The Versatile PhD: A New Resource for Humanities and Social Science Ph.D.s

March 6, 2012

This article was originally posted on the Rackham Graduate School Blog on February 29, 2012

The Career Center, in partnership with Rackham, is pleased to announce a new resource that demystifies non-academic careers, revealing many interesting professions that can utilize the skills you are developing in graduate school.

The Versatile PhD is a web-based resource that you can use anytime, from any computer, confidentially. There you will find:

  • A thriving, supportive web-based community where you can participate in discussions, network with Ph.D.s and A.B.D.s outside the academy, or just listen and learn.
  • Examples of successful resumes and cover letters that resulted in Humanities and Social Science Ph.D.s and A.B.D.s getting their first post-academic positions.
  • Compelling first-person narratives written by successful Humanities and Social Science Ph.D.s and A.B.D.s who have gone on to non-academic careers, describing how their careers have developed after grad school and where they are today.
  • Detail-rich panel discussions in which Ph.D.s working in non-academic fields describe their jobs and answer questions from grad students like you. Past topics include Freelance Writing and Editing, Higher Education Consulting, Management Consulting, Federal Government and University Administration.

Because you are a University of Michigan student, you have access to the Premium Content Area where those high-quality written materials are stored. To access The Versatile PhD, go to http://careercenter.umich.edu/students/gradservices/nonacademic/jobsearch.html. Under “Job Search Resources for PhDs” click on versatilephd.com.

ATTENTION Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Ph.D.s: The Versatile PhD is currently geared toward humanists and social scientists, BUT, a second forum was created this year for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math students and panel discussions geared toward that population will be held there several times a year. It will be available July 1, 2013.

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Posted by pdwishart

Graduate Student Programs at The Career Center

February 14, 2012

The Career Center Graduate Student Programming is open to ALL graduate students. For the Winter 2012 semester we have some exciting offerings.

To register for any of these events go to: https://secure.rackham.umich.edu/Events/wssel.php

Making Impact-Conveying Story: Presentation Strategy for Grad Students (Focus-Interview)
Thursday February 23rd at 3:00 PM, Common Room, Rackham Graduate School

Join The Career Center staff in an interactive workshop on how to make the most of your professional presentation. We will review some strategies for conveying your most important professional story components to employers in resumes, CVs, and cover letters. For this session we will particularly focus on how to present your story in interviews. We will examine how to make impact and tailor your approach depending on the industries you are targeting.

Now What? Leaving the Academy for Social Science and Humanities PhDs
Tuesday March 13th at 3:30 PM, Common Room, Rackham Graduate School

Increasingly PhD students in the social sciences and humanities are looking outside of traditional tenure track faculty positions for career opportunities after completing their PhDs. Join us as we explore how to execute a job search outside the academy. Together we will examine how story informs our decision to pursue diverse career paths, how to utilize presentation strategy for industry employers, and how to build a non-academic community to explore options and leverage connections.

Outside of Academe: Jobs for Science and Technology Discipline
Tuesday March 20 at 12:30 PM, Common Room, Rackham Graduate School

Are you curious about what career opportunities exist outside of a traditional academic environment for science and technology disciplines?   Have you wondered what skills employers within industry seek and how someone with your academic background might fit? This interactive workshop will assist as you explore your story and begin thinking about how to expand your professional community.  We will discuss fundamental differences between academic and industry culture and how to identify and effectively market your transferrable skills outside an academic setting.

Negotiation Skills: Negotiating a Job Offer
Monday March 26th at 12:00 PM, Assembly Hall, Rackham Graduate School

You’ve prepared a great resume or CV and practiced interviewing, but do you know how to negotiate a job offer?  Come to this workshop and learn how to prepare for this important process in your job search. Topics include the employer’s perspective and the steps in negotiating the offer.

All programs are sponsored by The Career Center and Rackham Graduate School

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Posted by Scott Tsuchiyama

Networking Etiquette — Making the Most of Your Contacts

January 12, 2010

Increasingly when I ask workshop participants if they have accounts on LinkedIn (or perhaps other professional networking sites), a large number of hands goes up.  And even those who haven’t joined LinkedIn have at least heard of it.  It does appear as though job seekers are increasingly seeing the need to join sites like LinkedIn.  But I realize that simply joining a site doesn’t mean that we always know how to use it.  Increasingly I talk with students who want to know how to use these networking tools to their best advantage.  And often the questions are pretty basic: how do I get started?  What do I ask?  What if I do something wrong?

