Dr. Al's Dead End Checkist

I read a great article on when to turn down a job offer. I thought I would break this down a bit for the Post Academic (or soon to be), especially this one: When It's a Dead-End, Not a Detour. I am not going to say that the academy is a dead end in and of itself, but if you are in a dark place in your decision making process, if you are feeling like you were duped into a career with few options, if you feel that the degree and complementary publishing/presenting/teaching you have done have left you with nothing but temporary options, you may see some connection.

Regardless, as you begin looking for the next phase of your career life, you will find many options available to you. Since this may be your first job outside of the academy (or the first on in a long while), selecting the right one is important. The last thing you want is another job that ends up a dead end. 

According to Life Hacker and HR Bartender, there are tell-tale signs that you are heading into something (or already in one) that will start and stop with a single job, some of which I agree with and some I don't. So here is Dr. Al's Dead-End Checklist:

• People have been in the same job for a long time: if no one currently working there has been promoted in the last few years, the chances of you being able to move up are pretty small. How to find out: ask your interviewers to share their history with the company during the interview. It's a great tactic to learn more about the culture, as well as the people you may be working with.
• Everyone you interview with is new: start-ups aside, low-tenure at a company can show that there isn't much stability. Furthermore, if they are interviewing outside the company, they aren't demonstrating a commitment to promoting from within. While this is great for you now, it will be very frustrating when you want to move on to the next role. How to find out: chances are high that your interviewer will let this out during your questions. If they do, ask what happened to their predecessors, as well as the person who had the role you are interviewing for.
• The job adds nothing new: there are many reasons to take lateral positions that aren't a move up in your career. Learning a new industry, expanding your skills, joining a company with a solid culture fit or that supports a mission you are passionate about are all great reasons to take a detour. But if the new job gives you nothing new, I say you should pass if you can. How to find out: you should know why you would be interested in the role when you apply since it will most likely be a question during your initial interview. Be honest with yourself about the value the new role can bring, even if it is small.
• You already think you should have your boss' job (& she has no plans to leave): if you are already eyeing your future boss' office, you are entering a dangerous path. Unless you can easily keep your ego in check, it can be very frustrating for you and your boss if you find yourself more interested in their work than your own. Worse yet, your boss could end up threatened by you and make coming to work very painful, let alone moving up. How to find out: It is ok to ask about growth potential for a position but not until later in the interview process. Ask your potential boss about his or her style and how they help groom their team for future roles. This will give you great insight into what your days could look like in the position and help you decide if it's worth the temporary detour.
• You think you are over qualified for the job: if you feel like the work is beneath you and will not allow you to use your skills fully, run. Even if there is growth potential in the company, if it isn't growing in a direction of interest or passion, it won't be enough. How to find out: learn as much as you can about the job and the work you will be doing. Don't sugarcoat the work; you will be spending 40+ hours a week doing it, so you need to be honest with yourself about what you will enjoy. 

As someone leaving academia, you may be desperate to get a job, no matter what it is. But getting a good first job is going to be important for more than just your career. You need a spot to heal, to rebuild confidence in yourself and allow room to grow and flourish. Find a place where you can learn and be challenged while you take on this new chapter.

Why Talking Less Can Answer More

I was recently shocked to hear what a client had shared with a potential employer. She had gone into great detail about her career plans, providing personal information that greatly exceeded what the interviewer needed (or probably even wanted) to know. When I asked why she chose to share this information, her answer hit home: it was because someone had asked.

This struck me at my core. I thought my lack of a filter was a personality trait unto myself. I am finding that, the more I work with academics in the process of transitioning, the more I am learning that things I believe make me unique are quite common outside the traditional workplace, at least among academics. The biggest one is answering questions with honesty and directness.

I have a theory about why we academics might struggle with this: we are actually trained to speak our minds. We have been successful because of it. Someone asks what we think about a topic, and we answer. Sometimes we might pause to consider WHY the person is asking, but mostly, we focus on scanning through the files in our minds and composing a well-crafted response.

This can be a disaster in the workplace.

