About Jennifer Polk, PhD
Jennifer Polk, PhD, is a career coach, educator, and recognized expert in PhD careers. She facilitates professional development workshops and delivers keynote presentations at institutions across the US, Canada, and internationally. Jen created her PhD Career Clarity Program to help PhDs navigate their career paths with confidence. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies. Her writing has appeared in Inside Higher Ed, University Affairs, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She earned her PhD in history from the University of Toronto.
By the end of this free 80-minute training you will be able to
Focus on what’s important to you instead of letting academia’s expectations confuse what you want and dictate your future.
Job search strategically without wasting time. No more trying to follow advice that doesn’t apply to your background, goals, or personality.
Apply for the right jobs. To seek the career that lets you do what you love (teaching, research, writing, whatever) without leaving you overworked, underpaid, and completely burnt out.
You want to launch your new career without wasting time applying for the wrong jobs
…but you don’t know where to start.
As a professor or other long-time academic, you want to know what viable career path to pursue. You don’t want to give up what you most value, including stability, flexibility, autonomy, and more.
Sign up for the free training to stop worrying about making bad decisions and start being in control of your career. Yes, this training is right for you even if you have no idea what you want to do next.
What PhDs say about this training
“A complete reframing of my process. This is extremely valuable.”
“Thank you for the webinar! You made me realize that I was going back my CV-to-resume conversion all wrong and I now completely reworked my resume.”
“Loving it! It’s such a perspective shift from academia.”
“Awesome, thank you! This has been fantastic and definitely nailed a lot of the things I was doing that probably weren’t working.”
“This was one of the resources that helped me the most in making the decision to leave academia. If you are going through such a process and need support, I definitely recommend you to take a look.”
“I appreciate the webinar! Been feeling really uninspired and demotivated in my postdoc and it’s leading to some serious mental health issues. I’m itching to try something new, but I don’t know where my interests would fit. This definitely helped give me some clarity and a starting point for the job search. Thanks!”
Yes, you can have a fulfilling career outside of academia even if you…
- love teaching and mentoring
- are passionate about research and solving problems
- could spend all day reading books or writing
While still…
- having a positive impact on your community and the wider world
- experiencing career stability
- earning a good income to support yourself and your family
- living and working where you want
- collaborating with brilliant, creative colleagues who value you as a person and professional
A letter from Jen Polk, PhD
Hello! 👋🏻
I’m Jen Polk, the go-to career clarity coach for underappreciated professors, postdocs, and other PhDs who are done compromising their values and priorities chasing prestige or a paycheck.
I teach them to get crystal clear on what they want to do and how to communicate their value so they can land great-fit jobs that let them live where they want, get paid well, and do meaningful work with supportive colleagues.
I do this work because too many PhDs feel crushed by expectations completely at odds with who they are and why they entered academia in the first place.
I help my clients create their own success stories, ones that don’t require them to fit into little boxes built to benefit other people, so they can have the kind of impact they really want by harnessing their strengths to make our world better for everyone.
I created this free training and my PhD Career Clarity Program for professors, postdocs, and underemployed PhDs who want to figure out their next great job and land it without wasting time on bad-fit roles.
Have questions? I’m happy to answer them! Email me at Jen@FromPhDToLife.com