Clearly the etiquette of networking is different than other types of etiquette: which fork to use first, or the proper way to manage a plate of food and a beverage.  But networking etiquette is no less important.  Following are some of my thoughts for getting off on the right foot with your circle of contacts:

Know Why You’re Contacting Them, Part I

Of course you are making contact with someone because you believe it will further your career path.  But in my mind there are two overarching reasons you could be contacting a professional in your area of interest.  Either you are looking for more general information (about the field, career path, job outlook, etc.) or you are looking for more immediate advice on how to position yourself for jobs with that organization.  Either reason is valid, but things will be easier on you and your contact if you are clear about your primary goal for that particular contact.  And especially if you are truly looking more for general information be clear about that with the person; often people are willing to share their time and their advice, especially if they are confident you’re not really asking them for a job.

Know Why You’re Contacting Them, Part II

In an informational interview, you need to take the initiative; you are the interviewer!  A prospective contact will want to know ahead of time what you are hoping to learn from them.  Perhaps you are curious about how your doctoral skills and experiences translate to this specific career field.  Maybe you would like to hear about resources that can help you relocate to a specific geographic area.  Or maybe you want to know how a specific organization does hiring, and if there are any positions available right now.  Previewing the questions you have conveys to the contact that you are taking this process seriously, investing effort to make the process useful for both of you.  And it also allows your contact to determine if they are the best person to address your specific needs.  And of course if they are not, you can always ask them to refer you to someone better suited for your questions.

Briefly Establish Your Credibility

A contact wants to know that you have some credibility in contacting them, that you are serious about this potential career path.  Your first contact can be a time to briefly establish your credibility and commitment.  While I often advocate NOT sending a resume or CV in a first email contact (may be too presumptuous, especially if you say you’re simply looking for information), I do think it’s helpful to provide some succinct background information in an introductory email.  This could include highlights from your education or experiences, or other aspects that help an employer understand your interest in what they do.

Finally, you can establish your credibility by setting clear and reasonable expectations for next steps.  Maybe you’re looking for 20-30 minutes of their time, in person or over the phone, to talk about the questions you’ve raised.  Setting reasonable expectations early on conveys that you understand their time is valuable, and you are not looking to abuse it.

As with any relationship, making a good first impression makes a big difference in its ultimate success.  These are some of my tips for managing the etiquette of a networking relationship.  What works for you?

Photo credit: KRPSO on Flickr

1 Comment | PhD Non-Academic | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

Career Options: How Much Like the Academy?

December 1, 2009

Baseball great Yogi Berra is famous for the quote: “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.” He may not have had career decision-making in mind, but his wisdom applies. If you are considering career possibilities other than the academy, how will you make sense of your options; which fork will you take?

I have this conversation quite often with students, and one framework that sometimes makes sense is considering options that are more or less like the traditional academic, tenure-track. The process of identifying what you have enjoyed and what you have disliked about your academic experience may offer clues to future career options.

Some students enjoy much about the academic environment that they would like to replicate in a next career. They may be energized by teaching or research (often one but not the other!), but not in the traditional academic context. They may enjoy the pace and “feel” of the academic workload. They may even value being a part of the campus setting. Perhaps this student may consider a career in academic administration, or at a think tank or research institute. A Michigan PhD alum described her think tank environment as having all the benefits of the academy — without the drawbacks! She was doing research, with a group that organized researchers in departments. She even had the ability to teach adjunct at a local college if she so desired.

Conversely, some students may not enjoy much about the academic environment and may look to something quite different in a next career. I have worked with students who are interested in working in teams, to solve “real world” problems that have a very short timeline. For some students, this environment is the antithesis of their academic experience and they are drawn to it. They may consider areas like consulting or finance as better fits for their needs and interests.

Considering your options opens up a world of possibilities, but sometimes the world may seem overwhelming. Everyone needs a place to start thinking about options. Using this idea of a continuum of careers that are more or less like the academy can be one way to help you think about your options.

Does this framework work for you? Do you have other ideas for considering career options? Please share your comments below.

Photo credit: drcorneilus on flickr

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Posted by tomlehker

LinkedIn — A World of Connections

November 18, 2009

LinkedIn is a newer professional networking site, one that you can use to advance your career planning and job search goals.  But what is LinkedIn, and how can it be helpful?

