When a newly minted PhD falls alone in the woods, does anyone hear it?  Or care?

If you’re thinking about leaving academe, consider getting a life coach.

If I were about to defend my dissertation today in the middle of this pandemic, I’d be more than a little worried about my job prospects.  Colleges and universities across the world are scrambling to figure out their plans for next year.  I’ve heard of a lot of bold ideas about how next year will work, but the truth is that no one knows how best to address student, faculty, and staff safety while continuing to offer education. 

There are just too many unknowns and a lot of the answers will affect the financial viability of our higher ed institutions for years to come.   We just don’t know. 

When I was finishing my dissertation, the job market didn’t look so great then either.  Granted, there was no pandemic to stir up global unease, but a major prediction my peers and I had been banking on didn’t come through–the older generation didn’t retire.   They decided instead, as was their right, to put a few more years of earnings into their 401(k) and Social Security.   By the time I graduated, it was not uncommon for a few hundred highly qualified PhDs to apply for one open spot.  That’s a tough market–and I was married to a PhD in the same field.  The chances of us both finding tenure track positions in the same city were slim to none.  

And my husband already had a job. 

Could I leave my dream behind in pursuit of a stable income outside of the academy?   What would I do?  What could I do?   Would I be satisfied outside of the university?  I had some thinking to do. 

Turns out there is life outside of academe, satisfying work with real income–if I was willing to go after it.  To get there, I had to ask myself some tough questions about who I was at the core of my being.  I had to know what would satisfy me.  I had to know what I valued and what my life’s work was all about.

These are all things a coach can help with.   I’m not talking about a career counselor–someone who can help you with aptitude tests and offer you advice about resumes.  I’m talking about a life coach.  A good life coach.

A good life coach, someone who’s trained to listen and ask key questions, could have saved me a lot of grief as I struggled to pull my plan together. 

If you’re ABD or newly minted and you’d like a good life coach to help you during this time of uncertainty and transition, contact me.  I know what you’re going through.  I’ve been there myself.  And I can make this affordable. 

In time, this pandemic may prove to be just the disruption academia needs to help it rethink and reshape its approach. And you may very well be working in academia when it all shakes out. But if you’re not so sure, don’t fall alone in the woods.