About Jen Polk, PhD

Hello! 👋🏻

I’m Jen Polk. I help professors, postdocs, and other PhDs who are considering careers beyond academia—or wondering what comes next after leaving—figure out what they actually want next and build a thoughtful strategy for getting there.

Since 2013, I’ve helped PhDs make thoughtful career decisions about work beyond academia.

I don’t prescribe career paths or tell you what job you should pursue. I help my clients learn how to make thoughtful career decisions they feel confident about.

I think of myself as a facilitator. I bring more than a decade of experience working with PhDs to our conversations, which means I recognize patterns, assumptions, and sticking points that can be hard to see when you’re in the middle of them. I ask questions, notice connections and contradictions, offer another perspective, and help you figure out what the evidence means for you.

Together, we clarify what you actually want, explore realistic possibilities, and build a strategy for moving toward work that’s a better fit.

That strategy might include networking, applications, interviews, or something else entirely. But it starts with knowing where you’re headed.

The goal isn’t simply to find another job. It’s to build a career that lets you:

• live where you want
• earn enough to support the life you want
• do meaningful work alongside thoughtful colleagues

I believe that when people have the space to reconnect with their strengths, values, and priorities, incredible things can happen—for them and for the organizations and communities they go on to serve.

My goal isn’t to tell you what to do. It’s to help you think more clearly, make thoughtful career decisions, and build a life and career that reflect who you are now—not who you thought you were supposed to become.

I created this free webinar and my PhD Career Clarity Program for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs who are ready to explore what’s next beyond academia, or who have already left and want work that’s a better fit.

Whether you’re still deciding what you want or you’re ready to start a more focused job search, you’ll find practical guidance, thoughtful reflection, and a supportive community.

Have questions? I’m happy to answer them! Email me at Jen@FromPhDToLife.com

Read my full bio.

Who I help

I work primarily with professors, postdocs, and other PhDs who are considering careers beyond academia.

Or who have already left and are wondering what comes next.

Some know they want to leave. Others aren’t sure yet. Many simply know something isn’t working anymore.

About my clients

My clients are thoughtful, accomplished people. Many have built successful academic careers. Others have already transitioned into non-academic work but realize where they landed isn’t the right fit.

They’re not looking for just any job. They’re looking for work that fits who they are now.

Some of my clients are exhausted by academic working conditions. Others simply want different kinds of opportunities, greater flexibility, better compensation, or a life that’s no longer organized around the expectations of academia.

I want my clients to receive job offers without feeling wracked with indecision about their career direction.

People sometimes assume the first step is updating a resume or applying for more jobs. In my experience, that’s not usually the main problem, not the one to solve next.

The work starts with understanding yourself well enough to make thoughtful career decisions. Only then do we talk about resumes, networking, interviews, or applications.

What matters most to you now?

Which strengths do you most want to use?

What kind of work tasks give you energy?

What kind of life do you want your career to support?

Why I started From PhD to Life

When I finished my PhD, I discovered something I hadn’t expected.

I’d spent years becoming a historian, but almost no time thinking about what kind of work I actually wanted—or what else might be possible.

As I began talking with other PhDs, I realized I wasn’t alone.

Again and again, I met brilliant, thoughtful people who were struggling because they were trying to make big career decisions without the space, structure, or support to think them through.

That’s why I started From PhD to Life.

I wanted to create the kind of resource and community I wish had existed when I was figuring out what came next.

Read my story

When I think back to how I felt after finishing my PhD, I remember having no full-time, meaningful, decently paid job… and no idea what came next.

What a shift from a few years earlier, when I won a prestigious national multi-year scholarship. I had been a promising researcher! But now? Ugh.

I felt I had no place in the world. That sucked. Solidarity with anyone going through a similar season.

I did make it to the other side. It turns out that while some parts of academia suited me, they weren’t the only places where I could use my strengths.

Here we are a dozen years later (phew) and I can confirm that I didn’t stop learning. My curiosity didn’t die a slow death from misuse. My valuing perspective taking and open-mindedness continues to come in handy. I still get to write and create. I get to teach! I have time for Wikipedia rabbit holes.

How did you feel when you realized you couldn’t stay in an academic environment anymore? How do you feel now?

That’s the kind of work I now help other PhDs do.