Category: Reflection
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Empathizing with adjuncts
During my final years as a PhD student, when most people in my cohort were applying for academic jobs, I wasn’t on the market. It was hard enough to focus on my dissertation, and I really wanted it done. I wasn’t in love with academia anymore, was doing occasional freelance work, and had savings in…
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Marketing the PhD
We know the prevailing attitude within academia tends toward the “tenure-track or bust” end of the acceptable jobs spectrum, but the problem exists on the outside, too. Most of the time, people I’m talking to assume something very similar: that I will become a professor. A while back I was talking with an acquaintance about…
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PhDs and entrepreneurialism
During my doctorate I worked occasionally as a freelance researcher and administrative assistant for a few small consultancies. After I defended, my plan was to continue doing this but on a more consistent basis, in the hopes of growing my client base or workload, and thus make more money. Well, that didn’t work out and…
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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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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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Exploration
When I hired my career coach, Hillary Hutchinson, back in the fall, I had no idea what a coach did. I’d heard—and laughed about—life coaches but had never heard of a career coach. I’d reached a impasse, though, and was determined to move forward. Since what I’d been doing thus far hadn’t been working, it…
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Scholarship and life
Scholars are almost always academics. We assign the designation to professors and researchers with university posts who get paid to research and publish. The term “independent scholar” only proves this: The qualifier is necessary because “scholar” by itself implies an academic position. I think this is why I’ve been uneasy about my desire to continue…
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A job interview
I had a job interview a couple weeks back. I wasn’t offered the position, but I still consider it a success. A celebration, even. Here’s what happened: Earlier this month, after talking with Natalie Zina Walschots, I started to be much more active on social media. That Friday, I mentioned Jessica Langer in a #FF…