Past Webinars

**To purchase the RECORDINGS of previous webinars, please visit the On Demand Courses page. **

All of the following are PAST events.

Led by Dr. Tamara Yakaboski. Values are the north star to guide you, yet it’s easy to get off your path working under academia’s own set of values and goals. This workshop will reboot your focus on your values and out of other’s expectations. Taking the time to reflect on what your values mean in relation to your life and work, can show you how your routines, goals, and career path are out of alignment. It’s time to reclaim your power of choice and own your own decision making.

In this 90 minute interactive workshop, you will:

• Identify your core values and gain clarity by defining what they mean to you;
• Learn to identify how your values show up in your body so you know when you’re out of alignment;
• Experience a guided visualization to meet your wise self who reflects our most true, intuitive wisdom.

Because when you’re out of value alignment, you feel unsatisfied or unmotivated and this creates tension and stress from a lack of belonging, to yourself.

When you are in value alignment, you are rebuilding resilience and flexibility to deal with life’s stressors. By intentionally reflecting and working through your values, you can rewire neural connections ad nudge behavioral changes. With this clarity you can examine the disconnect that happens when:

•Your values shift with age and growth;
•You realize your values were never aligned within higher ed;
•Your institution/college/department/program’s values shift; or
•Higher Ed’s true nature has been revealed.

Includes plenty of time for Q and A!

Wednesday May 4, 6 PM EST

$40

_____________________________________________

In this workshop I am going to be mapping out EXACTLY how you can pivot your career with a reignited passion and vision for the impact you want to make. One of the most empowering things is doing a deep dive on your purpose and on what matters to you and seeing your personal & unique value. Having the awareness of your strengths and values will lead to empowerment, since you will go to a new job with your boundaries iron-clad! You won’t waste your time searching for jobs that won’t fulfill you, since you’ll have a clear vision and strategy for achieving your goals.

I’ll be covering…

*The Top Profitable Jobs that Academics Can Do Now

*The 3 Biggest Mistakes People Who Want to Pivot Jobs Make.

*The 4 Steps To Prepare Yourself for Pivoting Your Career with Purpose.

I will share how I’ve created a career where I do research, consultation, coaching, teaching and mentoring while not working over 40 hours per week and where I have time to do the things I love – performing at dance events, cycling coast-to-coast, and more.

This is for you if you’re interested in:

–Creating a Career with Fulfillment

–Having Less Stress

–Breaking Free of Expectations & Imposter Syndrome

–Becoming Your Own Advocate – Assertively!

–Redefining Success

I’m excited to see you.

Bio: I’m Luna Muñoz Centifanti. I’m an applied social scientist with over 20 years’ experience in investigating the psychological mechanisms of empathy, wellbeing, and social connections for people to thrive. After obtaining a PhD in Applied Psychology in New Orleans, I went to Europe for a permanent lectureship and was promoted to associate professor. I led in both research and professional service within the university sector, public and scientific societies, and non-profit organisations. I left academia in 2021 and started Luna Leadership where I freelance in decolonizing curricula, consult on youth leadership programs, hold webinars on wellbeing and acceptance and commitment therapy, and consult on EDI. I’m also a career coach with extensive experience helping people to find their purpose in a new career and live a fulfilling life, with less stress.

June 30, 6 PM EST

$25

Are you tired of work overtaking your life? Do you wish you had more time for your family? Have you looked for another career but get frustrated with the idea of needing another certification or degree? In this workshop we will discuss creating a career exit plan by upskilling your academic experience into education based digital products. In this discussion by E Danyall Pugh, prior accounting professor turned stay at home mom, we will cover how to: 1) creation an actionable plan to aid in your exit from academia; 2) monetize your knowledge by selling your own online courses and ebooks; 3) create a marketing strategy that will allow you build a cushion of additional income as you prepare to leave.  If you’ve already been playing with the idea of creating your own courses, you’ll have the opportunity to receive monetization and marketing tips live! By the end you will have a process for exiting academia and steps to build additional income while you do it.

 

Bio: Erica Pugh is the owner of Income Reinvented, an education based business that helps career women create passive income by monetizing the knowledge you already have. She realized that digital content creators were earning more money and had a better work life balance selling educational content than most educators. “I was already struggling financially while working for multiple collegiate institutions, so I decided to try it myself!” She attempted selling her own knowledge online and made more than her salary, so she quit. Now she helps others do the same by teaching the process she used to replace her income in under 90 days.

 

–>Makeup Session TBA<–

$40

May 26 at 6pm

$40

The 10 Steps to Creating Your Own Highly Profitable Online Courses, Coaching Programs, or Membership Academy

w/ Dr. Sarah Cordiner

Thursday May 12, 8:30 PM EST

Start your week off strong! You have a kickass academic project, and you know it’s good, but you can’t quite nail down how it all fits together. Can you distinguish your topic, your thesis, your findings, your disciplinary contribution? Could you deliver the elevator speech? In this workshop productivity and writing coach Kel Weinhold walks you through the five key questions you need to be able to answer to get out of your own way and prove to editors, reviewers, and/or committee members that your work is ready for prime time. This workshop is based on Kel’s famous Unstuck Productivity Workshop and is effective for scholars at every level, whether you are working on a dissertation, an article, a grant, or a book.

You’ll leave with an understanding of:

• How to situate a project in a scholarly debate
• How to identify the gap you are filling
• How to showcase the material or data you’ve gathered
• How to articulate your method/theory
• How to lay claim to your scholarly contribution

Bring your project idea, your struggles, your questions and hammer out the core outline over the course of this dynamic, interactive webinar with Kel.Thuyr

Thursday May 12 11:30 AM EST [NOTE TIME!]

$50

The tenure track years can be wonderful and terrible, sometimes at the same time!  Assistant professors experience unprecedented opportunities and unprecedented stress, and there is never, ever enough time.

In this 90 minute interactive workshop I share advice on managing the challenges of the tenure track.

