The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job
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Email us at gettenure@gmail.com to get on the schedule. |
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| WEBINARS
Here is our complete schedule of upcoming webinars, which will walk you through the complete process of applying for an academic job! See full descriptions below in the Exclusive Post. All Webinars $50, except the FREE Webinar, Academic Life Under Trump
How to Write an Academic Job Application, Part I- Cover Letter and CV (Wed 12/14 6 PM EST $50)
Interview Intervention (Thurs 12/15 6 PM EST $50)
Campus Visit (Friday 12/16 6 PM EST $50)
The Job Talk (Saturday 12/17 1 PM EST $50)
Academic Life Under Trump (Sunday 12/18 1 PM EST – FREE)
Negotiating Your Academic Job (Monday 12/19 6 PM EST $50)
Winter Productivity Kickstart and Strategy Session (Monday 1/2 3 PM EST)
Find full descriptions and register on the Webinars page. Please join us! |
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Exclusive Newsletter Post: Winter Webinar Blast and a Trump Stress Session
The election of Donald Trump, and the unfolding catastrophe of his cabinet appointments and revelations of Russian intervention, has shaken many academics to their core. Readers and clients (and all of us here at The Professor Is In) describe living in a state of free-floating, pervasive fear, dread, and anxiety.
Kellee and I have decided to do a free webinar on about what we might expect, and how we might deal, with academic life under Trump. We will respond to queries and concerns raised by our listeners. Find more info on it below. It is Saturday 12/18 at 1 PM EST
We don’t plan to deliver concrete career advice (impossible in a time so unsettled and unprecedented) but rather to create a space for connection and community. Isolation and depression are our greatest threats at this juncture, and right now, continuing to gather together and share our ideas for survival and resistance is perhaps the most important step we can take.
Upon registration you will receive access to a Googledoc to upload your questions and concerns, as well as registration information for the free event.
We look forward to visiting with you.
Karen and Kellee
(Find full description and register on the Webinars page. Please join us!)
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On another note, we are making up for some webinar “downtime” this Fall by offering a Winter Webinar Blast, to walk you through each step of the job application process, from writing your CV and cover letter, to negotiating your offer, and launching Winter semester productively! I hope you can join us for some or all of these!
Just for Newsletter subscribers only! Send me proof of purchase of 4 or more (to gettenure@gmail.com), and I’ll send you a rebate of $20! (10% discount).
Find full descriptions and register on the Webinars page. Please join us!
How to Write an Academic Job Application, Part I- Cover Letter and CV (Wed 12/14 6 PM EST $50)
In this 90-minute webinar we examine the first two primary documents in an academic job application–the cover letter and cv. I explain the role of each of these in presenting your profile, and the relative importance of each in the deliberations of the search committee. I then give recommendations for the most effective content, organization, and tone of each of these documents, with examples, and show the most common mistakes made by job applicants, the errors of thinking that lie behind these mistakes, and the ways to correct them.
The focus is both on specific techniques of writing and self-presentation, but also on the unspoken principles and biases that govern tenure-track hiring.
There will be 30 minutes of Q and A at the end. All participants get a free downloadable recording.
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Interview Intervention Webinar (Thursday 12/15 6 PM EST)
In this 90-minute webinar I show you how to interview effectively for an academic job. We cover the major questions asked most often, and their unspoken agendas. I discuss the most common errors made by candidates, and how to organize and deliver concise, content-rich, non-desperate responses.
This webinar covers the same content, and addresses the same questions, as the live Skype Interview Intervention service ($250); it is a cost-effective way to learn what to expect and how to prepare for all forms of academic job interview. Some clients do the webinar as preparation for a live Skype Intervention.
In the webinar, I provide templates for responses to basic questions about your dissertation/current research, publishing, teaching, and fit, and abundant examples of both bad and good answers from actual client interviews.
We confront illegal/inappropriate questions, micro-aggressions, and the all important issue of overcoming Imposter Syndrome, and communicating confidence through verbal and non-verbal modes. And I spare a few words for how to dress, the best shoes for cold weather, and ideas for briefcases!
The material applies to skype, phone, and conference interviews, and the campus visit (although note that I have a whole separate webinar and recording available that is devoted to the campus visit!)
As always there will be plenty of time for Q and A at the end.
