Author: Jennifer Polk
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Transition Q & As from around the web
Here are a couple interesting Q & As from Life After the PhD and Inside Higher Ed. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Jessa Chupik, who transitioned from history PhD student to executive recruiter: Many students might be loath to leave the academy because they enjoy certain aspects of the job. How have you…
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Should I give a workshop?
I’m part of a coaching group for women entrepreneurs, and last month I was challenged to come up with a workshop I could potentially offer. At first, this seemed an appropriate, exciting task. But over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling now’s not yet time to be planning something this big. One way of…
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Kimberley Yates, Associate Director, Transition Q&A
Kimberley Yates received her PhD in English from the University of Toronto in 1997 and completed a Masters of Information Studies in 2009. She is currently associate director of the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto. What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD? I was a…
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My own worst enemy
I went on a date Monday night. It was with a man I didn’t know; we had dinner at a nice place. He’s a cook and restauranteur, which makes him, job-wise, quite unlike the people I’ve dated in the past. I was excited but also a bit nervous. We talked easily but I noticed myself—sometimes…
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Inspirations
One of the biggest takeaways from my last few months of exploration is that inspiration and inspirational people are everywhere. Smart, fascinating, stimulating, amazing people and ideas are all around. Often, they’re in surprising places, where I’ve never thought to look. In places where, if someone told me, “Look for inspiration here!” I’d raise my…
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Heather Steel, Researcher, Transition Q&A
About Heather Steel Heather Steel earned her MA in history from the University of New Brunswick and spent six years in the PhD program in history at York University. She is now a researcher in the non-profit sector. You left your history PhD program before finishing. Why? In the end, my dissertation and I were…
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Stress and illness
Back in the summer I had a flare up of eczema . I’ve had persistent little dry spots appear before on my skin, primarily on my hands but also on my feet and arms. This time, it was different. By the fall, the dry patch was still there and growing ever larger. It had spread…
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Brad King, Vice President, Transition Q&A
Brad King earned his PhD in history from the University of Toronto. He is a vice president at Lord Cultural Resources, an international museum and cultural planning firm. A tenure-track job at a research institution is often seen as the supposed goal of a post-PhD job search. What was your experience? What did you hope for…
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Investing in myself
We all know the saying, “You have to spend money to make money,” but actually doing it can be uncomfortable. It was thus a big decision for me to hire a career coach and quit a part-time job within the span of a week back in October. Doing so meant earning less and spending more,…
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Quick trip
It was a long weekend here in Ontario, so when Bernard offered me a ride to Ottawa, I jumped at the chance. (Ottawa’s my hometown, and my parents still live there.) The only caveat was that Bernard wanted me to take a few pictures of him posing in front of a few landmarks. We left…