This afternoon we had the inaugural meeting of the Post/Alt/Non Academic Job Search Group.  Thanks to everyone who came.

After everyone introduced themselves, I gave a very short presentation and we discussed a few things:

• The vicissitudes of the academic job market and knowing your limits
• Developing a timeline for your career exploration/job search
• The importance of connecting with people through informational interviews
• The challenge of presenting yourself and your work to non-academic audiences

We also talked about lots of resources for getting started with career exploration.

For example, our office subscribes to:

• Versatile PhD
• Vault

Books:

• So What Are You Going to Do with That by Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius
• Working Identity by Herminia Ibarra
• Getting Unstuck by Timothy Butler
• Do What You Are by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron
• Luck is No Accident by John Krumboltz and Al Levin
• What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles

Blogs:

• How to Leave Academia
• Beyond Academe
• Branching Points
• From PhD to Life
• Where are All the PhDs?

The idea of the two- or three-minute thesis as a way of presenting to a non specialist audience:

• Example from the humanities
• 3MT thesis competition winners

Homework for those coming next time:

• Check out VersatilePhD if you haven’t done so
• Make a three-month informational interviewing plan
• Develop a thirty-second pitch