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Talking about Twitter, learning about myself

I recently had a couple teleconferences with women entrepreneurs. The topic was Twitter. I offered to talk to them because I had a flash of insight: Twitter has been invaluable to me this year, and these women, who are part of a coaching group I’m in, might not yet know of its awesomeness. I’ve used Twitter and other forms of social media in a personal, semi-professional, and professional way for a few years, and I figured that my knowledge and experience could be useful to others. Part of me realized that having these conversations would be like market research, that is, a way for me to test whether I might want to do social media tutoring for money one day.

It turned out that over a dozen women expressed interest, and we arranged a couple group calls. I used FreeConferenceCall.com to host the calls, and that was a learning experience in itself. The first session had a handful of participants. I did some talking, some question answering, and hosted a bit of a discussion. One of the women on the call already uses Twitter for her business and she was generous about sharing her thoughts on the medium. The second session ended up being a two-person conversation, and that was a fun, rewarding experience, too. I will probably offer a third call, to anyone who wasn’t able to make the first two.

So, where does this leave me, business-thinking-wise? I enjoyed the conference call format, and liked speaking about how Twitter helps me find community and enables access to an incredible number of resources I would probably not otherwise find. I learned that I want to get some sort of Bluetooth device so I don’t have to actually hold my phone in my hand. I liked the interaction and hearing about different viewpoints and allowing those to guide the conversation. This probably means that I’d prefer to give workshops—in person, online, over the phone—rather than do more structured lecturing. And that makes sense: I thought the tutorials I lead as a teaching assistant were great fun. I never prepared formal presentations, believing that my classes were among the few opportunities students had to discuss their ideas and receive feedback. Interesting discussions about ideas that involve openness and sharing of information and opinions are among my very favourite things! (Shout out to my 12th grade and OAC English classes, the master’s-level historiography seminar I took at Carleton University, and all the brilliant talks I’ve had with family, friends, and colleagues over the years.)

Can I get paid to have conversations? Better question: What specific kinds of conversations do I want to get paid to have? After the Twitter teleconferences, I think social media isn’t my passion, but that it excites me because it enables things I’m passionate about. Those things are . . .  personal empowerment, community building, sharing, and learning. Anything else? I’ll have to let you know.

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Should

I lived with many “should”s during my PhD. I should have worked harder in classes, spent more time on my essays, read more books, taken better notes, tried harder to set up reading groups, done more research, visited more archives, ordered more photocopies, applied for more conferences, networked more actively, worked more consistently on my dissertation, been a better TA, sought to teach my own courses, submitted articles to journals, applied to academic jobs and postdocs. I’m sure I’m forgetting some! A bad case of the shoulds is hardly unique to academia, but it’s a pretty common affliction. And, like any disease, it’s harmful!

My should troubles continued after defending my dissertation and graduating. This past fall I had moments of postdoc and job market should, and a worse case of book proposal should that continued into this year. On the non-academic front, I was hearing a steady stream of “you should apply for jobs” from friends and family and my own left brain. Then there’s the more serious “you should know what you want by now!” Trouble was, I didn’t.

Slowly, the shoulds are dissipating. They started going away without my active intervention, an outgrowth of improving self-esteem, a better support system, and my giving myself a break. Life is hard. How many people really know who they are or what they want? How many people even ask themselves such questions? I spent nearly a decade in grad school and years before that on the academic path… really, my entire life! It’s no surprise that figuring out what I want to do next is going to take a while. This is normal.

I still have some shoulds, but now that I’m aware of them, I’ll do my best to banish them. So, no, it’s not that I should do yoga every morning; rather, I want to and perhaps will do it. If not, that’s fine! Habits are hard to break; new ones take a while to stick. (Neuroplasticity is amazing, but changes don’t come in a day). Emotionally punishing myself will only lead to more problems. Life’s tough enough as it is: I don’t need additional stress!

What shoulds are holding you back?

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Update

I’ve been busy with different projects these past few weeks, and am now taking advantage of having little on my plate! Here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to:

I participated in a panel and discussion about #alt-ac at the University of Toronto at Mississauga. The whole thing was streamed live over the ‘net and you can watch it here. Thanks to Jonathan Turner for inviting me and hosting the event, my fellow panelists, and everyone in the room! It was a great conversation and lots of fun for me.

Liz Covart, another history PhD, and I spoke over Skype about a few different things, including networking. She’s got a piece up about that over at her website. Thanks so much, Liz!