We’ll cover:

The all-important skill of time management
Learning to say no
Learning when to say yes
Teaching well but not too much
Dealing with colleagues
Understanding departmental politics
Handling service obligations
Managing your image
Applying for leave
Carving out time for research and writing
Charting your tenure course
Creating and maintaining your national reputation 

And we’ll talk about aiming for your next job.

One of the most elusive achievements of the tenure track period is any kind of work-life balance. With a clear sense of the obligations and challenges of the tenure track period you can improve your chances of achieving this balance and having a career that is satisfying and life-sustaining.

Karen brings her 5 years as department head, along with her own tenure journey, and the insights from 11 years of observation as The Professor Is In, to share. Includes plenty of time for live Q and A. Bring your questions!

This workshop complements the above “Surviving Your First Year on the Tenure Track” and you can attend both; “Surviving” focuses on just the first year, while this “Pre-Tenure” one focuses on building your tenure case and managing career challenges over time.

$50

Thursday May 5, 6 PM EST

Led by TPIO Coach Adrienne Posner

The workshop you’ve been asking for!

Have you ever looked up “how to write a resume” and been completely baffled by the volume of opinions, commentary and websites purporting to give foolproof advice? Are you overwhelmed by thinking about how to translate your skills and experiences into a document that makes you marketable outside the academy? Do you have basic questions about how a resume should look and feel? In this workshop by TPII coach Adrienne Posner, you’ll look at some real life examples of resumes and learn how to: 1) move beyond the CV-mindset by writing an effective resume that is an argument about why you are a good fit for the job; 2) target your resume to a specific job; 3) describe your academic work in a way that makes sense to a recruiter or HR person.

You’ll also have the opportunity to have your resume critiqued in real time, so bring your documents to review!

By the end you’ll have what it takes to write a compelling resume that helps you find real work outside academia.

Thursday March 31st

3 pm PT/6 pm ET

$40

Congratulations–you got a tenure track job!  I hope you took a moment (or day/week/month) to celebrate! Now it’s time to think about what you’ve just taken on. Because it’s BIG. The first year is like drinking from a firehose. It’s All The Things, all at once, with no time. And enormous stakes. And virtually no guidance.

In this 90-minute Interactive Workshop I walk you through the biggest challenges of the first year on the tenure track — especially in this time of unprecedented turmoil due to COVID19.

Topics we cover include

Disruptions due to COVID19 and how to manage them
Online realities
Dealing with new colleagues
Handling department politics
Finding mentors
Establishing a classroom persona
Handling online teaching
Learning to say no to service
Establishing a conference schedule
Protecting your writing time (and mental health)
Tenure and extended tenure clocks due to COVID19
Pitfalls for white women and BIPOC scholars

Most importantly, I walk you through the planning that you need to do, from year one, to situate yourself for your eventual tenure case.

Of course all of this will be framed in the context of the impact of COVID19 and economic contraction on college and university campuses and the institution of tenure, as best as it can be guessed at this time.

This webinar complements the blog post, Advice For Your First Year on the Tenure Track, but focuses on learning when and how to say no, making choices about time management, laying the groundwork for your tenure case, and staying centered.

Includes abundant time for Q and A with Dr. Karen.

Note that this event is complementary with the “Advice for the Pre-Tenure Years” event below. You can attend both.

$50

Thursday April 28, 6 PM EST

Many of you talented and qualified people are trying to figure out the transition into UX [User Experience] Research! And why wouldn’t you? It’s recession-proof remote research work with a six-figure entry salary. Join The Professor Is In (or rather The Professor Is Out) for a group informational interview with Dr. Helana Darwin, who has made this pivot from unemployed PhD to gainfully employed UX Researcher. In this session, Helana will share words of wisdom from the industry job market, screen share and explain her industry resume (and walk you through the differences from an academic CV), and devote an hour to Q & A. Many of you will have the same questions, so this group session format will benefit everyone.

Dr. Helana Darwin is an author, MeToo activist, and a Qualitative UX Researcher at AnswerLab. Her academic research utilized a range of digital methods including virtual ethnography, blog discourse analysis, and online comment sentiment analysis, in addition to traditional methods such as in-depth interviews and survey research, and these are what she mobilized in her transition into UX research. Her dissertation-as-book, Redoing Gender: How Nonbinary Gender Contributes toward Social Change, just debuted as the #1 New Release in Sociology and the #1 New Release in Gender Studies.

Wed April 13

6 PM EST

[Special Reduced Rate]: $15

Burnout Academy: Coaching for Scholars in Crisis (past)

Emotional, physical, spiritual exhaustion. Cynicism and snark as far as the eye can see. Job conditions getting worse by the minute. How do we get our energy back? 

The answer is: we can’t. We won’t. Not by working the same old jobs in the same old way.

But, whether you leave or stay, you can heal your relationship to your work. This workshop shows you how. 

Join Dr. Esty – certified mindfulness teacher, former professor and dean, current healthcare chaplain and coach – for your crash course in burnout recovery.

Enrollment limited for this live 90-minute workshop.

$50

March 29, 6 PM EST

(PAST)

Join Dr. Karen Kelsky, the leading academic career coach in America, for a small-group interactive conversation on how to [Session One] 1) face reality and feel your feelings 2) explore alternatives and remember all you can do; and [Session Two] 3) translate your identity and discover new platforms; and 4) free your mind and reclaim your life. 

It’s hard times in academia. Approximately 75% of PhDs end up working outside academia because tenure track hiring has collapsed. Since the vast majority of PhDs come into grad school hoping to be a professor (yes, there are exceptions), you didn’t plan for this, but it’s the reality you’re facing. What to do?  This is a workshop, not a webinar, and we’ll share live questions and conversation, with Dr. Karen’s trademark mix of bluntness and compassion. It’s devastating to leave behind the dream of an academic career, but you’re not alone. With knowledge and support, you can do it, and Karen’s promise is: you’ll never look back.

(In partnership with Klatch)

2 meetings: March 3 and 10, 6 PM EST

(You can come to just 3/10 if you want!)

