Interviewing – The Humanities PhD Project

PhD Connections: A Career Conference

April 13, 2018 Register Here for the University of Michigan’s First PhD Connections Conference PhD Connections is a new, one-day career conference designed to support doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in their exploration of career paths beyond academe. Co-sponsored by the University Career Center and Rackham Graduate School, PhD students and postdoctoral scholars will learn about non-faculty career opportunities through selecting from a series of eight panels with over 30 PhD’s working in diverse fields, and workshops focused on career exploration and job search preparation. Participants will have the opportunity […]

Informational Interviewing and Finding Michigan Alumni on LinkedIn

The range of non-traditional opportunities available to humanities PhDs can feel overwhelming. A good first step is surveying paths that other students have taken. Resources likes the Versatile PhD, Imagine PhD, or sites like Columbia’s Non-Academic Career Options for PhDs in the Humanities and Social Sciences provide a examples for thinking about what type of work, specialist field, or employer merits further consideration. But how to find out more? A good piece of advice that comes up in discussions about post-graduation planning is conducting informational interviews. These are opportunities to develop […]

Five Perspectives I Gained from Interviewing Rackham Alumni

Originally written by Bonnie Applebeet for the Public Humanities section of the Discover Rackham blog in November 2015 I had no idea what to expect when I got a call saying that Rackham’s office of Development and Alumni Relations wanted me to join their team for the summer. At that point, I had little notion of what “development” meant, nor how vital maintaining good relationships with alumni is to the way institutions like the University of Michigan are able to thrive. All I knew was that among other things, I would have the […]

Expert Advice on Entering the Non-Academic Workforce

Anne Krook is a former UM professor who now works as a professional consultant and trains graduate and students and postdocs seeking non-academic employment. Her website contains numerous free resources to help you get started in your search and advice on cover letters, interviews, and more.

Interviews: Ready or Not?

University of Michigan’s Career Center offers several useful resources to help you prepare for interviews. They cover everything from researching the organization, to knowing your fit, to building your online “brand.” The Interviewing Resources section contains common interview formats, likely questions, tips for preparing for phone and in-person interviews.

Interview Questions for Non-Academic Jobs

A useful list of interview questions to help you prepare for a non-academic job interview as a PhD, this site offers some ideas on preparing new language to talk about the skills you have gained in graduate school.

The Post-Ac’s Guide to the Cover Letter

This post offers a no-nonsense guide to writing a cover letter as a PhD applying for a non-academic job. It discusses how to target your language to fit the job posting, as well as common mistakes people make when moving from academia to other fields.