Dear Reader,
Here’s a misconception PhDs often have about career coaches: That you’re paying for advice.
I get why people think this. And I also get why you wouldn’t want to do that, especially if money is tight.
I mean, advice is everywhere, and it’s not hard to find it.
ChatGPT will give you all the advice you could ever want, for free.
Your favourite secret Facebook group for academics will also provide you with more advice than you could ever act on.
Let’s pause right there, on “act on.”
Because that’s often the real issue.
Are you acting on the advice you’re getting, even when you fully agree with the suggestions?
Before I go on, let me acknowledge something.
There is a difference between Reddit comments, genAI tools, and an expert career coach who’s spent well over a decade working specifically with long-time academics (hi, it’s me).
It can absolutely make sense to pay for advice from someone like that, someone who can consider your specific situation and filter it through years of experience working with other people navigating very similar realities with very similar goals.
Again, hi.
And that’s exactly why I offer paid one-off consultations, to talk strategy and next steps with folks who want expert advice they can implement on their own.
But here’s the thing: Most PhDs I talk with don’t actually need more advice.
They already know quite a lot about job searching.
They know networking matters.
They know informational interviews can help.
They know they should translate their academic experience into language employers understand.
None of that is secret knowledge.
If it is, it doesn’t have to be anymore. Here’s my (free!) video where I break it all down for you, step by step.
The problem is that knowing what to do and actually moving forward are two different things.
Information rarely creates momentum. Structure does. Accountability does too.
That’s why the main thing people get when they join my PhD Career Clarity program isn’t advice.
It’s
- a structured process for figuring out what they actually want next
- accountability and momentum
- a community of other PhDs navigating similar transitions
- space to think clearly about their strengths, priorities, and options
In other words, this is support for the part you can’t outsource.
If what you need right now is specific advice about your situation, a paid consultation might be the right fit.
If what you’re missing is clarity, structure, and momentum, that’s exactly what the PhD Career Clarity Program is designed to provide.
If you’re curious whether it might help you, hit reply and tell me a bit about where you’re at.
I’m always happy to talk it through, either over email or in a brief Zoom chat.
Oh, and speaking of career clarity…
If you’re curious about the event I was promoting over the past couple weeks (IMPACT 2026), I’m happy to report that it went well.
One of the other presenters tasked participants with creating a mission statement for themselves, on the fly.
Here’s what I wrote down:
Nice, eh? I think so.
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!
Jennifer Polk, PhD
Free Webinar Job search advice for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs ready to leave academia