While it is important to have a point of view in your role, how you frame the truth can be as important as the content of the message. This is critical at many stages of the transition process:

• A cover letter: don't highlight what you haven't done or point out where you are in your career (ex: having recently left academia due to the state of the industry...no, no, no). Focusing on the strengths you bring or how your skills align with a role actually answers the question the reader probably is asking.
• Interviewing: no one needs to know that you are planning to have a baby in the next year or that you are really mostly excited about working there because it is next to your house. What they are looking for is why would THEY want to work with you. How is having you in the team going to help THEM? If it is a potential manager, how will you save them time or make them look good because the work gets done (and done well)? If they are a potential coworker, how will having you on board be good for them?
• First days: when they ask you how you like it so far, tell them what you think is positive. Although your intent may be to impress and add value right away, criticizing too early can be a real turn off for the folks who were there before you and makes you look like a grade A a-hole (I say this from experience). Give them the answers they are looking for, not your raw and honest opinion.
• As you move up: start with what you like (or find something positive to say) before you point out the negative. People want feedback that is holistic and takes the time to show they person you are speaking with is valued. And don't be afraid to compliment the obvious. It is the little things that make all the difference!

How do you stay filtered but retain your honesty? Simple. Stop talking! If you find yourself talking in paragraphs, especially early on in the process, you are probably saying too much. An executive I used to work with put it this way: be brief, be brilliant, be gone!

Step 1: admitting there is a problem

I get the question about taking more training before entering an instructional design career a lot. This usually comes in two forms: should I take courses, get a certification, or get a degree in instructional design or 2) what technology should I go and learn? From my point of view, this is like asking what kind of wine you should pick up on your way back from an AA meeting. As an academic, the last thing you need more of is education. You need experience.

I say this boldy because I think what this question reflects is a desire to remain in a space of comfort: the classroom. And I get it. We are learners. That's why we are in the fields we are in. We like to educate ourselves, to go deep into a topic and explore it fully. And we are used to being evaluated on what we know. So, as we begin wrapping our minds around something new, we want to educate ourselves. It is this strength that will ultimately make you a great employee but not until you start flexing your "do something" muscles. 

This isn't to say there aren't things you will need to learn. Rather than a classroom, however, I strongly suggest you head out and learn by doing. Find a project on campus or through a volunteer organization that allows you to develop skills while achieving goals. Make it a short-term project with clear outcomes and milestones that will ensure you don't lose track. One example might be to build a training course for adoptive parents for your local animal rescue group. Talk to those in charge and see what they are struggling with and how you could help. There are some big benefits to this approach:

• Talking to volunteer organizations about problems you can solve is a great way to practice informational interviewing (do you like how that snuck in?). Rather than looking for a job or a connection to a job, you are legitimately trying to help them. So, it can feel a lot less intimidating for you as you gear up for more career-focused conversations. 
• The bias you will be trying to overcome as you enter the corporate world is an assumption that you won't know how to get work done quickly. Action-based learning will show that is incorrect. Focus on gathering your STAR stories, with an emphasis on actions and results!
• Or it might reveal that you do need to work on hitting goals more quickly. If you find yourself getting drawn into reading articles rather than accomplishing tasks, you might need to institute a bit more discipline. Wouldn't you rather learn that now versus when your new boss in your new job tells it to you (or worse, you get fired). If you think finding a job when you have little experience is hard, imagine life after you get let go. A volunteer project lets you practice your skills in a safe place.
• Speaking of practicing, learning while working on a project helps you ascertain if this is work you ultimately will want to do for 40+ hours a week. If you are energized and can't wait to work on it more, you have probably hit on a good fit.
• And guess who you will be meeting if you work with a volunteer organization: new people for your network! Connect with everyone you meet on LinkedIn. They will be able to speak to your work, be good references for you outside of academia, and might just know someone who is looking for an employee just like you!

We academics are life-long learners. We are curious and inquisitive, which makes us very attractive to employers. Balancing that knowledge with experience will not only bolster your candidacy but will help give you the confidence you need to go out there and tackle something new!

The essay response

I have a trick I have used for years to prep for an executive presentation. I script it. Now, I never actually read the script during the presentation, but I find that this form of preparation helps me feel grounded and serves as a great memory device for ensuring I hit the important points and present in a clear, concise way.