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be exploring different coach training options, and if something feels right—and my brain’s left hemisphere agrees—I guess I’ll sign up! Although I’m not sure I want to be a coach per se, I am excited to learn some tools of the trade, do some practice coaching, and see where it takes me. If anyone has particular suggestions or experiences, please let me know.

Looks like the sun’s come up, and the rain’s stopped for the moment, so a walk outside is in order! I’ll be back with something more substantial, soon.

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Transition Q & A: Mélanie Brunet

Mélanie Brunet earned her PhD in history and then her Master of Information from the University of Toronto. She’s now the librarian at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa. Follow her @MelanieBrunet.

What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD?

I started the PhD wanting to become a professor, although it was not until my last year in the program that I started feeling comfortable in front of a classroom. I was more comfortable doing research, but felt that I was writing for such a small audience that it didn’t really matter. Finally, I saw how the job market had not improved that much since my thesis advisor had struggled to find a tenure-track position in the 1990s. I started to think that an academic career may not be possible or was not even a good fit for me. But I carried on, encouraged by mentors and classmates who suggested that I would feel better about an academic career once I got to teach my own courses. So when I graduated in 2005, I applied for post-docs and teaching positions, but also submitted resumes for jobs in the public service and non-profit organizations.

What was your first post-PhD job?

I defended my dissertation in September and was a teaching assistant for the rest of the academic year. I was eager to teach my own courses, and in the fall of 2006 I started teaching on a sessional basis. Two years later, I got a one-year contract as an assistant professor at a francophone college in Manitoba. I enjoyed the smaller classes and the opportunity to get to know my students, but the course load was quite heavy. I basically spent all my time preparing lectures and marking, unable to do any substantial research, which in the end, was the aspect of academia that I enjoyed the most. After much soul searching and coming to terms with the fact that I was unhappy in academia, I decided to leave. Since I had not been successful at securing a non-academic job after graduation, I had it in my mind that I needed to return to school to get some kind of professional degree. I considered law and translation, but finally followed a friend’s suggestion and settled on librarianship.

What do you do now?

Turns out going back to school to get a library degree was the right decision. Looking back, I remember having more fun teaching my students about research and demonstrating databases than teaching Canadian history. I am now the librarian at the IDRC, a crown corporation that focuses on applied research in developing countries. Along with two library technicians, I provide research services and resources to the centre’s program staff and funded partners around the world.

What kind of tasks do you do on a daily and weekly basis?

Being the only librarian means that my responsibilities are quite varied. A typical week includes all of these activities: answering research questions (ranging from literature reviews to citation tracking); applying copyright laws and fair dealing provisions to document requests; evaluating resources, products, and services; dealing with content and service providers; reporting or fixing access issues to databases and other electronic resources; promoting library services and resources to staff and partners; preparing teaching materials, and offering training and orientation sessions; planning the redesign of the library website and creating video tutorials; engaging in professional development and committee work; and mentoring our summer student.

What most surprises you about your job?

That I enjoy it so much! I love the variety. It also surprises me that I get to use all the skills that I learned in graduate school, through my own work and as a teaching assistant: research, writing, teaching, managing projects, engaging in administrative and committee work. It doesn’t matter so much that I studied something that is not related to international development. I truly believe that I’m a better librarian because I went through graduate school first. Most IDRC library users have a masters or a PhD and they have to go through the research process, from proposal to publication. Because I have a good idea of what they are going through, I’m able to establish a good rapport, ask appropriate questions, and provide a service that meets their needs.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

I love that I’m able to be involved in so many different things and learn new aspects of librarianship along the way. Even in terms of research questions, I get to explore subjects that I would not have encountered had I stuck to my original plans: counterfeit drugs in low- and middle-income countries, donor partnership modalities, open access policies in the field of development research, etc. I also enjoy talking to people around the world. IDRC has four regional offices (in Uruguay, Egypt, Kenya, and India), so I get to interact with staff there, but I also do online presentations and training sessions for our research partners. Working around different time zones can be a bit tricky, but I’ve had the chance to meet (virtually) research teams in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Burkina Faso, for example. I also get to attend staff and partner presentations in Ottawa, where I learn about how IDRC-funded research can make a difference, and every time it makes me proud to work at IDRC. I may not engage in development work myself, but I help these researchers find information so they can concentrate on making sense of it and applying it to their projects. I find that very rewarding and it has opened my eyes to the many obstacles developing country researchers face in their work, including unreliable internet access and commercial research resources that are considered standard here but are out of their reach financially.