In general, LinkedIn can help you to…

•    Get (or stay) informed about industry areas of interest to you.
•    Find the people and knowledge you need to achieve your goals.
•    Control your professional identity online.

Use LinkedIn to help you:

•    Understand your options.  Informational interviewing can be a key outcome of building your contact base.  Professionals currently working in target industries or organizations can help you learn more about a field, the kinds of skills and experiences that are valued, and many other insights.  Use LinkedIn to build a list of potential informational contacts.
•    Transition from the academy.  As a Ph.D. looking at career possibilities, you may have specific questions related to making the transition from the academy.  Connecting with professionals, especially those with doctoral experience, can help you understand what it will take to market your academic and other experiences to employers outside the academy.
•    Communicate your strengths.  Networking often allows you to have conversations that you may not normally have when applying for jobs.  Connecting with hiring managers or others in target organizations can be a time to let employers know the skills and experiences you have that you think would benefit their work.
•    Uncover job possibilities.  Networking has always been an important job search tool, and that is more true now than ever before.  LinkedIn and other networking resources can help you connect with the “hidden” job market.

Next Steps

•    The Career Center’s web page offers specific information on how to get started using the various features of LinkedIn.
•    Once you’ve signed up with LinkedIn, join our group called PhD Careers Outside of Academia.  The group is for PhDs in or considering non-academic careers, for the purpose of exploring career options and networks, and for employers who have job opportunities to post.
•    Check out a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education to learn more about how to conduct informational interviews.

3 Comments | PhD Non-Academic | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

Resume Writing: The Art of Story Telling

November 2, 2009

Madeleine L’Engle, author of many young adult books including the classic A bedtimestoryWrinkle in Time, once wrote about writing: “No matter how true I believe what I am writing to be, if the reader cannot also participate in that truth, then I have failed.”  I’m sure L’Engle was not speaking of resumes, but I think her message applies.  Your resume must engage the reader — the search committee or hiring authority.  And it must do so quickly and consistently.  This is always true about resumes; it becomes even more critical for anyone changing or shifting their career focus.

How do you tell your story in engaging ways?  In particular, how do you keep your story relevant for non-academic employers?  Consider these tips as a starting point:

* Your best stuff should come early in your document, and it should have the most space devoted to it.

This becomes especially important when considering jobs outside the academy.  Your best experiences may or may not be the traditional academic experiences of teaching or research.  Or you may decide that significant volunteer experiences say more about your value to your target employers than your list of awards.  The bottom line is that your resume structure and format — what you include, where, to what extent – should be based on the added value of each experience.  So you’ll need to think critically as you structure your document to highlight your best stuff.

* Your academic experiences may need to be reconsidered in ways that speak important truths to the reader.

For example, you could probably describe the value of your dissertation process in many ways.  An academic vita may include committee members and a dissertation abstract.  For a resume, these parts of the process may be less important, or not important at all.  On your resume you may decide that other aspects of the dissertation may add value.  Perhaps this value is defined as being able to understand and synthesize large quantities of information; or forming and defending independent conclusions; or working effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.  Your task for the resume is to determine how your readers will value your experiences, and communicating that effectively.

* Guide your reader through your resume in intentional ways so that your strengths are obvious.

You can control how someone reads your document by how you present your information.  For instance, some career changers believe that an opening section labeled something like Career Highlights or Summary of Qualifications provides the chance to define yourself on your own terms, highlighting themes for the reader to look for.  Remember that things like section headings are prime real estate on your document, often bolded and set off in margins.  Generic headings like “Experience” or “Volunteering” won’t have the same punch as something like “Leadership Experience” or “Community Involvement.”

I hope these tips generate some creative thinking as you develop the content and structure of your resume.  Feel free to comment below on what has worked best for you, or ask your questions.

And if the L’Engle quote does not ring true for you, consider this advice from another prolific novelist, the suspense writer Elmore Leonard: “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”

Photo credit: superhua on Flickr

1 Comment | PhD Non-Academic | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

Personal Branding: Developing Your Career Logo

October 22, 2009

What does successful “branding” represent in the marketplace?

applelogostarbucksobamalogo

  • An easily identified product?
  • A logo that represents certain characteristics?
  • Perhaps even something that can help elect a president?

Branding is a powerful force in the marketplace, but what does this have to do with doctoral students looking for career options outside the tenure track? The idea of personal branding is very popular right now, and it has clear implications for Ph.D. students.

What is Personal Branding (and why should it matter to you)?

Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., in a recent article on Quintessential Careers, defines a career brand as “your reputation as a worker combined with a promise of your potential and impact on future employers.” Your brand, or who you are, communicates value to potential (or current) employers in ways that make you stand out from the crowd. Developing a brand within the academy may be a fairly straightforward task: your work, what you publish, honors and awards, etc. all may define you in easily-understood ways to academic search committees. But developing a brand outside the academy is a different task altogether. It may involved building and defining skills, traits, experiences and successes that will be meaningful to different kinds of employers.

Developing Your Brand

Building a career brand is all about defining yourself personally and professionally. Your brand – what you can contribute professionally — may include aspects of skills and interests, and even personal values. Ph.D.s may find that this process involves rethinking skills and experiences, promoting them in ways that will have meaning to employers outside the academy. For example, traditional classroom teaching may be defined to include motivating others to complete projects, or attention to audience knowledge and needs, or maintaining flexibility in the face of changing circumstances. The key starting point is knowing what matters most to you about your past experiences, and then developing consistent messages about your strengths to present to others.

Marketing Your Brand

Many tools exist to help you present your brand to your career marketplace. Traditional means like resumes and cover letters are still necessary and important, but new media and technology give you even more (and sometimes more effective) methods to reach your audience. Tools such as LinkedIn, professional blogs, Twitter and even social networking sites like Facebook can help you showcase your expertise and connect with others in ways that can impact your professional goals. Learning how to harness the capabilities of these new technologies is a critical step in marketing your brand to potential opportunities.

Next Steps

Make an appointment with The Career Center to help you:

  • Translate your academic experiences to the nonacademic marketplace
  • Learn more about self-assessment, including instruments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Strong Interest Inventory
  • Understand how new media tools can enhance your career exploration and job search process

Share your experiences on this blog related to building and managing your personal brand…

Photos courtesy of djlicious, Lewisha1990 and Andrea Vascellari on Flickr.

1 Comment | PhD Non-Academic | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

Job Searching Outside the Academy, or, It’s a Spiral Staircase, not an Escalator

October 7, 2009

Jobs and job searching outside the academy are very different than their academic counterparts. This is probably stating the obvious, and yet a careful examination of the differences can reveal important lessons about what it takes to be a successful job seeker.

William Bridges, in his book Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, identifies a career path that reflects theescalator academy. Bridges describes a career trajectory that is a clean, upward-trending diagonal of increasing achievement (think graduate student to post-doc, to assistant professor to tenured faculty, to professor emeritus!). In the academy job titles are clear and standardized, job postings are visible, and job tenure (when granted) is ever-extending. Yet the reality is that most every other field does not represent this clean, clear path. Understanding some key differences is a critical part of the job search outside the academy. Consider these three differences:

  1. Outside the academy, job titles are generally less clear and standardized. It’s hard to be more standardized than assistant/associate/professor; but what exactly is a Program Officer, a Social Media Manager or a Managing Associate? And more importantly, what do they do? Research becomes a key part of the nonacademic job search (fortunately, most PhDs are expert researchers!). Reading job postings, using sites like The Career Center to learn about fields, and informational interviewing are all ways to learn more about roles and responsibilities in fields of interest to you.
  2. Job postings are generally less visible. In the academy you may turn to the Chronicle of Higher Education or a professional association for a comprehensive listing of jobs. Experts tell us, however, that in most fields the majority of jobs never get posted anywhere. Finding these jobs, and putting yourself in position to make the most of your opportunities, often requires that you integrate yourself into the profession as a job seeker. Knowing as much as you can about your target field — top employers, specific people in the industry, trends, etc — will help you uncover potential jobs, even if they are not officially posted anywhere. This process of networking has increased in importance with the rise of social networking technologies such as blogging, and sites like LinkedIn. The Career Center can help you use these technologies to benefit your planning process.
  3. Outside the academy, job tenure is much less secure. A corollary is that skills are the primary currency in the job market. The ability to sell your skills effectively to employers can keep you employed, even if it’s not in the steady, escalator-like fashion of the academy. Of course, marketing your skills requires being able to name and define them in ways that will be meaningful to employers. As a doctoral student, can you identify and definespiralstairs skills in areas such as analysis and problem solving, written or oral communication, or project management? The Career Center’s listing of typical transferable skills unique to the doctoral student experience can help you think about skill sets of value to a wide range of employers.

