneath your brow bone (or where a crease would be if you had one).

The benefit of having a monolid is that you can keep your eye open as you apply your eye shadow. If you tilt your head back slightly, you will get that nice flat surface and be able to gauge where you are placing your eye shadow and where you want it to stop.

For the gradient eye shadow (you can also think of this as an ombré eye shadow), you’ll want two eye shadow colors – one lighter, maybe a shade darker than your skin tone for a natural look, and one darker, a dark brown works here, and this is the one that will help make your eye “pop” and create a smoky eye look. For my everyday work eyes, I’ve recently been using ColourPop’s “Give It To Me Straight” palette with “Downright” serving as my lighter color and “Actually” as my darker color. Another everyday eye combo is from my Tarteist Pro To Go mini palette. This palette is great because the six shades can be combined to achieve a variety of day or night looks. I use “Drive” for my lighter color and “Stylin” for my darker color.

Here I am with my eye primer already on and set (I did dust with a light coat of Laura Mercier loose translucent setting powder).

Dip your Sigma Blending brush (E25) or any firm, rounded eye shadow brush into your lighter eye shadow. Tap your brush to remove any excess. Press the color into your lash line, then begin your upward circular brush motion to draw the color up your eyelid. You will probably need to pick up more color, pressing it higher up your eyelid and then continuing to blend it upward until you’ve reached the area where your crease would be (or underneath your brow bone). The lighter color should cover your entire eyelid.

I have one eyelid with a light base color so you can see where I placed the eye shadow. I used “Drive” form my Tarteist Pro To Go palette.

You’ll repeat the same motions with your darker color, pressing the color into your lash line, then blending up, but not covering the entire lighter color (so not covering your entire eyelid). The idea is that you will create a gentle progression of color, which is why it’s so important to blend. You don’t want harsh lines separating the two colors. To achieve the soft gradation, you will want to use your Sigma Tapered Blending brush (E40) or any soft, fluffy tapered blending brush to blend out any potential harsh lines. When you use this brush, you can use the left to right, windshield wiper motion.

 

For my darker color, I used “Actually” from my ColourPop “Give It To Me Straight” palette.

Here it is with both eyes done.

 

I finished out both eyes and then did my brows, using Anastasia Dipbrow.

To brighten up your eye, you may want to highlight the inner corner of your eyes with a iridescent color, like “Up Front” from the “Give It To Me Straight” ColourPop palette.

You can use this technique, experimenting with your color combinations, to create as bold, dramatic, and colorful look as you’d like.

Next, you may want to apply eyeliner. While I do think liquid liner is generally more preferable due to the brush applicator, which allows you to make the perfect cat eye, and because of its more long-lasting and waterproof properties, I also really like Son & Park’s eyeliner pencil. Some of my favorite liquid liners are Clio’s Kill Black waterproof pen liner and Sigma’s Liquid Pen eyeliner.

Then, it’s time for mascara but first you gotta curl those lashes! The secret to getting that sky high curl, especially for our short and often unruly eyelashes, is to get an eyelash curler that follows the curve of your eyelid. You may think that all eyelash curlers are created equal but that’s not the case. Some eyelash curlers are super rounded, mimicking a more rounded eyelid. For monolids, our eyelid shape tends to be less round. So, you’ll want to get a less round eyelash curler, which will enable you to get very close to your eyelid and curl your eyelash closer to the lash line. Then, of course, give your lashes a couple more curls, one about midway down your eyelashes and then a brief curl at the tips of your eyelashes. Shiseido and Shu Uemura are both brands to check out.

Now for mascara. Honestly, I don’t have any super strong endorsements for mascara because I’m still trying to find one that I really love. I do suggest that you get a waterproof mascara. Actually, I insist. Again, because of our eye shape and eyelashes, you need a waterproof mascara to guard against smudging and running.

Voila! With your eye makeup complete, you are ready to take on the world!

My finished look. I did add Sephora Luxe False Eyelashes in “Quill” (because I’m trying out this false eyelash thing) and Touch in Sol Metallist gloss in “Lottie”.

**I must acknowledge Annie Haubenhofer (YouTube/IG: thecityinthesky) for teaching me the gradient eye shadow technique.

 

 

Product List:

Urban Decay Primer Potion https://www.urbandecay.com/shop/eyes/eyeshadow-primer

ColourPop “Give It To Me Straight” palette https://colourpop.com/products/give-it-to-me-straight

Tarteist Pro To Go palette https://tartecosmetics.com/en_US/collections/tarte-to-go-travel/tarteist-pro-to-go-palette/953.html

Sigma Blending brush (E25) https://www.sigmabeauty.com/e25-blending-chrome.html

Sigma Tapered Blending brush (E40) https://www.sigmabeauty.com/e40-tapered-blending.html

Clio’s Kill Black waterproof pen liner https://sokoglam.com/products/clio-waterproof-pen-liner

Sigma’s Liquid Pen eyeliner https://www.sigmabeauty.com/liquid-pen-eyeliner-wicked.html

Shiseido eyelash curler https://www.shiseido.com/eyelash-curler-0729238500969.html

Shu Uemura eyelash curler https://www.shuuemura-usa.com/4935421350853.html#q=eye+lash+curler&start=1

Anastasia Dipbrow https://www.anastasiabeverlyhills.com/dipbrow-pomade-waterproof-color-brow-sculpt/dipbrow-pomade.html

Sephora Luxe False Eyelashes in Quill https://www.sephora.com/product/luxe-false-lash-P397401?skuId=1698331

Touch in Sol Metallist gloss https://touchinsol-us.com/collections/featured/products/metallist-liquid-foil-glitter-shadow-duo?variant=4146951749660

Laura Mercier Loose Translucent Setting Powder https://www.lauramercier.com/set-with-powder/translucent-loose-setting-powder-prod12321001.html?shades=AllShades&color=Translucent

 

#MakeupMonday: Finding My Asian American Mirrors – Guest Post

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I’m delighted to present another guest post in my series by black women and other women of color.  I always want more!  Please submit a post or an idea for a post for consideration, at gettenure@gmail.com. I pay $150 for accepted posts. The posts can be anonymous or not, as you prefer.  I welcome content on #MakeupMonday (the initial impetus was a Twitter follower asking for #MakeupMonday posts oriented toward women of color) as well as anything related to the academic and post-academic career.