$100 for both; $50 for one

Self-Promotion at its Finest: Maximize Your Professional Presence with LinkedIn Publishing (past)

Led by Randi Howell

          Is LinkedIn just another social media outlet for you? Have you considered how you can maximize LinkedIn for job hunting, resource sharing, publication, and a bit of shameless self-promotion? In this webinar, Randi Howell, MA will show how to leverage academic writing skills for LinkedIn publishing. By publishing content on LinkedIn, you can open doors, create sharable resources, and increase your network. Join us as we discuss how to maximize and diversify your LinkedIn presence with LinkedIn publishing, posting, and hashtagging. Bring questions and insights as we explore how to maximize your professional presence!  

Presenter Bio: Still in academia, Randi Howell works full-time to support more than 800 faculty members transition from tech-terrified to tech-savvy. Howell serves as Vice President of Safe’N’Clear, Inc, an ADA-accessible surgical facemask company that promotes clear and inclusive communication. In her role at Safe’N’Clear, Howell works with the CEO and Marketing team to publish digital content across social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Howell is passionate about transforming lives whether through education or inclusive communication to upscale one’s performance.

March 8, 6:30 PM EST [Note time; it’s not our usual!]

$25

Deciphering the Non-Academic Job Ad (past)

Led by Professor Is Out Coach Adrienne Posner

In this workshop, you’ll learn to read non-academic job ads for what they are really trying to say, cutting through the business jargon and cryptic marketing language to understand: 1) if you are qualified; 2) what the job actually involves in the day-to-day; 3) how to apply. We’ll walk through specific, real-life job postings for roles that academics are actually qualified to do, and then we’ll look together at some sample job postings from the audience so that you can get your questions asked and answered. Leave this webinar with the confidence to find jobs to which you can apply, today!

Presenter Bio: Adrienne quit grad school midway through her dissertation in 2015, and has been working as a Program Manager at Google on various educational programs ever since. As someone who has worked in the nonprofit sector, the museum world and the tech sector, she has significant institutional knowledge and a wide range of experiences in a variety of non-academic settings. Her experience consulting began in coaching other grad students through project managing their dissertations and continues today via her work at TPII, where she has helped over 100 academics, both early career scholars and tenured faculty, at all levels successfully navigate the non-academic job market.

$40

[New date] Thursday Jan. 27, 6 PM EST

Negotiating Your Academic Job Offer (Covid Updated) (past)

Newly updated for COVID.

The rescinded offer is unfortunately more common than ever, and the scope for negotiations has altered a lot with the pandemic.

It is imperative that candidates understand when and how to appropriately negotiate an academic job offer. Negotiating IS still standard and expected for the vast majority of all tenure track offers, but it takes skill to do it correctly, asking for all you can while retaining good relations with the department.

This webinar breaks down the stages of the academic job offer negotiation process, explains the things that can and can’t be negotiated at different types of jobs (including postdocs and full time non-tenure track positions), and different ranks and types of institutions.  It provides examples of successful negotiating language as well as common negotiating errors and pitfalls.

Negotiating points we’ll examine include salary, teaching release, moving expenses, start-up funds, conference and travel funding, research leave/junior sabbatical, summer salary, and the spousal hire.

We’ll discuss how to evaluate the culture and expectations of the institution and calibrate requests to the institutional context. We will dispassionately examine the phenomenon of the rescinded offer.  I’ll give examples from successful and unsuccessful recent negotiations that I’ve worked on through my Negotiating Assistance service.

And we’ll consider special challenges for women and people from communities historically marginalized in the academy. For some background reading, check out my blog post, Negotiating as Therapy. Updated for COVID-related challenges and shifts.

Includes 30 minutes of Q and A.

Participants also get $100 off the cost of individual Negotiating Assistance (normally $600 [$700 for advanced/senior positions])

You WILL have access to a recording of the event for one week after the date, whether or not you can attend the live event, as long as you register for it.

Thursday 12/2 at 6 PM EST

RESCHEDULED

Thursday 12/16 6 PM EST

$50

Managing The Job Talk (Online and/or In Person) (past)

All participants get access to the recording of this webinar for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Tuesday 11/23 6 PM EST

RESCHEDULED 12/9 6 PM EST

Cost:   $50

Managing The Campus Visit (Online and/or In Person) (past)

In this 90 minute webinar I walk you through the basic expectations and potential pitfalls of the dreaded Campus Visit (sometimes called a Fly-Out) in a pandemic. We will cover all of the core elements, encompassing zoom and in person, including:

• The three key criteria at play in a campus visit
• The single biggest pitfall for candidates
• The basic organization of an online campus visit
• The initial arrangements and scheduling
• Preparing for the visit
• Meetings with faculty, Head, Dean, and graduate students
• The formal interview with the Search Committee
• The job talk and Q and A
• The teaching demo
• Handling meals gracefully
• Maintaining your stamina
• Evaluating campus climate
• Microaggressions and red flags
• Managing the zoom call, inc what to wear suggestions

As always there will be time for Q and A at the end. You will have access to a recording of the webinar 24 hours after the event good for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Campus visits are hard, in some ways even more so on zoom. A little advance knowledge will save a world of hurt!

Tuesday 11/30 at 6 PM EST

RESCHEDULED

Tuesday 12/7 6 PM EST

Cost:   $50

Interview Intervention (Online and/or In Person) (past)

In this 90-minute webinar, updated for pandemic conditions, Karen Kelsky shows you how to interview effectively for an academic job. She covers the major questions asked most often, and their unspoken agendas.  She discusses the most common errors made by candidates, and how to organize and deliver concise, content-rich, non-desperate responses.

She will provide templates for responses to basic questions about your dissertation/current research, publishing, teaching, and fit, and abundant examples of both effective and ineffective answers from actual client interviews.

In addition, we confront illegal/inappropriate questions, micro-aggressions, and the all important issue of overcoming Imposter Syndrome, and communicating confidence through verbal and non-verbal modes. And she spares a few words for what to wear and how to manage your zoom settings.

