I can help you be a better academic.
You are already good at what you do. If you weren’t you wouldn’t be where you are.
But just as elite athletes have coaches to help them perform at their best, a career coach can help you do what you do even better.
I’m a career coach for academics in the humanities & social sciences
Working with me will not involve whistles, running laps, or sweaty locker rooms. I promise. That’s never been me.
It will involve having someone “in your corner” — watching your performance, making suggestions about how to approach things more effectively, helping you pace yourself and prepare for the bigger challenges you want to tackle in future, and helping you get back out there when things aren’t going quite the way you want them to.
In concrete terms, it might involve helping you put together a job application, or a funding application, or a promotion portfolio. I might help you get over writer’s block or figure out what you can submit to which journals. Or we might brainstorm ways of dealing with a particular group of students.
We might work on managing your workload so that you are doing the things you need to do well and still have time to do the things you want to do, including taking vacations, reading fiction, and playing in the park with your kids.
How does it work?
We talk. On the phone. I listen. And together we work out how you can best move forward.
Sometimes we’ll work together quite intensively. Other times you’ll want to check in less frequently. My goal is always to send you along with renewed confidence.
I have X-Ray Vision and a Zoom tool.
When you tell me about what is going on, I can see things that you haven’t noticed, things that make all the difference in how you deal with the situation. Sometimes that’s just an effect of standing on the sidelines and looking at it from a different perspective. But I also see things others don’t see, even from the sidelines.
Sometimes you’ll be looking right in front of you, making sure you aren’t stepping in any dog poop. But sometimes you need to get a bird’s eye view so you can see where different options might take you. I help you focus on the right level of detail so that you can prioritize.
Being a better academic means different things to different people.
I’m not going to try to put you into a box you don’t want to be in. I’m going to help you figure out what kind of career you want so that you can get that kind of career.
How do you get started?
I invite you to read my blog and Who I Am page. If it seems like you might like working with me, then book a session.
Working with a coach is partly about chemistry. After our first meeting, you and I will know if we are a good fit.
I charge $150 for a 1-hour session. If you book 4 sessions at a time, you get a 15% discount. If, after your first session, you decide to continue, I’ll back-date the discount when you pay for your next 3. Similarly, if you book 4 and change your mind, I’ll refund the 3 unused sessions.
Remember: The people who win Olympic medals are talented, hard working athletes who deserve all the credit for winning those medals. But every single one of them works with a coach.