Today’s writer, Dr. Wendy Laybourn, is a recent University of Maryland Ph.D.  This fall she began her first tenure-track position in the Department of Sociology at the University of Memphis (her undergrad alma mater!). Her research examines racial and ethnic identity formation, particularly the effects of cross-racial interactions, as well as racialization, and media. Most recently, her book with Devon Goss entitled, Diversity in Black Greek Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line, was published this summer with Routledge.

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By Wendy Laybourn

On campus in IT Cosmetics’ Your Skin But Better CC Cream; skin flawless despite the intense heat!

For most of my life, makeup has been a struggle. I came of age in the 90s and while all my classmates were experimenting with makeup in middle school, I felt lost. Seventeen, Young & Modern, and Cosmo Girl! were the go to resources for seemingly every aspect of teen girlhood, but as an Asian American girl certain aspects just didn’t resonate – especially when it came to the latest makeup trends and tutorials.

Every makeup How To was focused on eye shadow placement with reference to the eyelid crease, but as a person with a monolid I was stumped. Though eye shadow was impossible, I still tried to give mascara a try. But, even then, I found that I couldn’t quite get that right either. With tiny lashes that curled out, under, down, any way but up, mascara seemed to find its way to all the wrong places.

It didn’t help that I was virtually the only Asian American in my class. Compounding my makeup quandaries was the fact that I was adopted by a white family. This meant that no one knew how to approach the makeup issue with me – not friends, not friends’ moms, and not my own family. Over time, I learned that makeup was just not for me.

At my favorite local coffee shop, wearing Becca Liptuitive Glow Lip Gloss.

While college is often the time for coming into your own and meeting co-ethnic peers (especially for Asian adoptees), this was not the case for me. Since I attended my hometown university and since my hometown had an almost insignificant Asian American population, there was still no way for me to join my girlfriends in the nightly routine of getting glammed up for going out… or at least not in a way that naturally accentuated my features.

The internet explosion revolutionized how I saw myself – not only because Asian Americans, like other communities of color, used online platforms like YouTube to create alternative programming featuring Asian Americans and centering Asian American experiences, but also specifically because of the beauty vlogging world. It was here that I was introduced to folks like Michelle Phan, Jenn Chae (From Head to Toe), and Claire Marshall (Hey Claire), among others.

Off-campus work day, in ColourPop crème formula in Julep

While I knew that my eye shadow placement would be different than folks with a double eyelid, until seeing their makeup videos it never occurred to me that there would be different types and sizes of tapered, rounded, and domed eye shadow brushes that would be most appropriate for smaller eyelids and monolids.

Most recently I attended a Korean adoptee conference where a fellow Korean adoptee and makeup artist, Annie Haubenhofer (YouTube/IG: thecityinthesky), presented a hands-on workshop for eye makeup application. That workshop changed my (makeup) life. Now I almost always wear a full face of makeup with the confidence that I am doing so in a way that best emphasizes my features. After spending most of my life, not seeing myself reflected in magazines, media, or in my social settings, being able to present a glammed up face to the person in the mirror and the world is long overdue.

 

Product list:

Sigma brushes – Good quality at a decent mid-range price (around $15-20 per brush). Plus, they are ideal for smaller lids. I first learned about these brushes from watching Jenn (From Head to Toe), where she recommended them because of the size and density of the bristles. All of my everyday eye shadow brushes are Sigma brushes.

ColourPop – I’ve recently fallen in love with ColourPop. Their eye shadow palettes are gorgeous and with the price range ($12-25), they’re an inexpensive way to experiment with new colors. I also really like their lip colors – vibrant and long-lasting.

BECCA Liptuitive Glow Lip Gloss – For the days when you just want a touch of natural color. The Liptuitive Glow Lip Gloss enhances your natural lip color (or intensifies any lip color you might be wearing) and provides a high shine.

IT Cosmetics’ Your Skin But Better CC cream – I love the light but buildable coverage of this CC cream. And, I can attest to its staying power. Even in the Southern heat and humidity, it does not budge. (Of course, I use a primer before application, which also helps.)

SokoGlam Dr. G sunscreen – Sunscreen is an absolute must! I use Dr. G Brightening Up Sun SPF 50. Even if your CC cream has SPF, which IT Cosmetics’ does, the amount of product needed to achieve full coverage is probably much, much more than you typically use. Ensure you are getting proper sun protection by using a separate sunscreen.

SokoGlam Banila CO Clean It Zero oil cleanser – Once I started using oil cleansers I could not go back to any other kind. Banilla CO Clean It Zero cleansers are my favorite and there are three different formulas to choose from depending on your skin type.

A nice alternative is L’Occitaine’s shea butter cleansing oil

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade – On the rare days that I don’t do a full face, I always at bare minimum do my brows (and of course wear sunscreen!).

 

 

Knowing When to Leave: Lessons from an Academically Unaffiliated Life – A Guest Post

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I am delighted to offer another guest post contributed in response to my recent call for contributions to the blog by black women and other women of color.

