Dear [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],
I was recently a guest on Paulina’s Cossette’s YouTube channel/podcast.
(She teaches academics how to turn themselves into editors and she’s awesome.)
We talked about how lot of job searching PhDs assume their problem is their resume.
Hot take: Your resume might need work, but working on it might be premature.
Because if you’re not clear on
- what you actually want,
- what you consistently do well, and
- what kinds of problems you want to solve next, then
- every document will feel off, both to you and to recruiters and hiring managers.
That’s why I keep coming back to the need to prioritize structured reflection before launching into search tactics.
That’s what I’ll be guiding people through at IMPACT 2026 this Thursday, 5 Mar.
During my session, you’ll begin creating a “leaving inventory,” a deliberate record of your contributions, impact, growth, and patterns.
So you’re not scrambling to explain yourself later, defaulting to academic-speak, and faking clarity when opportunities comes your way (ugh).
If you’re curious about my conversation with Paulina, find Leaving Academia: Becoming a Freelance Editor on your preferred podcast platform (I’m episode 73).
Or watch us on YouTube: “Ep 73 Why Your Academic Job Search Isn’t Working (Hint: It’s Not Your Resume), with Jen Polk, PhD“
And if you’d like structured time to apply it to your own career, join me in a few days:
📅 Thursday, 5 March, starting at 12:30pm EST
🎟 US$49 (for the whole thing, yep)
💻 Live + recordings (so you don’t have to attend live if you really can’t)
Register here for IMPACT 2026.
Cheers,
Jen
P.S. Hope to see you this Thursday for IMPACT 2026!
Jennifer Polk, PhD
Free Webinar Job search advice for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs ready to leave academia