This webinar covers the same content, and addresses the same questions, as the live Skype Interview Intervention service ($250); it is an immediately available and cost-effective way to learn what to expect and how to prepare for all forms of academic job interview. Some clients do the webinar as preparation for a live Skype Intervention, if there are slots available.

As always there will be plenty of time for Q and A at the end.

You have access to a recording of the event afterward for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Thursday 11/18 at 6 PM EST

Cost: $50

Melted Cheese is Good But….: Beyond Brainfulness and “Self-Care” (past)

Tuesday Nov. 16, 6 PM EST

$40

A Quitters Guide to the Non-Academic Job Search (past)

Led by Adrienne Posner

Wed. Nov 3, 6 PM EST

                Are you thinking about quitting grad school, ditching adjuncting or fleeing from your tenure track job but feel paralyzed by not knowing how to proceed? Are you overwhelmed by thinking about what skills or experiences make you “marketable” outside the academy? Have you ever read a job description and felt totally confused about whether or not you are even qualified?

In this webinar by star TPII coach Adrienne Posner, you’ll learn to: 1) find jobs using LinkedIn, Indeed & Google Jobs; 2) interpret job ads; 3) make resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles, and finally consider the value of a personal website. By the end you’ll have what it takes to find meaningful, sustainable work outside the academic cult.

Presenter Bio: Adrienne quit grad school midway through her dissertation in 2015, and has been working as a Program Manager at Google on various educational programs ever since. As someone who has worked in the nonprofit sector, the museum world and the tech sector, she has significant institutional knowledge and a wide range of experiences in a variety of non-academic settings. Her experience consulting began in coaching other grad students through project managing their dissertations and continues today via her work at TPII, where she has helped over 100 academics, both early career scholars and tenured faculty, at all levels successfully navigate the non-academic job market.

$40

Using Canva to Develop a Consistent Brand for LinkedIn and Beyond {past}

Led by Dr. Karla Mastracchio

October 14, 6 PM EST

Do you struggle to advertise your courses or speaking engagements? Do you wonder how to create a visually consistent brand for your post-academic resume and LinkedIn page, but don’t know where to start? In this webinar, Karla Mastracchio, PhD, will show you how to create materials using Canva! Join us as we create a graphic in real time!You’ll leave with basics of Canva design and a LinkedIn ready resume style.

Make sure you sign up for a free Canva account before you attend and you can create a graphic along with our host. Bring questions, ideas and curiosity along and get ready to have an informative and fun time! 

Bio: Dr. Karla Mastracchio is the Professor of Informational Advantage and Strategic Influence at Joint Special Operations University and an award-winning communication strategist. She lives on the island of Oahu with her family and is an avid true crime enthusiast.

$25

You’re Not Overqualified, You’re Misunderstood: Translating Academic Value for LinkedIn [Past]

Led by Dr. Eric James Stephens

TWO DATES AND TIMES [Choose only one]!

Sept 23 6 PM EST [past]

and

Sept 30 8 AM EST

$25

Two dates and times offered! Choose only one below!

Sept 23 6 PM EST Event:

Sept 30 8 AM (US) EST Event:

London (UK) @ 1:00 pm/bt

Delhi (IN) @ 5:30 pm/it

LinkedIn Without Fear: An Intro for Academics

Led by Sonia Michaels

Sept 17 6 PM EST

$25

Going Post-Ac in a Pandemic: Moving On with a Ph.D. in a Time of Stress (past)

With COVID19, academic hiring and higher ed budgets have imploded. Everyone, even the tenured, need to contemplate Plan B income streams. This webinar will show you how to prepare for the non-academic job search, whether you’re still in graduate school, adjuncting, or well into the academic career.  We begin with the emotional struggle of letting go of the dream of the tenure track, and the social and academic challenges involved in the transition. We’ll contextualize all of this within the COVID19 pandemic and economic fallout.

Then, we’ll look at the process of re-evaluation away from a single-minded focus on the tenure track. We confront the incorrect belief held by many Ph.D.s (especially in the arts and humanities) that you don’t have any skills for non-academic jobs. You have a multitude of skills; you just haven’t learned to identify and mobilize them for jobs outside the academy. This webinar gives you the tools. With the COVID19-related implosion of the higher ed economy, now is the time to act.

We’ll cover:

• COVID19 impacts on the job market
• Confronting grief, sorrow, anger, and loss
• Why the non-academic job search matters
• What’s in a name?  Post-ac, non-ac, alt-ac, out-ac, and Real-Ac
• How do I tell my advisor?
• Obstacles to imagining a non-academic career
• Identifying your translatable skills
• Managing the all-important “keywords”
• Tips for the non-academic cover letter and resume
• Common pitfalls and challenges for the Ph.D. job seeker in the “real world”
• Job-search strategies that work
• Resources for the job seeker

This workshop is appropriate for anyone on the Ph.D. track–from early/mid-stage graduate students to ABDs, new Ph.D.s, and postdocs, instructors, and those already mid-career.  It’s also good for any advisors who wish to learn more about advising for the non-academic career. Includes time for Q and A. As COVID19 ravages the higher ed economy, understanding the post-ac transition has never been more urgent.

All participants get access to the recording of this webinar for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Thurs 2/11 6 PM EST

SPECIAL REDUCED RATE:   $35*

Handling the Academic Job Market (In a Pandemic) (past)

In this 90-minute webinar I walk you through the issues around applying for academic jobs in pandemic conditions. I start with the crisis conditions of the current American job market, and advice on how to think realistically and effectively about your career in a collapsing industry. Then we move on to advice on how to best handle academic job applications, including what constitutes a competitive record and and how best to present it. We talk about the most common mistakes made by job-seekers, and the ways you can maximize your chances of success while looking for a tenure-track job. I contextualize everything within the COVID19 pandemic and disruptions for the ’20-21 academic year.