If you’d like to submit a post or an idea for a post for consideration, email me at gettenure@gmail.com. I pay $150 for accepted posts. The posts can be anonymous or not, as you prefer. I welcome content on #MakeupMonday (the initial impetus was a Twitter follower asking for #MakeupMonday posts oriented toward women of color) as well as anything related to the academic and post-academic career.

Today’s author is Dr. Jacinta R. Saffold.  Dr. Saffold is a Mellon ACLS Public Fellow at the Association of American Colleges and Universities where she serves as the Associate Director for Diversity, Equity, and Student Success. She received her B.A. in African American Studies and Educational Studies from Emory University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in African American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her postdoctoral fellowship work focuses on building Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation campus centers with colleges and universities across the United States and is working on her manuscript, Books and Beats: The Cultural Kinship of Street Lit and Hip Hop.

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“Getting a PhD is a journey” and “You must trust the process” are two of the many mantras I heard in preparation for entering and during my first years of graduate school. While these intentionally vague declarations tend to be universally true, they do not account for the personal nature that journeys to the PhD take on nor that your trust must also be placed in yourself to make the best decisions possible.

I am a Mellon ACLS Public Fellow working at the Association of American Colleges and Universities with a PhD in African American Studies. My path here has been quite a circuitous path of scholarly and extra-academic pursuits. For each time I chose to focus on alt-ac endeavors, my mentors from academe heavily cautioned and at times, flat out demanded that I did not.

In my third year of graduate school, I defended my dissertation prospectus, packed up, moved my whole life 300 miles, and started a new full time job in the span of three days. Aside from my amazing dissertation director who empowered me to trust my vision for my work and life, my decision to leave residence was met with dizzying statistics about failure to complete outside of home departments. I was given pessimistic advice to stay focused on the degree and not get distracted from an actual livable wage or job security.

My decision to leave was two-fold. One, I was miserable. I loved my program but hated living in a cold, rural, place. Two, my research needed a change of pace. My scholarly focus is on African American urban fiction and I was living in a remote, white college town. Within the first month of leaving residence, I was able to connect with one of the main authors my dissertation interrogated who had been ignoring my interview requests for YEARS. I was finally in the right place at the right time to attend one of his book readings. Seeing how he was willing to stay an additional three hours to answer all my questions and even provide me with his direct contact information for following-up affirmed my decision to leave amidst the overwhelming doubt I was letting seep in.

Knowing when it is better for you to leave than to stay is one of the biggest lessons I learned on my journey to the PhD. And trusting myself enough to stand in my decision showed the naysayers, but more importantly—me, that I was strong enough to get the degree on my own terms. Now, that is not to say that being academically homeless was without challenge.

Once my basic needs were meet—shelter, food, a life outside of my dissertation—I set about anchoring myself to academic spaces. I was on a mission to curate my own graduate school structure. I went to the nearest research universities and asked them to add me to the graduate student listservs for English, African American Studies, and any other field related to my work. I wanted to ensure that I was informed about all potential resources and could attend relevant events that would inform my thinking as a scholar. Next, I put myself on a research and writing timeline. It was unrealistic to set daily writing goals due to the unpredictable nature of college admission and recruitment. And at that point my day job took precedence over writing because… well… bills. But, I could reasonably commit to weekly completion targets.

I was a relentless self-advocate. I unabashedly asked questions about free or low-cost resources. I needed to know how to access university and public resources as a visitor. I came to know and deeply appreciate that many of the research-intensive universities with sizable endowments allow independent scholars to pay for access to their physical and digital repositories. They also may let allow unaffiliated persons to access their 24-hour libraries and other study spaces on campus. I took pride in searching for the best local coffee and tea shops with fast wifi and plentiful outlets. Just being in a space where other people were getting work done with thoughts and words helped my brain cooperate with my fingers and keyboard.

The best thing I did in my first year out of residence was to split the time outside of my 9 to 5 between my dissertation and applying for completion fellowships. I felt myself coming undone at the pace I had to maintain to work full time and stay on track for on-time degree completion.

As fate would have it, I was awarded a Woodrow Wilson dissertation completion grant—untethered money that allowed me to write without “distractions.” I couldn’t have been more ecstatic and relieved.  But the grant meant that I would remain academically homeless for the rest of graduate school. I wouldn’t get opportunities to gain additional teaching experience, work on an article under a senior scholar, or get hands on support for the academic job market. It also meant that I would have to believe in myself enough to walk away from a stable paycheck (that allowed me to get an extra side of guacamole with no hesitation) for the small hope of landing a job after graduation.

Knowing these things and the precariousness of the academic job market, I began seeking out non-academic teaching and mentorship opportunities that would translate well on my CV or guide me towards a career of my choosing. I asked for virtual support from my home institution on writing an article for a peer review journal. I took advantage of the job market resources offered at national conferences in my field and I got in my car and drove the 300 miles back to my program when too many of my emails and phone calls went unanswered. I figured out what I could do on my own, where I needed support, and I was relentless in my pursuit of both.

In the end, I had such pride in knowing that I defined my journey. I knew the best thing I did was refusing to accept the choice between circumstances that were slowly deteriorating my spirit or walking away from my dream of being a PhD. Leaving got me to the PhD. Knowing when it was time to leave got me to self-empowerment.

Say No To the Functional Resume – Guest Post by #Postac Coach Darcy Hannibal

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Dr. Darcy Hannibal

By TPII Post-ac Coach Dr. Darcy Hannibal

A functional resume provides all the details of your skills and accomplishments at the beginning of your resume and separate from your employment history, usually separated into job category function subheadings. This is then followed by a work experience section that just gives the basic employment information (employer, job title, dates) and, lastly, the education section. By contrast, the chronological resume has a section on work experience, in reverse chronological order, with the skills relevant to each job described under the basic employment information for that job. This is then followed by the education section.