As I was going through interview prep with a client recently, it hit me that this trick would be great for post-academic candidates as they ready themselves for interviews. Here's why:

• Leveraging a strength: Given that most PhDs require extensive written communications, writing out answers before hand is a great way to leverage an existing strength.
• Calming the nerves: knowing that, if you absolutely have a complete brain dump, there is a written account of what to say can be quite reassuring!
• Checking for STARs: are the answers clearly sharing the situation or task, the actions taken and the result? This is easier to find in the written word.
• Abilit to "hear" yourself: reading answers is a lot easier to interpret than hearing yourself as you rehearse in the mirror. (Although I recommend doing this, as well).
• Ability to edit - point 1: it might be awkward to rehearse an interview with someone, but a friend or coach can easily read written responses and help refine them.
• Ability to edit - point 2: since I am finding that many of my clients struggle with filtering as much as I do, writing out answers gives candidates a chance to look through an answer and make sure they aren't over sharing. Culling out anything too personal will help prepare the candidate with what NOT to say, as well as what to cover.

While you won't have the script out with you during the interview, having this little safety blanket and the benefits creating it bring is a great way to prepare!

Skip the Tracks: breaking the career track fallacy

There was a time when most travel happened by train. People would pack their bags, buy a ticket and settle in for a long journey to a far away destination. On a train, you can't stop off for a scenic jaunt, exploring the towns that are blurring by. The train takes you where you want to go with no variation. And you know you will get there because it is on the tracks. 

But why do we think our careers would be the same?

This concept of a "career track" is about as antiquated as train travel. In Josh Boldt's article  "The Ph.D. Needs CPR," the concept of refocusing "the Ph.D. degree on other career paths" in order to make it "relevant again." While I agree with everything else he shares in this article, this statement gives me pause. Because, from my experience:

1. there is no such thing as a career track
2. PhDs are already relevant

The idea that the people in careers outside of academy have degrees in those areas is a falsehood. Granted, you probably want a degreed and trained person in medicine, but in the vast majority of corporate positions, places where the concept of career tracks flourished in their hay day, the people holding them have degrees unrelated to the role. People aren't boxcars on a track; they are loud and chaotic cars, driving along freeways, side streets and sometimes on barely cleared dirt roads. 

Instead of tracks, we need to provide PhDs with maps to these roads and guideposts along the way.

Which takes me to my next point: relevance. I often joke that I have a $40k acronym. I say this because I often feel like that's all my PhD has been for: a few initials behind my name. But that isn't true. Earning my PhD helped me in many areas: it taught me how to be an independent thinker, how to be self driven, and how to facilitate a discussion, skills I use every day. The university of Michigan has a list of others skills PhDs acquire that they can leverage in the corporate world, including navigating complex bureaucratic environments and understanding and synthesizing large quantities of data. Is it a hard and direct line to roles outside of academia? No. But you are not starting from zero.

With relevant and useful skills and a map in hand,there is no place you can't go. Colleges themselves are seeing this too. " For liberal arts colleges and those of us who believe in the importance of a well-rounded education, the whole idea of assuming an inherent connection between major choice and career seems problematic.  Not only are there plenty of majors that don’t have a natural correlate on the job market (e.g., philosophy majors come to mind), but we are also regularly bombarded with the claims that individuals in today’s world will hold multiple jobs in multiple professions over the course of their working careers." says Mark on the blog  Delicious Ambiguity,  I have seen this at play throughout my non-academic career, having met linguists, anthropologists and even a Russian lit major working among the MBAs and communications majors. 

My point is that careers are not simple, single lines. They change and evolve with you. So, as you begin your journey of leaving academia, I ask that you let go of the tracks and embrace the road ahead to see where it takes you. 

It Gets Better: the #postac version

I have been reading a lot of posts, articles, and blogs from those of you going through the transition I went through 15 years ago, and can deeply relate to the hurt, sadness, and anger many of you are feeling. I want to share some of my experiences on the other side of this transition to try and help take some of the mystery out of the equation. Just as the It Gets Better movement has done for LGBT kids, I want you to know that it can get better for postacs too. Having gone through this change and knowing what life can be like on the other side, I share the fears iI had out of a feeling of solidarity and caring, knowing how difficult the transition you are making can be.

