Category: Uncategorized
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Leaving academia? Last chance to register for IMPACT 2026
Dear [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], Quick reminder that IMPACT 2026 is tomorrow, and I’ll be leading a short session called Leave Toward Something. In that session, we’ll begin creating what I call a “leaving inventory.” When people leave academia, the focus is usually on what isn’t working anymore. Burnout. Mismanagement. Toxic departments. Totally valid. And…
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It’s not your resume (and reminder about IMPACT 2026 – this Thursday)
Dear [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], I was recently a guest on Paulina’s Cossette’s YouTube channel/podcast. (She teaches academics how to turn themselves into editors and she’s awesome.) We talked about how lot of job searching PhDs assume their problem is their resume. Hot take: Your resume might need work, but working on it might be…
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“What did you actually do as a professor?”
Dear Reader, In a small-group coaching session, we talked about something that makes a lot of academics uncomfortable, namely, selling ourselves. Someone joked that maybe we need to borrow a bit of “gym-bro energy” from corporate spaces. We laughed. But the discomfort underneath it was real. Academia does teach you to advocate for your work,…
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Leaving well (yes, that’s a thing)
Dear Reader, tl;dr: Check out IMPACT 2026 (5 Mar, $49). More below. One of my clients is a long-time tenured professor sorting out her next steps. Recently, she’s been documenting her experiences. She’s reflecting on what she’s done, and in particular on what it’s all meant for the people, processes, and products—to put it in…
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The real work of leaving academia
Dear Reader, If you’re questioning your professional future, you might be spending a lot of time on LinkedIn and job boards. You click the Jobs tab and start scrolling. You search for relevant roles using keywords. In between, you tweak your resume for the nth time. In a low moment, you check out a graduate…
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You can’t outsource this part
Dear Reader, “Can’t you just tell me what job would make sense for me?” It’s rare that someone asks me that directly, but it’s often implied in emails and messages I get from PhDs. And I totally get why someone would think I can do that, and why they’d want me to. You want the…
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Why resume advice often misses the point
Dear Reader, Something interesting happened in the small-group discussion with my program members this week. About seven people attended the small group discussion I hosted for program members, and the first question was about skills-based resumes: What did we think about them? Has anyone used them? Any advice? This is a less common resume format,…
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Heated Rivalry, JenBot, and what’s coming up
Dear Reader, I’ve got three quick things for you: Heated Rivalry, JenBot, and a program update. Scroll down for more info on what’s relevant to you, or you can stop reading right now 😀 — First: Heated Rivalry (the TV show). Last week, I posted on LinkedIn asking for PhD-ish takes on Heated Rivalry. What…
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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…