Dear Reader,
There’s nothing like the start of a new season—it now feels like summer where I live—to inspire action.
One thing that’s meant for me is making sure all the resources available to my program members are easy to find and use.
Not because I think more resources are automatically better.
Goodness, no.
If anything, too many resources can become its own problem.
- Another folder of templates.
- Another replay to watch.
- Another worksheet to fill out.
- Another “helpful” thing that somehow leaves you exactly where you were before: sitting alone with a bunch of tabs open, wondering what to do next.
That is not what I want for my clients.
After all, paying for help should mean a smoother, easier, more supported experience than doing this all solo, eh?
Earlier this week, I got an email from a PhD job seeker who wanted help with one specific part of the process rather than the whole journey.
What could I offer at a much cheaper price?
This is a question that’s come up over the years I’ve offered the PhD Career Clarity Program.
And every time, I land back in the same place:
I feel you. And also, I don’t want to just sell an online course, a template library, or recordings of individual workshops.
If you’ve hung around this list for a long while, you may remember that I’ve done a couple one-off workshops and Q&As over the years, and I’ve enjoyed them.
But they’ve also left me—and perhaps you, if you participated—feeling a bit unclear about the ultimate value of what I offered.
Like: it’s a nice hour, you did a thing, maybe you had a useful insight.
But now what?
That “now what?” matters.
Because career change after a PhD is not usually one neat little problem.
Maybe you’re thinking something like
- “I need a better industry-ready resume.”
- “I don’t know what job titles to search for, or what level to target.”
- “I need to network, but ugh. Or maybe I can skip this?”
- “I don’t know how to talk about myself when people ask me about what I do.”
- “I’m applying, but nothing is happening. I get zero interviews or other feedback.”
- “There are a lot of jobs I can do but nothing feels good.”
- “I have no idea what will be right for me outside academia.”
But underneath them is often a bigger question:
Who are you now, as a person and professional, and what does that mean pursuing in the world as it is?
And how do you figure this out in a way that respects your values, strengths, boundaries, finances, energy, family, location, health, and actual life?
That’s why the PhD Career Clarity Program is not just a pile of resources.
I mean there are plenty of resources, yes.
There’s a structured core course, recorded workshops, templates, worksheets, and practical tools. (Ask me for more details if you love details.)
But the point is not to give you more stuff to sort through on your own.
The point is to give you a path to work through to get you where you want to go.
A step-by-step process, guided exercises, instruction when you need it.
A community of other PhDs who get why this is weird and emotional and complicated.
And support from me as you make sense of what you’re learning, what you’re trying, and what you might want to do next.
If you want to be clearer by September, this is a good time to start.
Not because you need to spend your whole summer job searching, but because a few months of structure, support, and steady progress can change what’s possible by the time fall rolls around.
My top recommendation for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs swirling in career uncertainty but who want to figure out their next right job is to join the PhD Career Clarity Program.
And if you’re interested but not sure whether the program is the right fit for your situation, book a private tour with me. We’ll talk through where you are, what you’re trying to work out, and whether the program makes sense for you.
Oh, and if you’re a former program member and you want back in, let me know. You can re-join at the alumni rate.
Cheers,
Jen
P.S. Figuring it out is the work, and if you’re not making progress toward clarity or you find yourself not taking action that gets you where you want to go, well, hey. Let’s talk.
