PhD Career Clarity Program
Hey PhDs, it's time to clarify your career path so you can confidently market yourself for jobs you actually want!
You're a successful academic.
You've won scholarships and awards, presented or published papers, taught and mentored students, and contributed new knowledge to your field. You're doing what you can to make a difference.
But now you're at a crossroads in your career. You want to leave academia. But you aren't exactly sure what's next.
Part of you knows you have the skills, experience, and knowledge to get paid to do something meaningful and fulfilling. You want this for yourself.
But you’re struggling to figure out what, and where, and with whom.
What are you qualified to do? What do you even want to do? Is there a job for that?
Oh, and crucially: Can you get paid enough for doing it?
And will you still like who you are? You aren't interested in selling out.
Ugh.
Security, flexibility, and freedom are important to you – that’s partly why you pursued a PhD in the first place!
But now you’re looking ahead to a career that isn’t living up to your expectations and you’re wondering “is this all there is?”
My answer is “You can have what you want and need and deserve. And you can have it faster and easier than you fear. And let's lessen the emotional devastation you experience while you're at it, okay?”
Join PhD Career Clarity, a self-paced 6-month program for professors, postdocs, and other PhDs ready to change careers without giving up what they love about academic work.
The PhD Career Clarity self-paced course anchors the program. You'll start there. Then—and this is optional—join me every two weeks for live small group coaching over Zoom, monthly workshops, and access our private online community and growing library of recordings and other resources anytime! (You'll have access to it all for 6 months.) Click on each item to learn more:
PhDs: Get clear on your career path so you can confidently market yourself for jobs you actually want! This course will take you step by step through the process.
Join Jen for regular live small group coaching & community discussions. Get your questions answered, receive coaching so you can move forward, and check in with other PhD job seekers. Past Zoom meeting recordings also live here.
When you're exploring your options and applying for jobs, you need help, and you want to get it quickly and effectively. Read sample emails to use throughout the process. Short, clear, direct.
Recordings, worksheets, and other documents from exclusive live events. Plus any additional resources that don't belong elsewhere.
This community space is the online forum for PhD Career Clarity Program participants. Engage with Jen and other PhD career explorers and job seekers. Build community, share resources, deepen learning.
Thank you so much for your support in the Career Clarity program! It was just what I needed as I was taking my first steps out of academia. I felt alone, disoriented, insecure, clueless, and hopeless. Two weeks ago, just six months after that difficult start, I got the best job I could possibly hope for. I remember reading these kinds of sentences from other transitioning PhDs and thinking it couldn't happen to me.
Well, it did! I'm over the moon, and the interactions with you have been an instrumental part of my success. My favorite part was the live Q&A sessions. Your personalized advice was super helpful, and the moral support was breathing life into me. I didn't feel alone anymore because I felt that I have you to guide me and the rest of the group by my side.
I would like to share my sincere gratitude for your coaching and guidance. 🙏
Throughout the period of 7 months, I learned a lot and was able to bag three full-time industry and two short-term consultancy offers (in the field I was aiming for and all through networking).
Beginning from the period when everything looked so overwhelming, uncertain and unachievable to actually seeing things working out in the right direction is truly magical!
Your course, resources, and bimonthly group Zoom meetings were really helpful. As many also mentioned previously, just showing up for those Zoom meetings was encouraging.
I have now become your ambassador in my network in India & Germany, directing everyone to your webpage whoever wants to transition into the industry.
Whether you're a long-tenured professor or just finishing your PhD, I want to help you land meaningful, viable work where you'll have real impact without all the downsides you're tired of enduring.
Join me for small group coaching and live workshops. We cover everything from navigating the emotions of job searching to negotiating offers with confidence.
Hi there! Call me Jen. I live in Toronto with my cat Izzy. You've probably seen her on my Twitter account (@FromPhDtoLife).
I started my business, From PhD to Life, in 2013. Since then I've worked with many hundreds of PhDs from the US, Canada, and elsewhere around the world, across all disciplines and career goals. I help PhDs and other long-time academics clarity their career directions so they can confidently market themselves for jobs they actually want.
Beyond my work with individuals, I facilitate workshops and deliver presentations at universities and related organizations on job searching and career transitions for graduate students and postdocs.
I'm also proud to serve on the board of directors for the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS). Plus, I'm on the management committee for a multi-year transborder project about PhD career paths. Neat, eh? (I think so!) My blog is a three-time gold winner at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards, and my writing has been published in places such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, University Affairs, and Inside Higher Ed. Before all this, I earned my PhD in history from the University of Toronto.
Now, I'm excited to bring all this experience and expertise into my PhD Career Clarity program. This is a space where we'll work together to define your career goals and equip you with the tools to reach them. So, are you ready to start the next chapter in your professional journey? Let's get started.
Read real feedback from program members and coaching clients!
The core course is about 5 hours of videos. You'll want to do the "homework" for each lesson, to gain the most benefit from the program. I recommend dedicating a week to the first two sections (Prep, Focus), then moving into Identify and Market over the following weeks. The program includes access to all program materials and support from Jen via small group Zoom meetings for a full 6 months, but that doesn't mean it will take you that long to go through everything and get your next great job. You can go as fast or slow as you want.
Absolutely. I've worked with many professors over the years, and I designed this program with them in mind. The program is for any PhD (including professors, postdocs, and others) who wants a change, but doesn't yet know what direction to go in next. That's what career clarity is all about.
Great question. A job search, especially one that lands you a great job you actually want, can take a while. The bulk of the material in this program covers the work you need to do before you're actively applying for jobs -- all the self-assessment, career exploration, and networking activities that are so important to setting yourself up for success. Ideally you join a few before you plan to be looking for work.
I (Jen) created this program for PhDs from any and all disciplines. The principles and strategies I teach work for all PhDs. As you identify the job and career options that work for you, you will (as part of the program) seek specific advice and information from professionals in your target field(s). Check out the testimonials on this page for a sense of the variety of PhDs I've worked with.
Yes! You get access to regular live small group Zoom meetings where you can ask whatever questions you have about your own job search, share experiences, and learn from what other PhD job seekers are doing. We discuss emotional blocks, workshop application materials, brainstorm strategy, and whatever else comes up. These are my favourite! All these sessions are recorded so you can catch up later. You can also ask questions or respond to prompts and other content anytime in our exclusive online community.
Great question! I know from my years of experience working with PhDs that folks wind up all over the place, including academia, even if they start out not thinking they will. That's why the program doesn't assume you will decide to leave academia. I'm happy to support folks who are pursuing academic positions.
Absolutely. Email me [email protected] and we can set this up. I'm happy to generate custom invoices and receipts as needed, or set up payment links so your finance officer can pay on your behalf.
Here's a free introductory training video that lays out my approach to the PhD job search process, especially for long-time academics such as faculty members, postdocs, and other PhDs who identify as academics. >> https://fromphdtolife.com/phd-job-search-help/ You can email me to learn more, or get at me on social media. You can reach me on Twitter, LinkedIn, via the From PhD to Life Facebook page, or email [email protected]. I'd love to answer your questions.
Figure out your next move and successfully position yourself for the kind of career you actually want.
Regular price
6 monthly payments of $175