On a more personal level, I like that the hours of work are clearly defined, something that I found was lacking in academia. There was always one more article to read to improve a lecture, one more page that needed to be written before going to bed. I had difficulties setting boundaries in graduate school and as a sessional instructor. As a librarian working in a government library, I find it much easier to leave my work at the office.

What would you change about it if you could?

It’s not the job as much as the context. IDRC, like the rest of the federal public service, was hit hard by budget cuts in 2012. Most of these cuts had taken place before I started, but a few months in I found out that just three years ago, there were three librarians at IDRC. Now it’s just me but the amount of work has not necessarily declined. So if I could change something, it would be to hire a second librarian to share the workload. All this work means it’s never boring, but it can cause the library to miss opportunities to innovate because we do not have enough staff to dedicate time to new projects.

What’s next for you, career-wise?

Right now I’m just enjoying the fact that for the first time in my life, I’m not on contract. I have been incredibly lucky to get this job when so many federal librarians have been laid off over the past year. I’m not ruling out the possibility of working in an academic library again because I really enjoyed working as a reference assistant at Robarts Library at UofT during library school, but I hope to stay at IDRC for some time because I think I have a lot to contribute and to learn there. I would also like to do more research and publish in the field of information studies.

What advice or thoughts do you have for post-PhDs in transition now?

It’s not true that you can only be an academic and can’t be happy doing something else, but it may take some time to find out what that something else is exactly. Be open to all sorts of possibilities. Transitioning to a non-academic job can be scary and I think everyone’s path is different. I went back to school, but I’m aware that’s not an option for everyone. However, being enthusiastic and confident about what you have to offer is essential. It will help you get through the tough times while you make your path to a fulfilling non-academic career.

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Transition Q & A: Sam Ladner

Sam Ladner is a senior researcher at Microsoft, researching the future of productivity. She holds a PhD in sociology and has studied work, technology, and organizations in both academic and applied settings. Find her online at SamLadner.com and follow at @sladner.

What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD?

I had hoped to get a tenure-track job. I did the math. I recall specifically the median age of Canadian professors was 53 at the time I was considering applying for my PhD. I considered that good odds. I did not anticipate a fundamental reconfiguration of the academic job market.

What was your first post-PhD job?

I’d like to answer that by talking about an unexpected job I took in the middle of my PhD. I found myself, at the beginning of my comps, in need of money. So I took a job in a web design agency, doing consumer and design research for large, U.S.-based clients. Prior to starting my master’s, I had worked in various content and journalism roles in online newspapers. This web experience became a competitive advantage after I had additional training and experience in social research. The agency job I took halfway through my PhD allowed me to both finish my PhD, and unbeknownst to me at the time, saved my career.

After finishing my PhD, I applied for a handful of academic jobs and was never shortlisted for any.  Instead, I went back to the agency world. My first job after my PhD was in another web design agency. Eventually, I opened my own research company, and ran it successfully for 4 years. My clients paid me to do social research about their customers and potential customers. I helped design web sites, commercial products, and marketing campaigns.

What do you do now?

In late 2012, I saw the perfect job advertised, but it meant I had to leave my country, my own business, my hard-earned first house, and my strong social network in a city I loved. I applied, and got the job. The biggest surprise? This was not for a tenure-track job. It was for Microsoft.

Looking back, I was never willing to make such sacrifices for a university job, probably because I knew I wouldn’t find it worth it. My former classmates who had taken jobs in remote rural areas didn’t seem happy. They also seemed deeply exploited.

I feel extremely lucky to be working in this role, which is uniquely suited to my skills. I research the future of work and productivity at Microsoft, in the Office division. My role is to work with designers and prototype engineers to create prototype productivity technology.

What kind of tasks do you do on a daily and weekly basis?

I research socio-cultural trends and analyze their implications of these trends for designers and engineers. I do some empirical research as well, both with technology customers and potential users. I lead a fair number of workshops, helping my coworkers think through the implications of my research, and ideate potential solutions.

What most surprises you about your job?

My colleagues are incredibly well informed and well intentioned. Their genuine desire is to make technology that make people’s lives better. I personally am not that surprised by this, but I know my former classmates and supervisors would be.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

I love being able to make complex ideas simple and useful for technologists. They haven’t had the privilege of my social research training; I love being able to open their eyes to social theory and research.