When someone asks me for resume advice, they often either present me with a draft resume in a functional format or ask my opinion of this format. When I ask them where they heard about it or got this advice, it is usually from a well-meaning career counselor or the website at their university’s career center.

If you go to your university’s career center, they will likely provide many varied and ornately crafted sample resumes as guides. Most of these are an over-formatted and disorganized mess to read for a hiring supervisor. If you are someone who likes looking at resumes all day and coming up with new and interesting ways to format a resume, then I can see how a functional resume seems like a simple solution to help a client with their work history insecurities. But it’s a mistake.

The audience for your resume is prospective supervisors and most of them do not enjoy reading resumes and cover letters. The resume is just a means to an end—finding the best candidate for the job. They want to get through it as quickly and painlessly as possible, so they can get on with other more pressing duties that are a much larger portion of their job.

A functional resume is a pain to read for a prospective supervisor, so my policy is I do not work with clients who insist on using one. It is never, ever, a good idea and here is why:

  • Functional resumes are an immediate red flag to an experienced hiring supervisor because:
  1. This format is often used by someone trying to hide that it has been a loooooong time since they’ve used the skills needed for the job. Sometimes that is not a problem, but it depends on how much things have changed in key skills areas.
  2. The applicant doesn’t want to do the work of describing their skillset, showing me the depth of each skill (evidenced in the work history) and how they match this particular job.
  3. OR they don’t really have any jobs where they used much, if any, of these skills. They are just listing a bunch of skills or interests because they want to make it look like they match the job ad, when in fact they don’t. They are applying for jobs they want, but are not qualified to fill.
  • When it comes time to check references, hiring managers need to be able to connect each of your referees with a job and the associated skills in your resume to determine what each referee should know about the applicant’s experience. If they can’t do that for a particular section of your work history they want to verify, they might ask you for information from an additional referee they can talk to. A functional resume completely disconnects your skills from your work history.
  • If the job requires that the candidate have a lot of depth in certain skill areas (performed and cultivated in multiple jobs over time), then the history of that depth is completely absent.
  • You are making your prospective supervisor’s job hard. And on a task they just want to get through as quickly as possible, so they can move on to other tasks that are more pressing and more fun. Why would they want to hire you if you’re making them spend too much time finding out whether you fit the job? I want to hire people who make my job easier, not harder.

As I hiring supervisor, I often see #3 above. As a post-ac coach with TPII, however, our clients are almost always in category #1 and #2. If you’re in category #1 or #2, my advice is to carefully articulate your skillsets within each job title you’ve had so that it shows how you match the qualifications of the job you are applying for. If you are at a loss as to how to do that, then working with one of TPII’s career coaches is a great way to learn how. If you are in category #3, you are applying for the wrong jobs. You need to apply for jobs (or use your current job, volunteer work, or additional training) to build the skillsets that will make you competitive for the jobs you ultimately want. Sometimes these are lower-level jobs and sometimes they are adjacent jobs, needing skills you currently have, but with opportunities to build the skills you need.

It is hard work to get past the work history insecurities you are feeling with a post-academic career transition, but TPII clients are typically more employable than they give themselves credit for. The functional resume is often such an appealing crutch that I have a hard time convincing people how much it hurts them. So, if you’re still not convinced, please do an internet search for other articles on functional resumes. You’ll find some writers opposed to them and some for them. Oddly, many who are for them, somehow get past their opening descriptions of a functional resume without realizing they should change their article from a “how-to” into a “why you should never submit a functional resume.”

Sometimes people get interviews or jobs despite crappy job documents, but usually only if their awesomeness is hard to hide no matter how bad the documents were put together. And, honestly, most people in an applicant pool have job documents that range from mediocre to awful. Someone with great job documents really stands out, even if they don’t have all the skills.

#MakeupMonday: Brush Love

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One core makeup product I’ve never blogged about is makeup brushes.  I’ve been ambivalent about brushes and for the first couple years of my makeup experimentation, basically didn’t really put any effort into buying them, and just used whatever I had laying around.

Then I started following Ijeoma Oluo on Twitter. Aside from her incredible work on racism (read her book: So You Want to Talk About Race), she is also a dedicated makeup practitioner and shares her looks almost daily.

Ijeoma Oluo

I think it was this one that was the turning point for me.

I studied it, and I thought—my eye makeup does not look like that. Not just because I can’t even begin to pull off such a dramatic look, obviously, but also because, holy shit, I AM NOT BLENDING MY EYE SHADOW NEARLY ENOUGH.

It was a bit of a wakeup call. I realized I’d been just slapping on the shadow, vaguely squishing it around, and running out the door.

I decided to get some decent brushes. Because of my basic policy of starting inexpensively until I’m sure I’m truly invested, I went straight to my trusty TJ Maxx, and bought what looked like a reasonably good set of like 8 Kensie brushes, mainly for eyes.  That’s Kensie, lol, not Kenzie – ie, it’s a cheap knockoff brand.  It was about $16 and I have to tell you, they’ve been fantastic.

<–This is the brush that changed my life and made me a believer. It’s a “puffy” brush on a small eyelid scale (it’s about .5 inch across), and I use it to blend and blend and blend  – and it’s entirely changed my look.

I don’t have great before and after shots, but these two below should give you a sense (caveat: the one on the left was SUPPOSED to be super vivid and dramatic, but even so).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a bit of time I went to Ulta and Target, and invested in decent quality (but not exorbinant [brands: It for Ulta and Sonia Kashuk) big puffy brushes for the face since I was starting to experiment with setting powder, which is a tricky product!

