Category: Uncategorized
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Stalled career search? Don’t give up
I recently spoke with a humanities PhD who’s having difficulty securing meaningful employment. After a one-year stint as a professor soon after he graduated, he’s worked for a private company for the past 18 months. “General office work,” he told me. “This used to be a summer job, and they hired me full-time in part…
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It’s OK to quit your PhD
My latest post for University Affairs says it’s OK to “quit” — and I put that in parentheses for a good reason. The narrative surrounding not completing a PhD is a negative one: quitting, leaving, failing. But for a great many people, the reality is that they’re moving on because it’s right for them. It’s…
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It’s OK to quit your PhD
Occasionally I’m asked about quitting, particularly “quitting” a PhD program. This happened several times last week, when I was in Vancouver. Contrary to what you may hear or what your own internal critics tell you, there’s no shame in moving on. I remember a long post on a Versatile PhD forum from “PJ,” an ABD thinking about…
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My speaking schedule so far, winter-spring 2016
See my latest post for University Affairs for some reflections on my AHA experience — I co-hosted the Career Fair in Atlanta earlier this month — and info about upcoming events! For more details and updates, check my Events page. Here are the postcards I had printed to bring with me. They were great to…
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Don’t give in to your inner critic
Are you doing your work, or are you making excuses? I ask lovingly, of course 🙂 My friend Lisa Munro, a fellow history PhD who works as an academic editor and writing consultant, cut right to the chase in a recent blog post. “Sticking to a writing schedule is difficult because it requires me to prioritize…
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Alison Norman, Research Associate, Transition Q&A
About Alison Norman Alison Norman earned her PhD in history from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She’s currently a Research Advisor in the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. She’s also a Research Associate in the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at the School for the…
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Congratulations to us!
I attended the Canadian Online Publishing Awards ceremony last evening in Toronto, with my University Affairs editor Ashleigh VanHouten. The magazine took home 5 gold wins in the blue division (business-to-business), including best blog or column for From PhD to Life! I don’t know exactly what content the magazine shared when it entered my blog…
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Grad school is part of your career
Last week I participated in an event for engineering graduate students at McMaster University. I was interviewed over Google Hangout by three students. They asked me excellent questions about my career. It was a fun experience, and one that got me thinking. I went “straight through”: high school, BA, MA, PhD. By the time I…
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My new mission: From PhD to Life, the book!
Oh, this is a bit scary! Yup, I’m working on a book. It’s about the emotional transition part of going “from PhD to life,” whatever that means for each person. More about what I’m planning over at University Affairs.
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Pablo Dominguez Andersen, Content Manager, Transition Q&A
I love this story! Pablo did a history PhD and originally aimed at working as a professor. But as he finished his degree he realized he wanted to stay in Berlin, so his options were limited, academic job-wise. He’s ended up in a marvelous, exciting position, pretty unrelated to his dissertation research. About Pablo Dominguez…