What would you change about it if you could?

I would like more space to think—but I’d imagine I’d probably have the same complaint in a university. There’s little time anywhere these days.

What’s next for you, career-wise?

I’m currently writing a book called Practical Ethnography, which will allow me to reach even more people with social research. I’d like to start working on my second book before long. At the same time, I’ll continue to work on the future of work at Microsoft.

What advice or thoughts do you have for post-PhDs in transition now?

If you’re afraid there won’t be a job waiting for you when you finish, you are right. You won’t hear that from your committee because they genuinely have no idea how bad the academic job market is. Listen to yourself and your concerns. Look at those academics around you and pay attention to how unhappy so many of them are. Think about how narrow their experience is and how little they know about the world. Then spend a minute imagining doing what you like to do, be it researching, writing, lecturing, teaching or doing analysis, or even something completely different. Then imagine all the other places in the world that kind of work happens. Yes, you can leave the university and yes, you can be happy.

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Transition Q & A: Pamela MacIsaac

Pamela MacIsaac earned her PhD in history from McMaster University in 1997. She later completed a Master of Teaching at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto in 2008 and is currently the vice principal at Voice Intermediate School in Toronto.

What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD?

I’m not sure I really had much hope of any kind of employment as I finished my PhD, to be honest. I was at grad school in the 90s, which was, quite possibly, the worst time ever to be an academic in terms of solid career prospects. The only way to find a job at the time seemed to be to wait for someone to die or retire, which was very depressing.

I realized as I was finishing my doctorate that I really didn’t love what I was doing; I was doing it because I was good at it and it was fun and I enjoyed the prestige and the social life of academia. But I didn’t really feel that I was making a contribution of any kind to the world; instead, I was just doing what I was doing to prove I could do it, so someone would give me money to keep doing it. Given the amount of work and commitment it takes to have a satisfying career as a professor, I knew I didn’t have the drive. I had the skills and the chops, probably, but I just didn’t care enough to do it as my life’s work.

What was your first post-PhD job?

I got a joe job doing research and administration for an executive search consultant who specialized in the not-for-profit sector. It turned out to be a somewhat interesting and very flexible job that served us well after we had our daughter, who was born a year or so after I defended my thesis. It wasn’t a job I felt committed to or loved, especially, but I was able to work at home, half-time – my focus at that point was on my family and being a mom, so a not so absorbing half-time job was exactly the right fit for me.

What do you do now?

About 7 years ago, I decided that what I really wanted to do and always had wanted to do was teach. I had begun to volunteer (probably excessively) at my daughter’s alternative school and spent so much time there that I figured I should get paid to do it. I went back to OISE and did a Master of Teaching (two years, with a research component, which I loved) and I found my calling. I was lucky enough to get a job teaching in a fantastically creative and innovative private school with a global education mandate, and am now the vice principal there. I love my work and am privileged to be one of those people who don’t feel like they’re working because what they do is so stimulating and plain fun.

What kind of tasks do you do on a daily and weekly basis?

I’m second-in-command to the founding principal; she’s the face and the vision of the school and I take care of the nuts and bolts day-to-day operation. I also teach English and philosophy to Grade 8s, which is incredibly rewarding. I plan curriculum, come up with solutions to administrative problems, talk to kids who are having problems (or just want to talk) and interact with my hilarious and inspired colleagues.

What most surprises you about your job?

How much I love it. When I worked in recruiting, I would always scoff when people said that they loved their jobs, because I was always the person who couldn’t wait to go home at night and do other things, especially after I had a baby. But now I know what they meant, and that it is possible to love what you do every day.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

Hmmm – probably the creative potential. Every day is a little bit different at school, and I have the opportunity to change and grow all the time. I learn something new every day and am able to implement that learning immediately.

What would you change about it if you could?

The commute! I live a bit far away from the school and have to take public transit for an hour each way. It’s somewhat exhausting. I suppose I could move, but we’re very settled and happy in our neighbourhood.

What’s next for you, career-wise?

I actually think I might just stay in my job until I retire. I’d like to write and publish more and start participating in the education field outside the school more, but it can be hard to find the space and time to do that.

What advice or thoughts do you have for post-PhDs in transition now?