We’ll cover:

• The big-picture conditions of the U.S. academic job market
• The impact of COVID
• How to think like a search committee
• The four core qualities of a successful tenure track job candidate during COVID19
• The all-important 5-Year Plan
• The ethos of job market documents
• The most common mistakes made by job seekers
• The three keys to academic interviewing
• Operating on Zoom
• What can and cannot be negotiated now
• The IMPERATIVE of having a non-academic option right now
  
• Managing the stress and remembering who you are

We also examine the common errors of tone and approach made by anxious job seekers: narcissism, excessive humility, and hyper-emotionalism.  You’ll leave with a broad understanding of the real (as opposed to fantasy) criteria of tenure track hiring, and how to tailor your record and application materials to maximize your chances of success.

While nobody can predict exactly what the pandemic means for the academic job market or higher ed more broadly, I’ll share everything I know based on the best information available.

Includes time for Q and A with Dr. Karen.  All participants get access to a free recording of the event for one week, even if you cannot attend the live event.

Wednesday 11/25 PM 6 PM EST

Cancelled; if you were hoping to attend please see the webinar recording page linked above for access to the pre-recorded version of this webinar. The content is identical. Apologies.

Cost:   $50

Talking Mental Health in the Academy (in a Pandemic) Postponed–new date TBA!

Depression, anxiety, stress, overwhelm, trauma, burnout…. these are so common in academia as to be virtually the norm. A 2018 study found that 39% of grad students scored in the moderate-to-severe depression range, as compared to 6% of the general population. And that was before the pandemic and the imminent demise of US democracy. And yet the academy silences talk of mental health struggles in an all-consuming fixation on productivity.

In this brand new webinar, I invite you to join me in talking mental health, with particular attention to the specific stressors of grad school, the job search, adjuncting, and the tenure track, and contextualized by the fears and uncertainties of the COVID19 pandemic and political upheaval. This webinar aims to provide tools to openly discuss mental health challenges, identify symptoms and causes, and provide ideas for support. Please note: I am not a mental health professional! This content is for general informational purposes, not diagnosis or treatment. My goal is to provide a safe space to share struggles, find resources and, I hope, prompt ever more transparent discussion of this pervasive yet disavowed reality of the academy.

We’ll cover:

• Facts and figures
• Stigma around mental illness in the academy
• Identifying symptoms of mental health struggles
• Causes of mental health struggles:
  • Isolation
  • Competition
  • Low pay
  • Overwork and exploitation
  • The job market collapse and precarity
  • Cultures of abuse
  • Racism
  • Sexism
  • COVID19 anxieties
• Suggestions for support:
  • Leaving
  • Reporting abuse
  • Setting boundaries
  • Therapy
  • Self-care
  • Community
  • Sharing
  • Organizing

Mental health and well-being may be the single most urgent task for any academic in the time of COVID. I created this webinar to provide a way to start talking about it.

Includes 30 minutes of Q and A. All who register get access to the recording for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Tues Jan 19, 6 PM EST Postponed! New Date TBA!  Day before inauguration was an overreach!

$35 [Special Reduced Rate]*

**The Professor Is In is a small business that supports several families. Reduced rates are our effort to balance the needs of struggling job seekers with struggling staffers. Thanks for your understanding.

How To Write a Winning Grant (past)

In this 90-minute Webinar I walk you through Dr. Karen’s Foolproof Grant Template–a template for grant-writing based on what I call the “Hero-Narrative of Grant-writing” [“Here is a critical topic. Here is what’s been written about it; Here is an unfortunate gap our understanding of it, and why it matters. But never fear – I am here to save the day; here’s how, specifically.”] This template has helped thousands of academic grant-writers  in all fields over the years, and is astoundingly successful when used correctly. Which is harder than it looks, because applicants have trouble grasping what their critical topic is, and what a compelling rationale would be for studying it, in the minds of OTHER PEOPLE.

Thus I explain how to put yourself into the shoes of those other people — the people on the grant review committees, and how to avoid the most common misunderstandings and mistakes of applicants that revolve around self-absorption, obsession with minutiae, and self-juvenilization (grant applications are not your comprehensive exams).

As always, the webinar will include abundant examples of effective writing, and will include plenty of Q and A time for targeted advice for your situation.

We’ll cover:

The big picture of grant-writing
How and why to construct a hero narrative of your research
The three things your proposal must do
The four biggest mistakes of grant-writers
How to use Dr. Karen’s Foolproof Grant Template
How to tailor a proposal

All who register get access to the recording of the webinar for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Tuesday Oct 6 at 6 PM EST

Cost:   $50

How To Apply for a Postdoc in the Humanities or Social Sciences (past)

Many Ph.D.s are confused about how to apply for postdocs in the humanities and social sciences. Is it like applying for a job? Should I apply for them before applying for jobs? When should I apply and how long am I eligible?  If I only have to teach one course, how should I discuss my teaching? What am I supposed to produce while I’m in the postdoc, and how fast?

This webinar addresses these questions and more. It builds on the material covered in the blog post, The Postdoc App: How It’s Different and Why.  We’ll discuss:

Why social science and humanities postdoctoral programs exist
When to apply
Reading postdoc agendas and missions
Understanding the ethos of a postdoctoral scholar on campus
Composing an effective postdoc cover letter
The elements of a postdoc research proposal
Addressing teaching in a postdoc context
Relating your work to the campus
Understanding the timeline of productivity

Includes 30 minutes of Q and A at the end. All who register get access to the recording for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

(Please note that this webinar is not suitable for STEM scholars seeking postdoctoral positions in labs.)

Cost: $50

Tuesday Oct 20 at 6 PM EST

Knowing Your Own Value in Academia: Self-Advocacy, Time Management, and Saying No (past)

ALERT: Postponed to Friday Oct. 2 at same time (6 PM EST). Karen is not feeling well and is valuing herself by resting! Remember if you can’t make live event, you still get recording.

Overwork without appropriate compensation is the normative expectation of the academy, and becomes ever more so as standards escalate while budgets collapse. Overwork and exploitation are woven into the systems of graduate school, adjuncting, and the tenure track, and then are rarely unlearned after tenure.

