Question: I'm a Ph.D. on the job market this year, and I've been overtaken by my anxiety about where I'll be next year. My goal is to be an academic, and I've applied to positions across the country and even a few abroad. Some people have said to me, "This is exciting; you could be anywhere in the world next year." The truth is, I could be almost anywhere, or I could not get a job and stay where I am. How can I do a better job managing my stress during this transition?
Question: I finished my Ph.D. about six months ago, and have taken a full-time position in administration at my university. I'm glad to have a job at a time when a lot of people don't, and it certainly has good benefits. But I hate my work, and my supervisor treats me like a secretary with a Ph.D. It is mind numbing, and I can't figure out how to improve the situation.
Julie: It's hard not knowing where your next position will take you. It's just as hard to have the security of a full-time position that doesn't satisfy you intellectually. In both situations, it can help to see yourself as "in transition" and actively work to move yourself forward. Every professional position will have good and bad aspects. It's your job to make sure that even in a not-so-great stage of your career, you are doing what you can to get where you want to go.
Jenny: Ph.D.'s used to think of their careers as a fairly straight progression from assistant professor to associate professor to full professor, often at the same institution. But as many academics, particularly those in the humanities, have highlighted (for example, the #alt-academy project and recent articles in The Chronicle by Anthony Grafton and Jim Grossman), that model is changing radically and needs to change even more. Most Ph.D.'s do not have such a clear path in front of them, and will need to improvise quite a bit throughout their career.
Julie: Our first reader's situation is a common one. So common, in fact, that we wrote about it last fall, in a column called "Managing Your Emotions on the Job Market." Planning for a faculty career means relinquishing some, or all, control over where you live, a fairly rare occurrence for most people in most fields. It's easy to be open, in theory, to living in any geographic location, but much harder when that becomes a reality. A good first step for this reader would be to follow that adage: Focus on the things you can control.
Jenny: That might mean several things. A good first step is making sure you're making progress on your writing and research. That may sound obvious, but advancing a project can give you a sense of control, even if it's hard to fit in doing the work between applications, interviews, and the other tasks that come with being on the job market. Moreover, if you find that you're unhappy with your first faculty position, your research is what will help get you to the next position.
Julie: Consider taking advantage of counseling services, especially if you are still a graduate student and have access to free campus programs designed for people in your situation. Many university counseling offices offer workshops on how to manage stress while writing your dissertation or while on the job market.
Jenny: Our first reader's task—whether she does it alone, with a counselor, or with friends—should be to decipher what, exactly, is making her so anxious. Is it the possible move? If so, perhaps she should think about doing a geographically limited search. Is it the fear of not finding employment in her field and needing to think up a Plan B (which could include going on the market again the following year)? Is it the worry that she won't be able to negotiate the transition from graduate student to faculty member? Pinpointing the source of her anxiety might help her to mitigate those feelings. In addition, it's always important to have friends and colleagues with whom you can confide, but it's particularly important to enlist their support during times of transition. Sometimes hearing someone else's experience can give insight into yours; sometimes just verbalizing your worries can clear your head and make you feel hopeful.
Julie: Our second reader is in a challenging position. Taking an administrative position in an institution where you earned your Ph.D. can sometimes mean that people regard you the same way they did when they first met you—in other words, "once a graduate student, always a graduate student." Moving to a new institution—as a faculty member or administrator—means you have the chance to define your own identity.
Jenny: At the same time, as more Ph.D.'s are in the higher-education work force in a variety of administrative jobs (program managers, grants managers, career-counseling advisers), their supervisors aren't always aware of their varied abilities and sometimes treat them as glorified administrative assistants. It is important to find ways to renegotiate your responsibilities, possibly at an annual performance evaluation or in a less formal situation. In the case of our second reader, if he can't move to another institution, he might look into teaching an evening course at another campus. It's possible that when the supervisor sees him in a different light, more responsibility may be given or shared.
Julie: There are two paths to remedying the situation in which our second reader finds himself. The first is to try to create what we, in a recent article, called a "hybrid career"—one that includes a full-time administrative career and adjunct teaching and/or independent research duties. We know many Ph.D.'s with full-time college or university administrative positions who've been able to continue their research, or who've gotten great enjoyment from teaching a course or two. Some are even able to find administrative positions that include teaching as a component of the job.
Jenny: Alternatively, our second reader probably needs to think of his current job as a steppingstone to a more desirable position. That doesn't mean just sitting back and waiting to see what comes along. It means actively taking steps to make sure that his next move is a better fit for his skills and interests. A job like that doesn't just appear. You have to look for it and make it happen. The process of searching for your next move can give you a boost when your "day job" isn't so great (or when it's "mind numbing," as our reader puts it).
Julie: A good first step is to identify a few people whose work really does seem intriguing and set up informational interviews with them. Our reader would want to determine a couple of things: Is the work really as interesting as it seems? Second, what is the path into the field? Identify some of the skills and training you would need to get into new fields in which you're interested, and come up with strategies for gaining the qualifications. Keep track of your contacts and what you learn. Develop a professional online persona (if you haven't already) through resources such as LinkedIn.
Jenny: Our second reader might also think about the dynamics of the situation with his supervisor, and how to avoid repeating that with his next boss. It's nearly impossible to know how well (or poorly) you will get along with a supervisor before taking a given position. If the position is not a new one (i.e. you are replacing someone), you might ask if you could speak with the person who previously had the position about his or her work with the office.
Julie: Look into joining a relevant professional association and getting involved. The association might have standards for the kind of position you now hold that could be tactfully shown to your supervisor. There might be meetings or conferences that discuss "best practices" for your current job. Maybe there are ways to make the job more interesting, get the supervisor to understand your capabilities, and provide work experience to move you toward a job you truly want.
Jenny: We all have moments in our careers when we feel dissatisfied, anxious, or unmotivated. Taking practical steps to identify the sources of those feelings can help you find solutions and feel more confident about your future, even if the day-to-day slog is tough. Connecting with people, taking advantage of professional-development opportunities, and making sure your life outside of work is fulfilling can help you make it through a tough transition.