After a bit more time, I started digging through Ulta Clearance shelves and TJ Maxx and Grocery Outlet for discount name-brand brushes at a great price.

Here are my game-changers below.  I’ll walk through them left to right.

Far left, a Revlon Eyeshadow Brush – found for $2.99 at Grocery Outlet.  A fantastic crease brush; it’s tapered at top to fit in the crease, with a great length and heft and pointy handle (I LOVE POINTY HANDLES BECAUSE THEY FIT INTO MY BRUSH HOLDER!) I adore it and went back with Miyako to buy 3 more! (2 for her and 2 for me, one as my backup and one to stay in my travel kit permanently).

Second from left: the foundation brush that changed my life.  Japonesque, found on clearance at Ulta, that through some sorcery of shape and density, has entirely transformed my foundation (Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue) application. I was already using a different Earth Therapeutics foundation brush that looked like this and was fine –>

But the new one is significantly better. And I’ve learned, a bit to my surprise, that no brush purchase so far has ever been a mistake. Each one has been an improvement on what i used before, and each one  – as long as its chosen carefully – serves a distinct function and produces a distinct effect. That’s been one of my biggest shocks of this whole makeup experience, tbh.

Anyway, third from left: a Stila contouring brush I scored at TJ Maxx for $6. (NORMALLY $38!!!)  I bought it for the small angled end more than the wide end and it has been terrific for precise contouring.

In the middle–my happy, happy, joy, joy eyeshadow blending brush inspired by Ijeoma Oluo, which I delight in using daily.

Third from right, the puffy brush from the Kensie set, which I use for final blending of blush and contour.  The quality deficit of cheap brushes shows at larger sizes. It doesn’t have much heft and isn’t adequate for anything but blending–but as we know, blending is crucial!

Second from right, my newest addition: a Japonesque powder brush with uneven bristles that has transformed my powder experience.  The unevenness of the bristles means that the brush doesn’t pick up too much powder, which bleaches out my face in a thick layer, but has enough bulk underneath to be able to blend the powder effectively. It’s quite ingenious! Found for $5 at Ulta Clearance.

And far right–my most expensive brush purchase, the big powder blush made by It for Ulta, which I thought was going to be awesome for powder but turns out to grab way too much for my taste, and deliver it on the skin much too thickly. So right now, this brush is just hanging out, waiting for its next mission. I sometimes use it for whole-face final blending.

The interesting thing about brushes is that even more than makeup, I find I come back to them again and again, as I learn new techniques. So, I never throw away a brush. Just this past week I’ve dug out three old brushes to use with new eyebrow, lip, and concealer techniques I’ve been experimenting with.

Brushes also require upkeep!

There is a nifty rough spongy item that you can find around (TJ Maxx always has them for about $3.99) that you can rub brushes on to shake out powders when you want to switch colors without starting a new brush.

I also have an ELF daily brush spray that I definitely do not use daily, but do use on occasion when I want to quickly clean out a brush to use it again with an entirely new color. I don’t love it because of the strong cheap scent; I want a better daily spray. Send recommendations!

And every month or so I do a major brush wash. It’s supposed to be done weekly, but whatever. This is the set up. You wash them using the brush wash you can get at Target or wherever, using this corrugated pad that is sold anywhere there is makeup (TJ Maxx, $3.99) and let them dry overnight, facing downward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway,  to conclude: I just want you to know: brushes matter. They all do different things, in a different way, and achieve different effects. Quality matters to a degree, but I’m still not sure why a person needs a $100 (or more!) brush.  Use them to apply and most of all, to BLEND. And last, speaking of soft fuzzy things, my bunnies are the cutest!

Penelope

Morris

Feminist Elites and Patriarchal Solidarity – Guest Post by Maggie Levantovskaya

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By TPII Editor Dr. Maggie Levantovskaya

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As an editor at The Professor Is In, I have closely followed #MeTooPhD movement started by Karen Kelsky. She coined the hashtag and opened a crowdsourcing survey to give the opportunity to people who experienced harassment and assault in academia to share their stories. Despite their triggering content, I read many of the stories on the survey, which received over 1378 submissions in its first week.

Therefore, I was not surprised that one of Karen’s conclusions was that the document exposed “the sheer force of patriarchal solidarity in keeping powerful men insulated from consequences, and thus able to continue harassing tens or hundreds of victims over decades (and as bell hooks says: patriarchy has no gender, meaning, powerful women often support abusive patriarchal academic structures that victimize junior women).”

When Karen presented this analysis on her blog, in December, 2017, the case of Avital Ronell was not yet in the news.

Kelsky could not have known the extent to which the Ronell incident would lay bare women’s complicity in maintaining academia’s hierarchies by protecting the accused who occupy positions of power, regardless of their gender identification.

When coverage of Ronell’s case exploded in the blogosphere, it focused on a leaked draft of a letter of support authored by Judith Butler and signed by such prominent scholars as Catharine Stimpson and Emily Apter. It is now well known that the letter made appeals to the NYU administration, citing Ronell’s “grace,” “wit,” and “international standing and reputation,” all the while admitting a lack of familiarity with the Title IX case. Not surprisingly, bloggers and journalists were eager to frame this as a story about feminist hypocrisy. Indeed the language in the letter echoes the kind of defense seen in cases of famous men in and outside the academy. A headline in The New York Times read, “What Happens to #MeToo when a Feminist Is the Accused?” As a contingent faculty member, I could not help but want to rewrite it as “What Happens to #MeToo when a White Elite Female Academic with Famous Friends Is the Accused?” wordy as it is. The signatories of Butler’s letter teach at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Berkeley, Cornell, Northwestern, Emory, Rutgers, Texas, and NYU, among other highly ranked institutions. None of those who signed identified themselves as adjuncts. The roster alone suggests to me that the defense of Ronell was not merely about feminist hypocrisy but also about the failure of knowledge transference by those in power.