In this brand new webinar, I talk about how to identify overwork and exploitation (since so few academics actually recognize it!), how to evaluate the stakes of given tasks and manage the time you allot to each, and how to say no to excessive demands.

We also discuss how to accurately value your own time, contributions and labor, to set the stage for effective self-advocacy throughout your career. This includes describing your work without self-deprecation, dealing assertively with advisors, PI’s and department heads, asking for raises and support, managing division of labor in collaborative projects, negotiating offers, etc.

Includes scripts for practice at home! Also includes 30 min of Q and A. All who register get access to the recording for one week, even if you can’t make the live event.

NOW FRIDAY OCT 2 –  6 PM EST

$45 [Special Reduced Rate]* 

NEWLY EXPANDED ~ Starting a Consulting (Or Other) Small Business in a Pandemic: The Other #Postac Option (past)

“If you can only conceive of yourself as a professor, then you have condemned your labor to the mercy and whims of others”*.

I am so excited to share this knowledge with you! I want you to understand that you, yes you, are already entrepeneurial and can DO this! You can start a small business–it’s possible.

In this newly expanded two hour interactive webinar, I’ll walk you through the basics of starting your own small business. We’ll talk about ways to re-cast yourself from academic to business owner, and the psychological obstacles to the transition, and then the nuts and bolts of setting up a business–from a website to invoicing to advertising. Particular focus on using a website/social media/newsletter for marketing. This new, longer version includes content from 20+ other scholars who have made their own small biz transition, and many other updates/additional content, including the shame/shaming around business that permeates the academy and how to identify and overcome it. We end with amazing inspirational stories.

I. Updated: Getting Used To the Idea

• The fear, pain and grief of the post-ac transition
• COVID economy
• What is entrepreneurialism?
• Academia, dependency, and risk aversion
• Imagining your niche
• Skills vs. outcomes

II. New: Shame and Shaming

• How and why academics “despise” business
• What that judgment conceals
• How to identify that shame in yourself
• How to overcome shame

III. Updated: The Nuts and Bolts

• Steps to starting a small business
• Concept –> Brand –> Name
• Unique Value Proposition
• Creating a simple website/blog
• Establishing credibility
• Setting rates and policies
• Simple ecommerce resources
• Show me the $: Invoicing

IV. Updated: Finding Your Market

• Getting and keeping clients/customers
• Firing clients
• SEO and basic internet marketing
• Blog vs. newsletter
• Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other Social Media

V.  Updated: Growing The Business

• Overcoming the fear of self-promotion
• Money: not the enemy
• Being your own boss

VI. New: Covid Considerations

VII. New: Inspirational Stories!

As always, time for Q and A at the end. All who register get access to the recording for one week, even if you can’t attend live.

YOU GET THE RECORDING 24 HOURS AFTER THE LIVE EVENT–PLEASE WAIT AND ALSO CHECK SPAM FOR IT!

This two-hour webinar has been enlarged and expanded to provide even more intensive advice, include advice shared by 20 other scholars who have made the small-biz transition.

[*Nate Kreuter, PhD, in Inside Higher Ed, 2016]

Thursday 9/10  5 PM EST

$100*

.  

How To Write an Academic Job Application, Part II–Teaching Statement and Research Statement (past)

Newly updated for COVID-19 conditions, in this 90-minute webinar we examine the other two primary documents in an academic job application–the teaching statement and research statement.  I explain the role of each of these in presenting your profile, and the relative importance of each in the deliberations of the search committee.  I then give recommendations for the most effective content, organization, and tone of each of these documents, with examples.

The Teaching Statement is perhaps the most difficult of all job documents to write, and I spend particular time on its purpose and execution, and the many common pitfalls common to this document, especially weepiness and hyper-emotionalism. I also introduce organizational tips for the Research Statement with attention to effective sentence and paragraph structure. We talk about how to address COVID realities, like the need to describe online teaching skills, and when your research is interrupted due to lockdown.

There will be 30 minutes of Q and A at the end.  All participants get access to the recording; this comes 24 hours after the live event. Check your spam and Promotions folder if you don’t see it.

Thursday August 27, 6 PM EST

Cost:   $50

How To Write an Academic Job Application, Part 1–Cover Letter and CV  (past)

Newly updated for COVID19, in this 90-minute webinar we examine the first two primary documents in an academic job application–the cover letter and cv.  I explain the role of each of these in presenting your profile, and the relative importance of each in the deliberations of the search committee.  I then give recommendations for the most effective content, organization, and tone of each of these documents, with examples, and show the most common mistakes made by job applicants, the errors of thinking that lie behind these mistakes, and the ways to correct them.

The focus is both on specific techniques of writing and self-presentation, but also on the unspoken principles and biases that govern tenure-track hiring. We also cover COVID-19 specific considerations like how to describe online instruction, etc.

There will be 30 minutes of Q and A at the end. All participants get access to the recording. It comes 24 hours after the live event. Be sure and check your spam and Promotions folders if you don’t see it.

Thursday August 20, 6 PM EST

Cost:   $50

How To Publish Your Academic Book (past)

In most fields of the humanities and social sciences, a sole-authored monograph is the primary criterion for tenure. Getting your book done in time for tenure review is the leading source of stress for new assistant professors. You can do it, but it takes advance planning and organization. In this 90 minute webinar I walk you through the basic timeline for getting it done in time. We will cover the following:

conceptualizing your dissertation as a book
getting leave time to write
coordinating publication timeline and tenure review
writing a proposal
submitting your proposal
approaching editors
choosing a press
getting an advance contract
understanding royalties
knowing what to publish as journal articles
setting up a writing schedule
dealing with positive and negative reviews
revising
indexing, copy-editing and cover art

As always there will be time for Q and A at the end. All who register receive access to a downloadable recording of the webinar for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Avoid unnecessary anguish and stress by understanding the process and planning ahead.