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Campus Visit Webinar (Friday 12/16 6 PM EST)
In this 90 minute webinar I walk you through the basic expectations and potential pitfalls of the dreaded Campus Visit (sometimes called a Fly-Out). We will cover all of the core elements, including:
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The three key criteria at play in a campus visit
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The single biggest pitfall for candidates
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The basic organization of a campus visit
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The initial arrangements and scheduling
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Preparing for the visit
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Meetings with faculty, Head, Dean, and graduate students
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The formal interview with the Search Committee
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The job talk and Q and A
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The teaching demo
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Handling meals gracefully
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Maintaining your stamina
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Evaluating campus climate
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What to wear, especially in cold weather
As always there will be time for Q and A at the end. You will receive a downloadable recording of the webinar 24 hours after the event.
Campus visits are hard! A little advance knowledge will save a world of hurt!
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Job Talk Webinar (Saturday 12/17 1 PM EST)
In this webinar with Kellee Weinhold, you will delve into the challenges of the all-important job talk.
Kellee will explain the role of the job talk in the campus visit (it’s the single most important element) , and what it is meant to show about you as a candidate (it’s not what you think).
Kellee and I together created this webinar because I edit hundreds of job talks a year at TPII, and she hears them in her live skypes, and the first drafts we see are routinely truly awful.
We’ve learned that most candidates have no idea about the proper ethos and organization of the job talk. They don’t get the “point” of the job talk, what it’s meant to achieve, and then how to achieve that through specific substance and organization.
She explains the most common pitfalls of the job talk, which are legion, including:
Excessive lit review (this isn’t your comprehensive exam!)
Forgetting to explain the topic before the analysis
Imbalance of theory and data
Overambitious scope
No clear argument
Overwhelming, illegible powerpoint slides
And she provide a proven template for job talk structure that will ensure yours showcases your research, engages the audience, and establishes your scholarly profile AND collegiality.
Finally, she discusses the treacherous Q and A after the talk–what kinds of questions to expect, how to handle the audience, and most importantly, how to handle challenging, critical, or inappropriate questions.
Includes 30 minutes of Q and A.
All participants get access to the recording of this webinar.
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Academic Life Under Trump – A Free Webinar (Sunday 12/18 1 PM EST)
The election of Donald Trump, and the unfolding catastrophe of his cabinet appointments and revelations of Russian intervention, has shaken many academics to their core. Readers and clients (and all of us here at The Professor Is In) describe living in a state of free-floating, pervasive fear, dread, and anxiety.
This free webinar is a conversation between Karen Kelsky and Kellee Weinhold about what we might expect, and how we might deal, with academic life under Trump. We will respond to queries and concerns raised by our listeners.
Our goal in this is not to deliver concrete career advice (impossible in a time so unsettled and unprecedented) but rather to create a space for connection and community. Isolation and depression are our greatest threats at this juncture, and right now, continuing to gather together and share our ideas for survival and resistance is perhaps the most important step we can take.
Upon registration you will receive access to a Googledoc to upload your questions and concerns, as well as registration information for the free event.
We look forward to visiting with you.
Karen and Kellee
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How to Negotiate Your Tenure Track Job (Monday 12/19 6 PM EST)
The rescinded offer is unfortunately more common than ever, and it is imperative that candidates understand when and how to appropriately negotiate a tenure track job offer. Negotiating IS still standard and expected for the vast majority of all tenure track offers, but it takes skill to do it correctly, asking for all you can while retaining good relations with the department.
This webinar breaks down the stages of the tenure track offer negotiation process, explains the things that can and can’t be negotiated at different ranks and types of institutions, and provides examples of successful negotiating language as well as common negotiating errors and pitfalls.
Negotiating points we’ll examine include salary, teaching release, moving expenses, start-up funds, conference and travel funding, research leave/junior sabbatical, summer salary, and the spousal hire.
We’ll discuss how to evaluate the culture and expectations of the institution and calibrate requests to the institutional context. We will dispassionately examine the phenomenon of the rescinded offer. I’ll give examples from successful and unsuccessful recent negotiations that I’ve worked on through my Negotiating Assistance service.
And we’ll consider special challenges for women and people from communities historically marginalized in the academy.
Includes 30 minutes of Q and A.
You will have access to a free download of the event will be available for one week after the date.