Be prepared to change and grow and don’t expect to be the same person at 40 that you are at 25. It took me until my mid-30s to figure myself out and find what I loved to do. As well, take risks while you’re young. It gets harder and harder to make a change and follow your heart as you get older and more settled. Don’t become old before your time! I see people who are so young permanently booked into a career and marriage and a house and a mortgage and it freaks me out. You have to be able to uproot yourself and follow chances for awhile before you settle into what you know will probably be the rest of your life.

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Staying in touch

One of the topics that came up on today’s #femlead Twitter chat was what to do after an informational interview. Amanda Page wondered what comes next. Well, after a thank you email, there isn’t necessarily a next, at least not in my experience. Sometimes, an informational interview serves its purpose and both parties know nothing more needs to happen. Why force a relationship if you didn’t click with the person or you’re no longer interested in that industry? I think it’s ok to leave things be. If there are more things to be said or information to exchange then those things should and will happen.

All this being said, I do think there’s a place for all these contacts in my address book, whether or not I have much to say to them specifically. I’m drafting a letter that I’ll email to anyone I think might be interested in knowing what I’m up to. Liz Gloyn sends friends and professional contacts a monthly note to let them know what’s going on. I’m not planning on doing that, but we’ll see what happens. I can envision wanting to keep in regular contact with some people—people who actively want to be informed of my doings—and doing a separate, less frequent mailing for others. To me, this is about sharing information and inviting feedback. I know that down the road, I may call on my contacts for business purposes, but that’s not what’s driving the letter I’m writing. I’m genuinely excited about what I’m doing and think some of the people I’ve met in the past year+ would enjoy receiving an update. They’ve all played a role in where I am today, so it’s only fair that I let them know about it!

Here’s what I’m thinking: To start, a sentence or two or three that’s specific to that person. Then,

It’s finally, maybe spring here in Toronto and I’m looking forward to Hot Docs, the international documentary film festival that takes over my life—in the best way possible—in late April and early May each year. Earlier this month I went to the Silent Film Festival (as a first-timer) and just loved it. I love all the millions of exciting things happening in this city: It’s so easy to explore other interests, pick up a new hobby, and meet new people. The main challenge is simply that there’s so much out there!

That challenge is a good metaphor for my career search. When I finished my PhD and started thinking seriously about what to do next, I quickly realized that although there were few obvious places to look, my potential job options were extremely wide-ranging. This is fantastic! But in daily life it can be frustrating.

Over the past few months I’ve gotten much closer to knowing where I’m headed. I’m feeling optimistic and am having a great time learning what’s out there, connecting with new people, and brainstorming ideas. Having a career coach (who specializes in academics) was extremely helpful and an absolutely fascinating experience. I wrote a little something about this on my website, if you’re curious: http://fromphdtolife.com/2013/02/05/exploration/.

I started that website, From PhD to Life, in mid-December on a whim and it’s really taken off. I’m loving blogging, engaging in social media (especially Twitter) as a member of the “alternative academic” or #altac community, and reaching out to people with PhDs who are thriving beyond the academy, to ask them to tell their stories as part of my Q & A series. The whole process has been extremely fulfilling and deeply rewarding . . . and lots of fun, too! I think the site is having a small, positive impact by letting other people in transition away from academia know that they aren’t alone and that there are many wonderful things they can do beyond the tenure-track.

My experiences so far, as well as all the thinking and work I did before this year, have made it pretty clear that I want to run my own little business. And I’d love to use my blog as a starting point. Down the road I’ll undertake coach training so I can provide one-on-one or group help to struggling post-PhDs. I can see myself consulting on graduate skills training and job search services. What I’ve learned and am learning about the experiences of others might be of interest to university administrations, professional organizations, existing student services, and faculty members. PhDs face many issues after they graduate, and right now there’s little good help or guidance available. I’d love to reach larger audiences with my writing, and perhaps do some public speaking. I’m trying to keep my goals in mind, namely, to empower others, inspire change, and build community. There are many different projects I can envision being part of; at this point, I’m in the thinking stage.

Meanwhile, my networking has paid off in at least one surprising way: I’ve discovered that I love networking! I shied away from informational interviews at first, feeling intimidated by reaching out to strangers or even asking people I already know about what they do for a living. By now, I’ve gotten over my fear and realize it’s really great fun hearing about other people’s experiences, and having conversations about the directions I might take in my own working life.

Let me know how you’re doing and if you’ve got thoughts on what I’m up to!

What do you think? If I’d taken you out for coffee 6 months ago and sent you this email, would you welcome it?