I expect theorists like Judith Butler, Gayatri Spivak and Cathy Caruth to carefully think about a letter before penning it or signing it. I expect them to see how problematic it is to try and influence an institution based on one’s rank and network of established academics. I expect them to critically examine how race, gender, sexuality, class, and employment status, shape one’s allegiances and political battles. In her letter to The Chronicle, Butler almost acknowledges these things, but does not get there. She admits that “attribut[ing] motives to the complainant” and evoking Ronell’s “reputation” were problematic rhetorical moves. Butler also regrets using her status as president-elect of the MLA, but it is important to note that she does so in the context of a circulating petition calling for her resignation. What Butler seems to miss is the problem of writing such a letter in the first place: of using a network of prominent scholars to influence a university in meting out punishment for a Title IX violation without knowing the facts of the case. Butler’s letter to the Chronicle, in this way, fails to acknowledge the patriarchal solidarity asserted by her initial petition to NYU.

Questions of solidarity – whom it includes and for what causes – are pressing ones in today’s academia. As Benjamin Balthaser writes in a comment on my FB page, “I’ve been thinking about all the forms of faculty solidarity we desperately need right now in the face of budget cuts, casualization, attacks on affirmative action… and I’m frankly disappointed that scholars I respect such as Butler and Spivak frame solidarity as the defense of a celebrity scholar against a graduate student.” In other words, there is a problem of knowledge transference if feminist scholars and activists are eager to rally around the cause of one tenured academic at a prestigious, private institution on the basis of friendship in the context of adjunctification and the systematic dismantling of public education in the US. That this is a story about power and the failure to engage in intersectional feminist analysis has now been underscored by a number of intellectuals, some of them voicing their critiques on social media. As Kyla Wazana Tompkins states in a Twitter thread, “I care that amid the defense of white female queer theorists, I spend half my life talking to women of color academics who are f*cking exhausted and stuck in jobs or situations that are abusive and they are trying to manage their rage, and stay productive and intact, and deal with health issues and family and the everyday psychic violence of it all and in the midst of it, this dynastic drama, of friends defending friends is hard to see.” In a piece in The New Inquiry, Keguro Macharia notes that this is a story about rank and in-group bias and the question of who gets folded into the “we” evoked by Ronell’s defenders.

Butler and other defenders still seem unaware that, in this instance, power and institutional privilege are working together to create familiar “with us or against us” divisions. Ronell’s defenders have publicly admitted to signing Butler’s letter “to support a friend I’ve known for 30 years” and “to testify to the respect I have for Avital and her work.” Ironically Spivak has said “[l]oyalty gets in the way of the law,” while refusing to explain her signature. Elites are closing ranks in exactly the way they’re supposed to condemn. The students, contingent faculty, and tenure-track faculty who depend on them for tenure letters, and much more, are compelled to join, stay silent or risk careers in academia. And so it becomes clear yet again that patriarchal solidarity is not only for cis men. Scholars protected by celebrity status and tenure can leave theory at the door when powerful friends are in trouble, which is why we urgently need #MeTooPhD.

 

Encountering Racism in the Faculty Lounge – A Guest Post

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I am delighted to offer another guest post contributed in response to my recent call for contributions to the blog by black women and other women of color.

If you’d like to submit a post or an idea for a post for consideration, email me at gettenure@gmail.com. I pay $150 for accepted posts. The posts can be anonymous or not, as you prefer. I welcome content on #MakeupMonday (the initial impetus was a Twitter follower asking for #MakeupMonday posts oriented toward women of color) as well as anything related to the academic and post-academic career.

Dr. Shahla Khan is an author, blogger and YouTuber when she isn’t teaching or researching. Life forced her to convert to feminism and she never looked back since.

She tweets from @ShahlaSparkle.

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So, this happened in 2010.

I was 23, a second-year Ph.D. Fellow and also a part-time lecturer at the university that shall not be named for some boring legal reasons.

The university building was divided into student area and staff area. There were 4 floors and each floor had classes on the left and faculty offices on the right. Not sure if every university has this privacy feature but the only faculty could enter the faculty area (as the doors would need a card barcode to open).

One fine afternoon I was in the faculty lounge waiting for some papers to be printed off of the common printer. As there were plenty of them, I sat by the lounge sofa and began reading one of the academic magazines. A colleague arrived to fill water in his bottle by the nearby kitchen sink. I looked up, smiled and descended back to the world of academic luster.

Suddenly I heard him “hi”. I looked up and responded “hello” thinking this would lead to some small talk.

He had a stern look on his face as he questioned: “you know this part of the lounge is for faculty only, right?”

I didn’t get the implication yet but naively affirmed “yes of course” and went back to my magazine.

He interrupted me again “which means no student is allowed in here, for any reason unless with a faculty member?”

Now puzzled, I respond “yes”.

At this point, I felt the discomfort of this guy about me being there quite strongly.

And then it dawns on me, he thinks I am a student!

Before he blurted out other questions with disgust, I showed him the lanyard and the card it held.

As he looked at the card, his face turned red realizing that he misbehaved with a colleague who is a woman of color. The bias just spat across the whole room.

To me, this was unpleasant, certainly disrespectful, but hardly a surprise. I am asked over and over again to prove my identity, show my documents and fight to be in a place because I am a woman of color. My other British and European counterparts, unsurprisingly have never once talked about any such thing happen to them. They just belong.

