Author: Jennifer Polk
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Transition Q & A: Maria Irchenhauser
The newest Q & A is up over at my University Affairs blog site. It’s a good one, with German studies PhD Maria Irchenhauser. Here’s an excerpt: What most surprises you about your job? What most surprises me is how much I have learned about business administration “on the job” in the past 18 months…
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Moving!
From now on, new From PhD to Life posts will appear over at University Affairs. This means a potentially larger readership and a few bucks for me. For you, it means that I’ll keep posting on this blog, but only to link to new UA pieces. Check out my first post here. It begins: I’ve just…
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My manuscript
I recently wrote about embracing the word “scholar.” In that post, I told you that my dissertation manuscript is in a pile on my floor. It’s moved around a bit in the year-and-a-half since I handed in the final version of my dissertation. I have worked at it, making changes big and small to the…
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Transition Q & A: Dawn Nickel
Dawn Nickel earned her PhD in the history of health care policy from the University of Alberta. She’s currently working as an independent research consultant and also operates She Recovers, a business that organizes yoga retreats in Mexico for women in recovery from addictions, chronic disease, and other life challenges. Follow her @dawnsherecovers. What did you…
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You’re invited: New group!
After hosting a few group discussions and participating in lots of conversations with PhDs, I’m ready to take my next step: group coaching! So… I’m launching my first From PhD to Life weekly coaching/support group for recent PhDs, soon-to-be PhDs, and ABDs leaving the academy. Together, we’ll support and encourage each other as we take…
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Scholar
Several weeks (months?) ago, Brandy Schillace asked me to contribute to her Rogue Scholar Salon. I haven’t yet. I started but then got stuck. Where? At the word “scholar.” Brandy herself, a former tenure-track professor, is very much continuing as a medical humanities scholar despite going rogue—quitting her academic job! But me? Well, I never…
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Confidence
Last week I was interviewed by David Austin Walsh from the History News Network; you can read the transcript of that here. David titled the interview, “Recent PhDs Need to Have their Confidence Boosted,” which it seems is something I said during our conversation . . . and I was right! I was reminded of…
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Money
My friend Liana Silva-Ford posted what she called a “rant” on Twitter this morning about blogging and earning money. “Folks gotta eat, yo.” Indeed, they do. Reading her Tweets has spurred me to write this post. One of the topics I’ve been vague about on this site is my own financial situation. A couple days…
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You’re invited! Post-PhD group
I’ve been pondering starting a post-PhD coaching/support/discussion group and I’m ready to set a time and give it a go. So… Tuesday, 6 August 2013, 9pm EDT let’s get together over the phone and talk about stuff. I like inclusiveness and think there’s a benefit to having a variety of people on the call, so…
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Needs inventory
Needs, necessities, non-negotiables. These have come up a few times in my coaching calls with others. One woman realized she needed to take a “vacation” from a big writing project, but could read novels, something she loves doing and doesn’t always make time for. Another, who recently relocated to South Asia, decided to hire a…