Author: Jennifer Polk
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Is expertise beautiful? Why this matters for you
Dear Reader, One of the frameworks I really like for PhDs and other academics going through a professional transition, including a potential career change, is the VIA (“values in action”) character strengths. A bit different from workplace strengths (transferable skills, competencies, whatever), these are more about innate talent areas—ones that stem from your values and…
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Here’s to more fun in 2026 + co-working starts tmrw
Dear Reader, Happy New Year! (Who else is still at the cottage? iykyk) Let’s talk about 2026 and what we need now. Me? I need fun. There’s not enough fun in my life. I spent too many years on Twitter not to immediately want to caveat that with I KNOW I have it better than…
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Can a chatbot replace a PhD career coach?
Dear Reader, I’ve been working on something new (fun!) and I’m not sure how I feel about it (hmm!). The new thing is a chatbot based on my approach to career transition coaching for PhDs. It’s a guided reflection tool designed to help users better understand the problem they’re facing right now in their job…
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Ever feel like your experience just doesn’t count?
Dear Reader, The interviewer smiled politely. You could almost hear the quiet click of a mental file cabinet: PhD. Postdoc. Researcher. Each time Divya (not her real name), a PhD scientist with years of lab and data experience, described the projects she’d led—how she managed teams, built partnerships, and wrote reports that shaped decisions far…
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Don’t job search like students use AI to write papers
Dear Reader, It often seems like the hardest part of leaving academia is figuring out how to “sell” yourself to employers. For example, a PhD wrote to me last week with this concern: “I really want to be better able to communicate my skills, knowledge base, experience, and overall potential to contribute meaningfully outside of…
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October program info (+ help if you don’t know what you want next)
Dear Reader, A lot of PhDs already know how to job search. Is this you? You have a job already, whether you work in academia or have switched tracks to industry, government, whatever. The mechanics of a job search aren’t really your issue. The problem? You don’t know exactly what you want next. And that…
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Fixing what’s underneath comes first (story time!)
Dear Reader, Here’s a story about my living room wall. Today, it looks stunning. (If I do say so myself.) The colour grounds the space, ties together the flooring, rug, furniture, and sets the stage for the gallery wall above the sofa, where photos I’ve taken over the years will bring my past into my…
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The problem with “once a scientist, always a scientist”
Dear Reader, I saw this comment on LinkedIn recently: “Once a scientist, always a scientist.” At first glance, it feels like an empowering sentiment, reassuring PhDs that they haven’t wasted their years of training even if they jump ship to a different kind of job. But here’s the nuance: sometimes, clinging to that identity can…
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For PhDs who feel stuck in limbo
Dear Reader, Here’s a surprising thing about my work: Many of my clients already have jobs outside of academia. Yep. Good jobs, even. They’re working with me because they feel “in limbo” (to borrow a phrase from someone I spoke with last week). Everything looks great on paper. Their LinkedIn profiles make them out to…
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What my clients taught me this week about leaving academia
Dear Reader, The hardest part of leaving academia isn’t the job search itself. Yep. It’s the years of conditioning that make brilliant, passionate people feel like failures long after they’ve left. You can get out on paper—land a good job, even one you enjoy—and still feel weighed down by academic culture. That voice in your…