If you think this was bad, he added, after pausing for the redness from his face to calm,

“you know it’s a compliment, right?”

I get the vibe of an expensive Dior Rouge lipstick being put on a pig, but I ask hesitatingly  “sorry, what?”

And with that weird look on his face he says “you know, I thought that you were a student because you are so young and good looking…”

At this point, I don’t utter a word because frankly, I couldn’t think of a decent way to respond to this piece of #’!& but I have that look in my eyes that roughly translated to ‘seriously dude, WTF’!

I assumed he got the message because his pathetic smile transformed into a fearful look as he rushed to leave the room.

Within a matter of a few minutes, my entire experience of academia was reduced to two stereotypes. First that as a woman of color, I need to prove my worth at every spot, even at the lounge where others just hang out. And second, that this privileged ignorant idiot thought that I would take it as a compliment if he called me young and student looking. The first one was racist and the second one was sexist.

Women have hard enough time in academia and other professional fields to be taken seriously. And then there are people like him who think that calling a fellow colleague young (outer appearance) would make up for the fact that he just misbehaved with me.

I know that many people won’t even see the first act as misbehavior as he just wanted to know if a student was hanging out in the staff lounge. But this is awfully painful because this is a pattern and not a single incident. When you look at this from the other side of the table, only then you feel the depravity of it. And while I politely I assured him that I was aware that students were not allowed in the faculty lounge, he still continued to pester me.

Am I supposed to forget that my academic worth and right to belong was questioned just because he called me ‘young and good looking’ before he left? Is that all female academics aspire to be? Put the brains in the bin and just dress hotter?

Our society puts this pressure on women to look younger and sexier and then punishes and mocks us for being vain and dumb. For women of color this gets worse because we are either ‘exotic’ or ‘uncivilized/unworthy’. And neither of these are helpful when you are out there to be an academic. It is like asking if the ripeness of a tomato would help fuel the rocket.

 

#MakeupMonday: Nail Polish as Mindfulness – Guest Post

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I’m pleased to share this guest post sent in by Dr. Katy Peplin for #MakeupMonday!  I always welcome guest posts and pitches for posts on any aspect of makeup, skin care, nail polish, etc.  Email me at gettenure@gmail.com.
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By Dr. Katy Peplin
Dr. Katy Peplin earned her PhD from the Department of Film, Television and Media at the University of Michigan in 2016. She works as a coach, editor, and writer specializing in graduate student support. You can read more about her at katypeplin.com, or on Twitter at @katypeplincoach.  Product recommendations below!
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I have never been a particularly make-up focused person – I’ll wear some mascara if the mood strikes, I had a brief love affair with bright lipstick – but my love of nail polish is legendary. I’ve got an entire Ikea cart in my office filled with bottles (collected over time, and nail polish never spoils, so it’s *an investment*) and people regularly give me nail polish bottles as gifts. But what they don’t know is that nail polish is actually as much a mental health tool as it is personal adornment.

Now, I have strange body chemistry that means that even the most long-wearing nail polish, no matter how professionally applied, will peel off my nails in big sheets soon after I apply it. I’m lucky to get 24 hours out of a manicure before it chips, so I long abandoned having my nails done in a salon. Mere mortals might decide that the universe does not want them to have painted nails, but not me. I paint my nails a few times a week, which lets me change the color often, and experiment with bold finishes (and often glitter) frequently.

Glitter. Always glitter.

During my PhD, I was struggling with some pretty severe anxiety. I would be writing, and a negative thought spiral would begin (insert all the imposter syndrome, self confidence destroying thoughts you can think of here!) and pretty soon, I’d be paralyzed, unable to type but also unwilling to give up on my work. When discussing this with my therapist, they asked me to brainstorm other activities I could do to occupy my hands while my brain got itself back into a state of balance. And thus, my ritual of mindfully painting my nails was born.

I’d paint my nails whenever my brain was spinning too fast and the writing was suffering. I’d paint my nails when an email from a student came through that had me through the roof with anger, giving me a break before I could reply in a more measured way. I would pick a color that made me feel particularly powerful (blood red! Navy with gold flecks! Shiny patent leather black!) while I thought about how I wanted to approach an upcoming committee meeting. I’d take deep breaths while focusing on the curve of my nail bed, the evenness of my application, watching the flow of the polish, and that was usually enough to get me back into a place where I felt just a little bit more control.

When your cat supervises your archival copy receipts and nail painting sessions

I was never the kind of person that took to meditating, so painting my nails became that mindful moment in my day that I needed. Waiting for your nails to dry? Perfect time to reflect on your day so far, and adjust your schedule. Don’t want to smudge your nails? Try reading through your drafts, or free writing, to reacquaint yourself with your own thinking. Having wet nails is the perfect excuse to take a break and bring yourself back into balance, to focus on your body, your mind, your priorities.

Academic culture can make it feel like taking a break, even to stretch your legs or grab a glass of water, steals time away from the work. But taking 20 or 30 minutes to slow down made me a better grad student. It allowed for some clarity in my writing, rather than pushing through the anxiety to write whatever muddled thing was on my mind, just to hit the word count goal. Having wet nails saved me from writing rude responses to emails, something my colleagues and students surely appreciated. Taking little breaks to do something just for me was a tiny act of resistance that said “yes, I know that painting my nails doesn’t get my dissertation done any faster, but it does make me happier and more balanced when I do it, and honestly, that’s more important.”

Maybe for you this is taking 20 minutes in the morning to do a more elaborate face of makeup while you really focus on your breathing and the music you’re playing and the day ahead of you. Maybe it’s starting the go to bed routine 20 minutes earlier so you can really take care of your skin. But building in time to rest your mind, reconnect with the present moment, and show your body a little love too? That’s the kind of everyday practice that helps you feel human and academic at the same time.