Thursday 1/23 at 6 PM EST

Cost:   $50

Hacking the Academic Presentation (past)

Get ready for your academic conferences, job talks, and public speaking with this webinar on presentation best-practices.  As academics we must master public speaking skills to challenge the GOP assault on higher ed  – the stakes have never been higher for us to know how to present our work to the public effectively!

In this 90-minute webinar I break down the best practices of presenting your work to academic and public audiences in conference talks, job talks, public speaking, and so on.

We’ll address:

• the role of public speaking in the academic career
• how and when to gain experience
• handling the basic logistics
• managing nerves
• conference presentations–things to consider
• effective speaking techniques
• using visuals and Powerpoint
• body language and non-verbal cues
• reading an audience
• tracking the clock
• handling Q and A
• responding to challenges and critiques
• managing equipment

We’ll also discuss the most common errors made by inexperienced academic speakers related to talk organization, speaking style, and Q and A challenges.

Participants will have access to a recording of the event good for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

$50

Thursday, January 24 6 PM EST

Women and the Academic Career: What Works, What Doesn’t (past)

In this 90 minute interactive webinar, I walk you through the main challenges for women in the academic career, and offer specific strategies for confronting and overcoming them.

We’ll discuss:

• The male-centric model of the academic career track
• The tenure track and the biological clock
• Issues for WOC
• The perils of “nice”
• Sexual and gender harassment
• Unconscious self-sabotaging habits
• Techniques of self-promotion
• Assertiveness in language and body language
• Pitfalls for women on the job market
• Interviewing strategies
• Negotiating effectively
• Children: the good and the bad
• Achieving work-life balance

30 minutes of Q and A at the end. All who register will get access to a recording of the live event for one week, even if you can’t attend the live event.

Thursday 4/26, 6 PM EST/23:00 GMT.

$50

#MeTooPhd: Sexual Harassment in the Academy (past)

In this one-hour webinar inspired by the Sexual Harassment in the Academy Crowdsource Survey (now at over 2300 entries), I will share what I learned from the experience of conducting the survey, including thoughts on the range and scope of sexual harassment in academic settings (including departments, labs, research centers, campuses, academic conferences, etc.), patterns of predation, options for victims, and recommendations to institutions wishing to combat this scourge in the #MeTooPhD moment. I will discuss the profiles of predators, common patterns of protection/enabling/silencing of victims by colleagues and administrators, and particular vulnerabilities of women of color and queer/trans women in these contexts.

**This webinar does NOT include any specific stories, incidents, or information shared by any of the contributors to the survey.  The content is based on larger-scale patterns that emerged in the aggregate, and thoughts about ways to move forward that emerged from these larger-scale patterns.***

I will talk about why academia is so conducive to this form of harassment, and I will focus in particular on suggestions to help vulnerable populations recognize and confront harassment, in order to empower victims and potential victims to protect themselves, find both formal and informal support and make educated decisions about going public.

I’ll discuss some thoughts on the pros and cons of filing formal complaints, the current resources and limitations of Title IX policies, and immediate steps that departments and disciplinary associations can take to lessen the occurrence of harassment on campus and at conferences.

Includes 30 minutes of Q and A

All who register have access to a recording, even if they can’t attend the live event.

This event is free to all, but you do have to register at the link below:

2/22 at 6 PM EST

Free

Register Here

CV to Resume: Translating Your Skills for the Non-Academic Job Market (past)

This 90-minute webinar with TPII post-ac career coach Maggie Gover shows you how to help potential employers understand the skills you bring as a PhD. Learn how to rethink your background and translate your experience in ways that will speak to a non-academic employer.

Real samples of successful resumes will be shared.

Maggie Gover, PhD, is Director, Graduate Student Academic and Professional Development at the UC Riverside Graduate Division

30 minutes of Q and A included. All participants have access to a recording afterward.

$50

Thursday 3/30 1 PM EST

Productivity and Self-Care In a Time of Turmoil (past)

Special Reduced Rate:  $35

This 90-minute webinar – co-led by career coach Karen Kelsky and productivity coach Kellee Weinhold – will focus on the challenges facing academic writers in a time of national and international crisis. We begin with an honest accounting of the threats facing the academy, and the difficulties of maintaining forward progress while managing ongoing turmoil at both political and personal levels. We’ll suggest some basic practices of self-care that can help academics resist panic (and the fire-hose of social media frenzy) and keep your eye on your most important goals (while also acknowledging that those goals may be in flux).

We will focus particularly on four common pitfalls of productivity: 1) unclear expectations; 2) maintaining balance in crisis; 3) negative self-talk; and 4) external comparisons.

We then outline strategies you can use to learn how to respond to these challenges, design a writing plan and monitor progress. The goal is to tell the truth about your struggles, and recognize (without judgment) and shift the negative behaviors that get in the way of your writing.

There will be time for 30 minutes of Q and A at the end.

All those who register are invited to share their concerns and questions in a common Google Doc ahead of time, and we will incorporate as many as we can.

All participants will get access to a recording for a limited time.

We are offering this webinar at a reduced rate to make it more widely accessible.

Thursday, March 16  6 PM EST

Special reduced rate: $35

Hacking the Grad School Application (past)

In this 90-minute webinar, we will cover “the big picture” of graduate education — the pros and cons of different kinds of graduate programs, and how to gain admission to them.

We will cover:

Different types of graduate programs
How to choose where to apply
How to write an initial query letter to a prospective advisor
The typical graduate school application documents, and how to write them
How to prepare for a graduate school interview
How to choose between multiple acceptances
How to prepare for re-applying in case of rejection

We will go over good and bad reasons for pursuing a graduate education, how to assess objective and subjective features of graduate programs to rank them in order of preference, the important questions to ask *before* applying, how to maximize your chances of acceptance, the different “genres” of application essays, how to structure the dreaded Statement of Purpose (with a template and a sample example), and how to avoid vague and emotional language in application documents.  You will also understand the larger context of how admission decisions are made, the role admissions interviews play in those decisions, and how to prepare for them.  By the end of the webinar, you will have a clear roadmap to take you through the deliberation of which programs to choose, the application process itself, and the discernment strategies to help you make the best decision for your future.

