Because we’ve spent so many years inside academia, when we decide it’s time to leave, we often run up against one teensy tiny little problem.
The people we’re applying with have no idea what going to graduate school and getting a PhD entails.
More often than not, they think that you’ve simply been taking classes for the last seven years.
Not even close
It means they don’t know that you’ve designed whole classes.
It means they don’t know that you can speak in front of groups as large as 100 or more.
It means they don’t know that you can facilitate conversations around challenging topics.
It means they don’t know that you can design research projects.
It means they don’t know that you can write – and win – grant proposals.
It means they don’t know that you can sustain multi-year projects.
It means they don’t know that you can solve problems through training programs.
It means they don’t know that you can organize whole conferences.
It means they don’t know that you can communicate in several different registers, as befits the situation.
It means they don’t know that you can problem-solve.
It means they don’t know that you can perform complex research.
That’s your job
They’re never going to know those things unless you tell them, because they can’t read your mind.
But if you can articulate these skills in terms of what they find valuable and important to the work they do every day, they understand what an asset you’d be to the organization.
And that’s the kind of thing that gets you an interview.
Know you’re leaving but not sure how to actually make that happen? I offer two things that might help: a resume and cover letter writing service and a class designed to help you create a successful job search system.
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