I will be speaking as part of the Career Corner series at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences

on May 31 at 9:30 a.m. Bring your coffee.

“Yes, There is Life After Graduate School” starts from the premise that you don’t need a Plan B and helps you begin to imagine the myriad of possibilities out there. You have a lot to offer. There are academic and non-academic employers out there that need and want people like you.

But it’s daunting. The academic job market is very competitive. What do you really need to do to compete? Is this really the direction for you?

And although you have other skills, you haven’t really been thinking about what you need for other types of careers.

Luckily your research skills are exactly the skills you need for the job search. I’m going to show you how to use them to make this process manageable (and maybe even fun and interesting). I’m also going to talk about how to start organizing the information you need to apply for jobs.

After the talk, I’ll be available for a CV Clinic.

• Got questions about how to present your experience for that government job you’re interested in?
• Want to know how to organize your publications and teaching experience for that tenure track position in your field?
• Need reassurance that you’ve presented your details appropriately?
• Or want another opinion on whether there are any obvious holes you need to fill?

Come and ask. You are not alone. And another set of eyes on a document never hurts.

There is no all-purpose CV and cover letter.

To get the most out of the limited time I’ll have available to answer your questions, let me know what kind of job you are applying for and the specific thing that’s giving you trouble. Bring a copy of the job ad or position description in case it helps to refer back to it. Yes, even for an academic job. They aren’t all the same.

I’m not big on rules. There are probably a few different ways to present your experience that will work.

I focus on principles. I’ll help you see how a potential employer is going to look at your application materials and help you understand the principles that will enable you to make choices about what to put in your CV and cover letter for a particular position, and how to lay it out so they will see what they need to see.

Don’t worry if you aren’t there yet. I can also answer questions about whatever stage of the process you are in. Not sure where to start? Not sure what’s relevant and what to ignore? Drop by.

And be sure to check out the other talks at Career Corner.