Includes time for Q&A.  All participants will receive a free download of the Webinar.

Cost: $50

Sat June 10, 3 pm EST

Winter Productivity Kickstart and Strategy Session (past)

Worried about how to be productive this Winter? Have an article (or two, or three!) languishing on your desktop? Know from past experience that the summer siren song of wide open writing time once again ended with you hunkered down in a shame- filled Netflix binge–and now the new semester  is upon you?

Join academic productivity coach Kellee Weinhold for a crash course in kickstarting  your writing AND meeting your goals.

In this 90-minute session you will learn:

• How to identify your real and imagined roadblocks to productivity;
• Strategies for overcoming those barriers, using organizational strategies and accountability tools  for daily productivity;
• Effective boundary setting (just say no!);
• How to create a personalized goal achievement plan, breaking down project components and timelines with daily and weekly goals.

Includes time for Q and A with Kellee Weinhold.  All participants get access to a recording of the event.

Date:  Monday, January 2, 3:00 PM EST

Cost:   $50

After completing payment by clicking below, you will be redirected to the dedicated Go-To-Meeting Webinar Registration page, where you will fill out a registration form and be given instructions and an access code to sign in on the day. 

Academic Life Under Trump – A Free Webinar (past)

The election of Donald Trump, and the unfolding catastrophe of his cabinet appointments and revelations of Russian intervention, has shaken many academics to their core. Readers and clients (and all of us here at The Professor Is In) describe living in a state of free-floating, pervasive fear, dread, and anxiety.

This free webinar is a conversation between Karen Kelsky and Kellee Weinhold about what we might expect, and how we might deal, with academic life under Trump. We will respond to queries and concerns raised by our listeners.

Our goal in this is not to deliver concrete career advice (impossible in a time so unsettled and unprecedented) but rather to create a space for connection and community. Isolation and depression are our greatest threats at this juncture, and right now, continuing to gather together and share our ideas for survival and resistance is perhaps the most important step we can take.

Upon registration you will receive access to a Googledoc to upload your questions and concerns, as well as registration information for the free event.

We look forward to visiting with you.

Karen and Kellee

Sunday Dec. 18 1 PM EST

FREE

BUT YOU MUST CLICK “ADD TO CART” BELOW TO REGISTER!

For Grad Students Only–Turn Your Ph.D. Into a Job {past}

This webinar is for current graduate students, on strategizing for the academic and non-academic job markets while in graduate school. It is open to students at any stage in their program, including those just starting this fall. (I love to talk to newbies!)

We will cover:

• Understanding the financial risks of a Ph.D.
• Evaluating the status and job placement rate of your graduate program
• Evaluating the effectiveness of your advisor for job placement
• Changing advisors when necessary
• Assembling a committee
• Reading trends in your field with an eye to the job market
• Setting a 5-year timeline to completion
• Understanding the role of grants
• TA-ing vs. teaching
• Participating in departmental life
• Avoiding excess service
• Attending national conferences
• Strategizing your recommenders
• Building your CV

We will also discuss strategies to keep your options open for non-academic jobs, including

• Finding mentors
• Networking
• Informational interviews
• Identifying and developing your skills

Throughout we’ll address ways that you can “stop acting like a grad student” and take charge of your program and your career.

As always, time for Q and A at the end.

Let no grad student proceed uninformed!

Thursday 5/7 6 PM EST

Cost:  $30

Targeting Your Skills for a #Postac Career (led by Margy Horton) {past}

In order to grow your post-ac network, craft a solid business plan, or write a credible resume, you need to know your skills–and you need a language in which to articulate those skills.

In this webinar, I (Margy Horton) help you to identify your strongest skills, discover new ways of framing them, construct them into a compelling story, and decide which skills to sharpen in order to enhance your marketability. My experiences in both launching my business, ScholarShape, and organizing a group of Academic Entrepreneurs, have taught me that academics can indeed mine, re-frame, and “sell” previously unknown skills. This presentation is filled with real-life examples from my experiences at the intersections of academia and entrepreneurship.

In the Q and A, you can ask me to speak directly to your situation, and after the webinar, you’ll receive a downloadable recording. When you register for this webinar, you’ll receive a PDF of my list of over 100 skills that are common among academics–a more comprehensive list than any you’ll find elsewhere.

What we’ll cover:

1. How skills are different from knowledge, expertise, and credentials

2. How to identify your marketable skills (Hint: you may have over 100)

3. Four techniques for re-framing and re-labeling your existing skills

4. Why you need to frame your skills as a story (And five templates for writing your skill-story)

5. The “alchemical skills” that you can acquire to elevate your other skills

6. A dozen free or inexpensive ways to develop new marketable skills

7. Q and A

All participants will receive a free downloadable recording of the event.

See a short promo with audio here:   TPII Skills Webinar PROMO – Horton

Wednesday May 28, 6 PM EST/3 PM Pacific.

Cost: $50

Here are some reactions to previous webinars, and a testimonial from a Campus Visit Webinar client who used it to land a tenure track job:

“The webinar, which took a little less than two hours, was more useful to me than the entire semester of the ‘Preparing Future Faculty’ course I took through my university’s graduate school.”

“I found it very helpful. Why? Because I needed clarity re: the importance of ‘peer reviewed’ journal articles (of which I have none). You helped me see that while the dissertation is made out to be a ‘BIG ISSUE’ in the life of a Ph.D. student, what should now be one’s major concern, as a result of this lame market, is developing an active publishing record so that one can present themselves as a ‘colleague’ in the job market rather than a ‘grad student.’ Many advisors don’t realize this market change.”

“I appreciated the way that Karen focused not only on what we should do, but also on what we should avoid doing. Many of the job books I have neglect this important contrast.”

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me, Karen, at gettenure@gmail.com.