Your career path may not have the simple look and feel of the straight-line escalator. But knowing what the jobs are, how to find them, and how to market yourself effectively for each successive opportunity may lead to a more interesting climb anyway!

Photo credits: Dimitry B and Stig Nyygaard on Flickr.

1 Comment | PhD Non-Academic | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

Fall Career Expo — Advice for PhDs

September 23, 2009

Our Fall Career Expo is coming up Wednesday, September 30, 2:00-6:00 p.m. at the Michigan Union.  We currently have 67 organizations registered (although that number may change slightly as the event approaches).  The Expo iscareerexpo2 open to all students, including PhDs.  As a doctoral student you may want to keep certain things in mind if you attend the fair.  So how can you make the most of this event?  Consider these thoughts:

Meet with employers specifically recruiting doctoral students to discuss full-time and internship opportunities
Twelve organizations are currently registered that have listed interest in talking specifically with doctoral students about full-time or internship positions.  On the Expo page, under Participating Organizations, you can search by “Degree Levels Recruited.”  Currently this includes opportunities with for-profit, non-profit and government organizations.  The Expo is a great opportunity to make a first contact, share a copy of your resume or C.V., and learn about an organization’s specific recruiting process.

Build networks to expand your job search efforts
Based on past experience, the Expo will include additional organizations that may occasionally hire PhDs even if that is not their recruiting focus for this event.  Spending some time reviewing the list of participating organizations may help you identify organizations in your target industries.  Researching these organizations ahead of time can help you understand if they have PhDs in their organizations.  Use the fair to determine whether these organizations are hiring PhDs, and if so, what the recruiting process is.  Keep in mind that you may need to take the initiative with these organizations to let them know how your skill sets and experiences fit with their needs, and that the recruiters attending the fair may not have a lot of experience recruiting doctoral students.

Connect with employers to learn more about industries and career fields
As a PhD student you may be in the process of exploring your options beyond the academy.  The Expo can be one place to continue gathering information.  Recruiters can help you understand the roles that are played in their organizations, key skill sets, organizational culture and more.  Keep in mind that these organizations are here primarily to recruit students, so you’ll need to be realistic about the amount of time they can spend with you if you are mainly exploring your options.

The Fall Career Expo can be one resource to use in your career exploration and job search process.  Feel free to add your comments below.  I would especially like to hear from you if you attended the Expo.  How did you use it?  What worked particularly well for you?  What advice would you give others?

Photo credit: jjhat on Flickr

2 Comments | PhD Non-Academic | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

Making Sense of Life’s Transitions

September 22, 2009

Almost by definition, exploring non-tenure track careers is a career transition. For many of you, an academic career has been a long-standing goal that has defined who you are. And just as likely, it may be very difficult to consider your foggy bridgeoptions beyond the academy. For some of you, a bridge shrouded by a fog ( of mystery, or uncertainty) may be an apt metaphor for this situation.

One of my favorite books on the topic of transitions is entitled Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, by William Bridges (yes, Bridges!) His work can be applied to many situations, and much of what he writes relates well to the process of transitioning from an academic career to considering other options.

  • Bridges refers to transition as more than just change. Transition requires us to relinquish things that may have been important to us, such as self-image, certain assumptions, even dreams.
  • Bridges writes that all transitions start with an ending, a letting go of the old, including those things that define who we are. This ending may be viewed as the loss of the easy and familiar identifiers of who we are. For some of you that may mean the loss of being an academic, or a faculty member. Ensuing aspects of transition — a neutral period and then a new beginning — cannot happen until we experience an ending.
  • The sense of unsettledness that often comes with loss becomes manageable only if you feel as though you are progressing toward something. From a career perspective that something may be ideas of different career options, and perhaps a path (or bridge) for reaching new goals.

I have talked with many doctoral students who’s experiences and feelings fit Bridges’ ideas. For them an academic career has been the assumed path for years, the way they (and others) have defined themselves. But then a nagging sense settles in that something is not right, that perhaps some long-held assumptions no longer fit. Bridges (and I) would argue that these nagging feelings need to be acknowledged and dealt as part of the transition process. And that developing clearer ideas of career alternatives — burning off the fog to continue to torture that metaphor — helps to manage the sense of loss.

Do these ideas resonate with you? What did it mean to you to potentially lose the easy or at least familiar of an academic path? And how have you worked to progress toward other goals? I would love to hear your stories!

Photo credit: Georgio on Flickr

2 Comments | PhD Non-Academic | Permalink
Posted by tomlehker

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