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Winter Productivity Kickstart and Strategy Session (Monday 1/2 1 PM EST)
Worried about how to be productive this Winter? Have an article (or two, or three!) languishing on your desktop? Know from past experience that the summer siren song of wide open writing time once again ended with you hunkered down in a shame- filled Netflix binge–and now the new semester is upon you?
Join academic productivity coach Kellee Weinhold for a crash course in kickstarting your writing AND meeting your goals.
In this 90-minute session you will learn:
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How to identify your real and imagined roadblocks to productivity;
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Strategies for overcoming those barriers, using organizational strategies and accountability tools for daily productivity;
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Effective boundary setting (just say no!);
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How to create a personalized goal achievement plan, breaking down project components and timelines with daily and weekly goals.
Includes time for Q and A with Kellee Weinhold. All participants get access to a recording of the event.
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Find full descriptions and register on the Webinars page. Please join us! |
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ART OF THE COVER LETTER •
Are we booked out past your deadline? Or, you need a more affordable alternative? Art of the Cover Letter is here.
 The Art of the Cover Letter is the quickest and most economical way to get Professor Is In help. It’s a 10-module self-guided course, all-online, available anytime 24/7, that walks you step by step through the planning, info-gathering, writing, and editing of your academic job cover letter. Includes worksheets that teach you how to a) grasp and frame your record for the purposes of job market competition; b) collect all pertinent material in one place and hone it down to cover letter appropriate language; c) refine and edit the complete cover letter to avoid pitfalls like excessive humility, desperation, bragging, emotionalism, self-sabotage, etc. And at each step it includes short videos by me, Dr. Karen, that keep you focused on the big picture of the job search.
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 Interview Intervention: 50-minute Skype session during which we move through a mock interview, stopping after each question to evaluate every answer for its strengths and weaknesses in terms of brevity, spin, word choice, tone, body language, etc., and refining it for effectiveness.
Campus Visit Intervention: A 50-minute Skype session during which we move through the standard meetings of a campus visit, working on changing your message for different audiences as well as strategies for showcasing your fit. Just as with the Interview intervention we pay close attention to brevity, word choice, tone, body language, etc., and refining your delivery for effectiveness.
Job Talk Strategy Session: A 50-minute Skype Intervention, during which Kellee will walk you through the mission, ethos, structure and goals of a Job Talk with SPECIFIC attention to your research as it relates to the job call. We will work on a section outline with guidelines on what you need to be sure to include and avoid. We will also touch briefly on presentation (powerpoint) and delivery dos and don’ts. Best done in conjunction with an edit of your Job Talk by Karen and her team.
Let’s Talk: A 50-minute Skype conversation covering the topic(s) of your choice regarding productivity. Let me help you get out of your own way and get published! $250
Academic Life Reboot: 50 minute assessment of current challenges, including identification of what’s got you stuck; strategies for overcoming those barriers, organizational and accountability tools and personalized goal achievement plan. $350
Writing Project Planning Strategy Session: 50-minute assessment of specific project components and projected timelines to completion (based on hard deadline); identification of real and imagined roadblocks; strategies for daily productivity with motivational tips, and complete project timeline with weekly goals.
Read some of Kellee’s insights here, in the post, The Question Is Not The Question. And see the testimonials here. Sign up directly at this online calendar. |
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Find all recordings on the Webinars Recording page. All recordings are $50.
Academic Job Search Webinars
- Negotiating Your Tenure Track Job Offer
- Women and the Academic Career: What Works, What Doesn’t
- How To Write Your Academic Job Application, Part I–Cover Letter and CV
- How to Write Your Academic Job Application, Part II–Teaching Statement and Research Statement
- How to Manage Your Career Once You Have a Job
- What Grad Students Need to Hear
- Publishing Your Academic Book
- What You Need To Know Now About the Academic Job Market
- Surviving Your First Year on the Tenure Track
- How To Write a Winning Grant Proposal
- Interview Intervention Webinar
- Campus Visit Webinar
Post-Ac Webinars
- Starting a Small Business: The Other #Postac Option
- Targeting Your Skills for a Postac Career (with Margy Horton)
- Going Post-Ac: The Non-Academic Job Search (new!)
Find all recordings on the Webinars Recording page. All recordings are $50. |
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“Every Ph.D. should read this book. Every assistant professor should read this book. Every one even contemplating doing a Ph.D. should read this book.” ~ an Amazon reader
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