Thread by @ewpittman

Last week I presented on a panel with Humanities PhD grads who have found professional opportunities outside of the academy using our skill-sets and professional experiences earned during graduate work.

Because it has been a long journey for me from PhD to professional satisfaction and fulfillment, I thought I would share with the audience the set of questions I developed to help me along the way.

I'll share them here. But first.

My first job post-PhD was a contingent faculty position. It was not well-paid and the work was grueling, but it allowed me the freedom to pursue multiple professional paths that interested me beyond the professoriate.

Because I spent the majority of my pay-check on securing 30 hours of loving childcare per week, I had *time* to seek out informational interviews, mentors, and to attend events where I could self-education and observe.

I did all of this while teaching an overload, struggling to write, and applying for conferences.

*Wipes sweat from brow.*

Here are the questions I developed when it became increasingly clear that finding a full-time faculty position in the Washington, D.C. area would not be possible in the time that I needed for the financial and psychological well-being of my family:

1) What kinds of work do you love?

2) Which of the tasks that you complete on a daily basis do you find most rewarding? Which of the projects that you support on a long-term basis do you find rewarding?

3) What are your strengths? What are you really good at?

Try to answer these honestly for yourself without the reward of outside validation or recognition.

4) What aspects of employment do you find most sustaining and necessary for long-term growth and success?

If it is living wage, that is OK!

I revised my answers to these questions for myself over time.

Keep your answers close to you as you apply for positions, and consider aspects of fit as you cope with rejections.