Dear Reader,
You’re doing things.
Reading job ads. Tweaking your materials. Applying.
But it’s not really working.
What would it be like if you were applying and interviewing for roles you were excited about, in places you wanted to live, with employers you felt shared your values (for the most part, anyway)?
What if you were getting feedback you could immediately use to improve your targeting, your materials, and the stories you tell in high-stakes conversations?
What if you knew you were actually making progress in your job search instead of just thinking about it and feeling bad about yourself for not taking consistent, meaningful action?
Ugh.
Because right now, it probably feels more like this:
“I felt like I was bashing my head against the wall.”
“I’ve been applying to things… and now looking back, I realize my applications were really off the mark. I didn’t get any interviews.”
“I was trying to do all these different things, hoping that one of them would lead to something.”
“I thought if I could just market myself properly, I’d find something great. The problem was actually finding opportunities and getting interviews.”
I want something better for you than what you’re experiencing.
And better can happen in a few weeks or months.
But not by trying harder.
Because this isn’t a “try harder” problem; rather, it’s a clarity problem.
Not knowing what you actually want—or how to position yourself for it—makes everything else harder: what roles you look at, how you present yourself, and how you show up in conversations.
That’s the part most people try to skip.
And it’s why things don’t change.
When people follow the system, things start to shift:
“The biggest change has been realizing that I actually have a lot to offer.”
“I’m much bolder about applying for things I really want.”
“Having a space to check in and get feedback made a big difference in feeling like I was moving forward.”
And maybe most importantly: “I’m not alone in this process.”
Now that the end of the semester is in sight and spring is almost here (in my part of the world), it’s time to stop spinning your wheels and actually move forward.
Ready? Join me in the PhD Career Clarity Program.
If you’re a professor (of any kind), postdoc (ditto), or other PhD who knows you’re not in the right role or needs to make a change through no fault of your own, let’s chat about whether the program will help you reach your goals—for real this time.
Or, if you know you want in, you can skip chatting with me and join straightaway.
If you join the program today you can participate in our next live workshop, which is tomorrow (Friday) at 12pm EDT.
It’s called “Designing Your Active Job Search Workflow: Aligning Strategy with Weekly Actions.” I hope to see you there.
Have questions? Reply to this email and I’ll get back to you. Or, book a call with me.
Here’s a final thought, a quote from a PhD friend I was talking with this morning:
“I know the job market sucks, but what you want still matters.”
And that really is just it.
You can’t control whether you get interviews and offers.
You can control finding clarity and matching it to opportunities, so you can put yourself out there in the right places, in the right way.
That’s the work.
And it’s exactly what we do inside the program.
I’m here to help.
Cheers,
Jen
Jennifer Polk, PhD
Free Webinar Job search advice for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs ready to leave academia
