The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job
Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration.
Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options.
Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.'s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers.
Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including:
• When, where, and what to publish
• Writing a foolproof grant application
• Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV
• Acing the job talk and campus interview
• Avoiding the adjunct trap
• Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right
The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more. "Kelsky offers wide-ranging, valuable advice and an important perspective for job seekers."- Booklist
"Every graduate student in academe should read this book. But also: if you teach graduate students, if you mentor graduate students, if you worry about graduate students, and even if you're thinking about becoming a graduate student, you should read this book too. It's just that indispensable."-Michael Bérubé, Director, Institute for the Arts and Humanities, Penn State University
"Kelsky offers smart, frank, and often witty advice to lead applicants through the complicated process of securing a tenure-track position . . . this cogent, illuminating book will be indispensable."-Kirkus Reviews
"It's tough out there, but no one understands how academic jobs are landed better than Karen Kelsky. If you are a graduate student, The Professor Is In offers sound, realistic advice, and it may be the most valuable book you ever read if you intend to have an academic career."-William Pannapacker, Professor of English at Hope College and columnist for the Chronicle of Higher Education
"Karen Kelsky levels the playing field, providing practical insider knowledge to demystify the job market and help you improve the odds."-David M. Perry, Columnist, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Director of Undergraduate Research, Dominican University
"Explains in exquisite detail exactly how to land a tenure track job. In her genial yet unabashedly thorough book, Kelsky coaches readers through the critical topics they need to know. I wouldn't want to navigate the inhospitable weirdness of the academic job market without it."-Adam Ruben, author of Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School
"Getting a job is about more than being smart; read this book if you want to be prepared, professional, and on your game."-Elizabeth Reis, Professor and Chair, Women's and Gender Studies Department, University of Oregon
"A realistic account of what it takes to turn a Ph.D. into a job when
