Dear Reader,
Here’s a surprising thing about my work: Many of my clients already have jobs outside of academia.
Yep. Good jobs, even.
They’re working with me because they feel “in limbo” (to borrow a phrase from someone I spoke with last week).
Everything looks great on paper.
Their LinkedIn profiles make them out to have successful careers, ones that their academic advisors might even be proud of.
Their families and friends are thrilled for them.
But inside? Nope. Not good.
One engineering PhD client comes to mind. You’d never know he isn’t thriving.
He’s highly qualified in his line of work, extremely competent, and in a field that’s respected and connected to what he studied. Win, right?
From the outside, the only “fix” might be switching to the same type of job at a different company.
But the real issue runs deeper than a toxic workplace or bad boss.
It turns out that this work doesn’t align with what he cares about.
And that’s a problem, because he doesn’t know what else to do.
So he’s in my PhD Career Clarity Program to find answers and move forward instead of staying in limbo.
It reminds me of someone I interacted with on Twitter years ago, a social science PhD working in tech.
His job looked great on paper, but he wasn’t happy.
He wondered if returning to academia was the answer, and posted enough times about this that I still remember, even years later.
My wondering from afar was whether the solution wasn’t going back to the known of academia—the last time he’d been happy in his career.
Instead, I wondered whether he’d adequately explored his options outside academia, starting with figuring out what he really wanted, irrespective of sector, industry, and field of employment.
Without that reflection and exploration, he was defaulting to: “I was happier then than I am now, so I want to go back.”
And maybe. But as the saying goes, you can’t go home again.
My point is this: many PhDs end up comparing their current dissatisfaction to a past moment of satisfaction, rather than pausing to imagine a new future that could be even better.
That’s exactly the work my engineer client is doing now in the PhD Career Clarity Program. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- slowing down his job search (no more “spray and pray” job apps),
- reflecting on what matters most (to him, not to others), and
- exploring possibilities instead of defaulting to old benchmarks of success.
That’s what my contact meant last week by “PhDs in limbo.”
These are folks with seemingly good jobs and plenty of options.
But deep-seated uncertainty and unhappiness clouds their judgment about their skills, strengths, and what kind of work will actually feel right.
It also eats away at their confidence, and that in turn keeps them from taking the small but important steps that could move them forward.
If you’re in this place, you do have actually better options, ones that don’t require you to hide your PhD or do a whole other degree (!).
But it might take some focused reflection and exploration time to uncover them.
This is a common challenge for successful professionals like you, and it’s solvable.
👉 Where are you at with respect to your current job or career path? I’d love to hear your experience. Hit reply and let me know.
Cheers,
Jen
P.S. Want to explore working with me? Visit my Services page to learn about options, or reply to this email and let me know what you want my help with!