Fear #1: I will regret my decision. 
Will you have doubts? Yes. Will you question yourself? Absolutely! But, the thing about leaving an adjunct position behind is that it will always be there for you if you want it back. Maybe not that exact job, but I am pretty confident that, should you change your mind, you can get back on the treadmill. This has taken the regret out of the equation for me.

Fear #2: I won't fit in. 
At first, you will feel like a bit of an outsider, at least I did. But what I know now is that it wasn't because I was a former academic. It was because I was new to the company. Once I started working with people, finding things in common with others, I began making friendships. And if you are thoughtful about picking the right cultural fit (which I will be writing about in a future post), this will be even easier for you.

Fear #3: I will hate it.
There will be days when you hate your job, but if there aren't days that you hate academia, you probably wouldn't be reading this. Your job search will be critical for you to make sure that you don't land in something you hate. The difference here is that you will have a lot more options than you have today. And, if you do end up hating it, you can always change jobs later.

Fear #4: I will be judged as a quitter.
To quote my favorite intellectual, RuPaul, "what other people think about you is none of your business." If someone judges you because of your career choices, are they really someone you want to spend your time worrying about?

Fear #5: I will feel like a quitter.
Many, many, many of you are talking about "quitting." I want you to STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! You aren't a quitter; you are a strong and intelligent person who had insight into the facts, weighed the options and are deciding to pursue other interests. You aren't quitting; you are GROWING! And, once you land that job and see how people appreciate you and call you "whip smart," you will see how much you are growing.

A teen posted on the It Gets Better website that coming out "was really hard but I made sure that I surrounded myself with people that I knew I could trust." I hope you see her as a brave inspiration. You are also part of a movement and a community of postacs, and, like the It Gets Better campaign, we should harness "the power of an ever-growing chorus of voices that banded together to share messages of positivity." There are many people to support and help you. You are not alone.

Custom is King

We have all seen the resume writing advice of customizing your resume to match the role you are interested in. I realize this sounds like a lot of work, so I wanted to help explain WHY  it is important to help you decide how best to approach it. It’s best to think about this from the perspective of all of the people who will be reviewing your resume.

1. Robots: as I shared on a recent tweet, the robots are watching. Before your resume can even get into the hands of a  recruiter, let alone a hiring manager, they often get scrubbed and scanned by an Applicant Tracking System, or ATS. In order for these systems to work, the key words and titles to look for are entered in, often based on the job description itself. According to this infographic, 75% of candidates are screened out before a human touches it. So, if you don’t have the specific keywords they are looking for, the robots will make it nearly impossible for you to make it through this first cut. The best way to know what words they are looking for is to literally copy them from the job description exactly as written.
2. Recruiters: chances are, the next person to review your resume will be an internal or external recruiter. In many cases, this person knows very little about the role or department you will be working in, so they will now know nuances or be able to extrapolate how skills connect unless they are written in the exact same way as the job description itself. This person’s job is to weed out candidates, not look into your description and try to make it fit. So, you need to make your qualifications for the job super simple to understand. The job description calls for project management experience, you list project management in your experience. 
3. Hiring Managers: Once a hiring manager gets your resume, they will be looking for the skills that are important to them. Guess what? Since they more than likely wrote the job description, the qualifications and experiences they included in it are what they value. Beyond that, so is the story your resume is telling them about what you have done elsewhere and why it will add value for their team. Customizing your resume not only ensures nothing is lost in translation, but it reflects that you care enough about getting the position to spend the time to make it matter. 
4. Interview Panels: Now, because you are awesome, you have an interview. You go in to meet various people to help share how you are best qualified to join the team. And what do they all have a copy of? Your resume! Like the hiring manager, they are going to be looking for the specific strengths you will be bringing to the team, so having the details included here will be important. And, as before, it also shows that you really want to work there, which is important for them to see. They want to know that you are going to be a great new coworker, who is as  excited about working for their company as they are. So take the time to show them that by customizing your resume story!