Author: Jennifer Polk
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Transition Q & A: Veronica Rubio Vega
Veronica Rubio Vega is a part-time PhD candidate in political economy at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University. She works as a research analyst at RBC. Connect with her on Academia.edu, follow her @VERYVERO, or email her. You’re currently enrolled in a PhD program, but recently switched to part-time studies. What happened?…
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Why I started my PhD
I was recently asked why I did a PhD if I didn’t now want to be a professor. The question was posed by a friendly acquaintance and was meant genuinely, out of curiosity. The assumption he made—that a doctorate is a prelude to a professorship—is common inside and outside the academy. I’m not surprised by…
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Thank you!
I’ve had a great time with this blog over the past 6 months—my half-year-iversary is coming up this weekend on Thursday! When I began, I was excited to write about my own transition process, reflect on what I’d learned, and provide support and helpful resources for others in my situation: PhDs trying to figure out…
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Transition Q & A: Kris Gies
Kris Gies earned his PhD in history from the University of Guelph. He is a publisher’s representative at the University of Toronto Press. Follow him @KrisGies. What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD? At the most basic level, my experience was probably much like anyone else who decides to…
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Post-PhD magazine dreams
I want to start a magazine. It will be called Post-PhD and it will be beautifully designed, wonderfully written, and will have inspiring, surprising, and delightful original content. It will be for and about PhDs, including ABDs and our compadres, no matter what they do or where they do it. It will exist in physical…
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Parker Palmer: “I can’t not do it”
Here’s what Parker Palmer, a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, recently said about his post-PhD journey: I did a PhD at Berkeley and then immediately decided that academic life was not for me. So I started working my way towards something else, first as a community organizer and then living for…
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Coach training
I started coach training last week. I’m doing the Foundations course from Mentor Coach, a training program aimed at “helping professionals” and rooted in positive psychology. I first heard of Mentor Coach from Karen Shue, whom I met with for coffee one morning a few months back. She only had good things to say about…
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Transition Q & A: Brenda Bethman
Brenda Bethman earned her PhD in modern German studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2009. She’s now the director of the Women’s Center and the Women’s & Gender Studies Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she is also affiliated faculty in German in the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures. Find her online…
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Tina Seelig’s post-PhD transition
I came across this recently: Soon after earning my PhD in neuroscience, my sights were set on working in a startup biotechnology company. The only problem? I wanted a job in marketing and strategy, not in the lab. This seemed nearly impossible without any relevant experience. The startup companies with whom I interviewed were looking…
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Self-help for PhDs (by PhDs)
During my undergrad I worked part-time at a Chapters bookstore in Ottawa, a big-box retailer similar to Barnes & Noble. My area of the store was the “Lifestyles” section, assigned to me because that’s where the opening was when I was hired. That section included many of the store’s non-fiction books, including self-help titles. Anyone…