WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center’s Post

Facebook has reminded me that this week marks four years since LEAVING ACADEMIA came out -- and my has the world changed a lot! 1) We can network in person again. When the book came out, we were stuck inside with COVID lockdowns. As people have returned to more normal life, though, much communication remains digital. Job seekers wanting to stand out should do so against this baseline. While in-person meetings aren't necessary, they remain *more marked* in today's environment and thus allow you to stand out more easily. (And yes, I'm still grumpy I didn't get to do any release events at great local bookstores like Octavia Books). 2) The job market has cooled off. From late 2020 through late 2022, the job market went bananas. It was never easier for people to change careers. Ironically, today feels more like the environment I experienced and wrote about in the book -- jobs are available, but uneven, and timelines to leave academia are measured in months or years rather than weeks or months. 3) The social media landscape has evolved. LinkedIn remains the place for presenting your business persona and maintaining connections. But Twitter is now X (I've given up on it), and more things happen in video formats like TikTok, especially for younger users. I haven't attempted that format, but others have. 4) There's WAY more help than there used to be. LEAVING ACADEMIA was part of a wave of new resources for scholars seeking work beyond higher ed -- now the books, blogs, podcasts, coaching services, and university-run programs are seemingly endless. Looking back to my first flirtations with work outside academia in 2015, it feels like a different world. In spite of that, the need remains acute -- an indication that academic culture remains stuck, even if it's improving in pockets. When I get notes from people who've read my book, I often profess my joy that it remains helpful and my sorrow that it has to. Here's hoping that four years from now the root causes of career challenges for academics will be addressed more consistently -- and more people can enter or exit higher ed with support and vision for a future they create for themselves. Princeton University Press

Recently, a friend pulled me aside at an evening social event and whispered that she had a few questions to ask me about school. She prefaced, “I know we’re not supposed to talk about work right now, but I need help understanding some things.” I couldn’t answer all her questions. But I knew the people who did. I sent myself an email to look it up on Monday morning. A few weeks ago, someone made a post in our school bond Facebook group. It had seven lengthy questions. The post was made on the Saturday morning (the weekend). It was also a holiday weekend (Easter). And the district’s Spring Break. Office hours resumed on Tuesday morning, which was also Election Day. I didn’t know the answers to all these questions. But I knew how to get them. I sent myself an email to look into it on Tuesday morning. One if the the things I love about my job, and about my skills, is that I’m a connector. I don’t know all the answers, but I know how to find them. This is fun and exciting and it keeps me going. (I think it’s the perpetual learner in me!) The double-edged sword here is that people assume (1) I do know everything that happens in the district- I wish! 😂 and (2) the district is open 24-7. In the case of my friend, I was able to connect her to a principal who could help. In the case of the seven-question Facebook post, I had to comment on behalf of the district that these were great questions and they would be addressed in the coming months in regular district messaging. (Some of them required phone calls to previous administrators and/or meetings with several people.) How do you handle being “always on?” What’s your strategy for after-hour convos? #schoolPR #suptchat #education #socialmedia #leadership #selfcare #timemanagement #socialmediamanager #schools

Unlock Offline Potential with PTA's Internet Break! 📵 Dear LinkedIn Family, As PTA temporarily suspends internet services for the election, seize this digital detox for personal and professional growth. As we momentarily bid adieu to the online realm, let's explore the multitude of activities that can enrich our lives and careers without the omnipresence of the internet. 📚 Rediscover Reading 🤝 Strengthen In-Person Connections 🧘♀️ Prioritize Mindfulness 🎨 Embrace Creativity 💡 Strategic Planning & Goal Setting 🚴 Stay Active & Healthy 🤓 Enhance Skills Offline 🍲 Culinary Adventures Embrace the break, and emerge stronger! 🌟 . . . #OfflineOpportunity #ProfessionalGrowth #election2024 #election #internet #internetshutdown #PTA

This appeared in my Facebook feed this morning. Here’s my inner ramble made external! Be interested in ways that I am wrong/have missed the point 😑 or others inner rambles outed in response! — So I know Facebook isn’t a textbook but it is a source of messaging concerning how we can self improve, responsibilising us to orientate ourselves differently in the world. To some degree I get it. I have made changes that I can make in the hope that I can have a better experience of life and explore different aspects of who I am, knowing also that ‘it’ being my whole life will not contain all that it might - positive and negative - of what human lives can contain. The negative elements can both leave parts of us broken whilst opening up spaces for us to bring more of ourselves and our understanding of what it means to be in relationship with others forward. Being able to hope (or more firmly believe) does not mean that we will all see and be able to take opportunities available to others because there are some opportunities which are not equally visible or accessible or achievable to all. Not being in a position to progress opportunities gives learning, that those who could walk through those doors relatively unhindered, don’t experience direct learning of. But surely this is something we can all relate to? No one has never experienced the reality of obstacles and the importance of having them acknowledged. We all carry experiential learning of our own experiences of our bodies and/or relationships and/or social location and/or experiences of exclusion which are not about belief they are an important form of knowledge which inform our hopes and commitments and shape our beliefs and values. Sometimes the opportunities we have to focus on concern dismantling the obstacles that need acknowledging and removing.

What is 3rd 2nd and 1st person on LinkedIn? 1st-degree connections: individuals directly connected to you on LinkedIn. 2nd-degree connections: who share a mutual contact with you. 3rd-degree connections: who are one step further connected to your 2nd-degree contacts. Followers: people who follow your public updates.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens. I was on Facebook looking at school stuff for the kids when a book tour ad for Ina Garten pops up (thanks, culinary-inclined friends). 'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' is the title of her book, and it struck me. #jobseekers are becoming more aware that their situation isn't their fault. That this process, for most, is going to take time, patience, grit AND luck. In sales and marketing, you make your own luck...to a degree... Right message, right person? Easy. Persistence, targeting, data, etc. Right TIME? Not your call. Never will be. That's the ticket to ride, and the train stops only when it wants to. So think about that first green-banner-free POST, all the people you've leaned on, and all of the rough patches that made you jaded, angry, but smarter. You are ready for when the luck happens.

Google will push you to learn and forget, to forget and learn all over again. Your clients will push you to learn and remind you that at the center of this job, it doesn’t matter how much you know or do not know, it matters how much you care. And caring means commitment, patience and resilience. #digitalmarketing

"Social sciences grad turned virtual assistant, helping you navigate the digital world with empathy and expertise. 🌐 Let's streamline your life and business together! #VirtualAssistant #SocialSciences"

New Post: **Future-Proof Your Career: Top 10 Essential Skills for a Post-Pandemic World** This title incorporates the most searched keywords from the past months, including “future-proof,” “post-pandemic world,” and “essential skills.” It also uses a format that is engaging and click-worthy for both tech enthusiasts and the general audience. https://buff.ly/3YavvdK