Recommendations:

My favorite quick-drying, high shine top coat

My favorite base coat

My go-to brand for on trend colors, with drugstore availability!

The best neon nail polish brand, if you’re into dangerously bright nails

My splurge brand

 

Always Have a Side Hustle, and Other Lessons I Learned from Academia (Part 2) – Guest Post

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I am delighted to offer this guest post contributed in response to my recent call for contributions to the blog by black women and other women of color. I am still enthusiastically welcoming draft posts and ideas/pitches – send them to me at gettenure@gmail.com. I pay $150 for accepted posts. The posts can be anonymous or not, as you prefer. I welcome content on #MakeupMonday (the initial impetus was a Twitter follower asking for #MakeupMonday posts oriented toward women of color) as well as anything related to the academic and post-academic career.

Dr. Nneka D. Dennie is a Consortium for Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Davidson College. She researches black intellectual history, black feminist thought, and black radicalism. When outside of the classroom, she enjoys cooking and playing soccer.

 

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Nneka D. Dennie, PhD

In part one of this series, I discussed the importance of having a side hustle and setting boundaries. In part two, I turn to networking, the dissertation, and productivity.

 

Network selectively.

I don’t think I know anyone who genuinely enjoys networking. Some of us may excel at it, but very few enjoy it. We’d probably rather sit at home in pajamas with our noses in books. (Am I projecting yet? Probably.) Alas, networking is vital to building mutually beneficial scholarly communities. Part of our charge as academics, particularly among those of us who study processes of oppression and liberation, is to ensure that our work reaches a broader audience. In order to do this, we need to connect with people who do what we do, as well as people who don’t.

First, I’ll address networking beyond faculty circles. This is where having a side hustle is valuable—working outside of traditional academic spaces grants access to untapped resources and audiences. Collaborating with community partners and university staff members creates a more equitable environment by encouraging intellectual exchange beyond classrooms and conferences. As we know, access to these spaces is often limited by structural inequalities derived from race, gender, class, and more. Furthermore, as scholars, we have things to learn from people who are not in academia. This type of networking challenges academic hierarchies by allowing us to reconsider who we see as knowledge producers, what types of knowledge we deem worthy of study, and why. Seeking out meaningful collaborations beyond departmental hallways can enrich your scholarship by introducing you to new perspectives and encouraging you to renounce the jargon that often infiltrates scholarly discourse.

When it comes to networking with faculty, don’t be a clout-chaser. To exclusively pursue influential scholars obscures the fact that all of us, ranging from contingent to tenured faculty, are experts in our fields. Rather than trailing the biggest name in the room (and being embarrassed when you have nothing to say), be intentional about speaking with scholars whose interests have actionable connections to yours. Capitalize on relationships where you can foresee collaborations on panels and articles. Don’t always be the “taker.” Be the “giver” sometimes too. Remember to “lift as we climb” so that we increase opportunities for junior scholars to thrive. While we may not immediately see how helping others will help us, I’m a firm believer that if you put good into the world, it will come back to you.

 

Your dissertation is not your magnum opus.

Your dissertation is not the end-all-be-all, and it shouldn’t be the only thing you spend time on. It’s an exercise intended to demonstrate that you can do original, independent research and convey your ideas coherently. Remember that dissertations are a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves. Your dissertation needs to satisfy the 3-4 people on your committee. Then you can graduate and perform the work that originally motivated you to attend graduate school. Dissertations serve practical purposes beyond fulfilling degree requirements; they allow you to develop writing samples for job/postdoc applications, and they offer you a blueprint for future articles and a book manuscript. You may be tempted to include all of your wonderful data in your dissertation—don’t. Save some of it for later so that you can differentiate your dissertation from your other publications.

As you write, find time to be still and to do something that sustains you, whether it’s spending time with people who matter or finding an activity that allows you to decompress. While I was dissertating, I didn’t really have hobbies. When I needed a break, I played with my dog or watched TV, but that was pretty much it. I kept telling myself I’d rediscover the things I enjoy when I finish writing. That plan was unrealistic—as academics, we’re never finished writing. There is always more to be done. So, we might as well carve out time to relax regardless of our workload. I went to the pool a few days ago (on a weeknight no less!) and I was surprised by how liberating it was to stop working and genuinely feel guilt-free about it. Taking a break from your dissertation is not the end of the world. Writing can wait. Life won’t.

 

Always have a project in the works.

I know, I know. I just said to take breaks, and now I’m saying to stay busy. Hear me out. I’m a big advocate for self-care, but I’m also a big advocate for accomplishing your goals.

On an individual level, always having a project in the works ensures that you’re strategic about timing when you ask a colleague for feedback on your work, apply for fellowships, submit proposals for conferences, or send manuscripts out for review. All of these things take time. Academia is more of a marathon than a sprint, and it can take a long time to see the fruits of your labor. While you’re waiting for a response on one front, continue working on something else. Having something on the back burner also gives you an outlet if you’re getting stuck with your main project. You can take a step back from something challenging while channeling your productivity elsewhere.

On an interpersonal level, ongoing projects make for good conversation starters and they make networking a little less painful. Whether we like it or not, “what are you working on?” is a popular question in academia. Having an answer at the ready helps you avoid awkward silences and it helps you build connections with people whose interests intersect with yours.

I can’t overstate the importance of the five lessons I’ve shared in this series. Collectively, they’ve helped me to strike a balance between being productive, finding new opportunities, and being a happy human being. Academics are people, too, but we tend to forget that as we get caught up in the minutiae of higher education. We can (and have to) do better—not just for ourselves, but for our communities.