Job Searching Has Me In Existential Freefall
August 4, 2021 9:07 AM   Subscribe

I’m really struggling right now, with a lot of that anxiety and worry centered on finding new employment. A blizzard of snowflakes ahead.

I graduated in the spring of 2019 with a humanities PhD (English) and, without a bevy of options in front of me, took a part-time academic support job weeks before the pandemic hit. I knew moving to a new area in my late thirties would be hard, especially without any network to speak of and working with populations I couldn’t really make friends with. Grad school aside, I spent most of my life in a major city, and I’ve never had enough income to afford a car, so even beyond the isolation of this past year-plus, I feel really limited in where I can go and what I can do. I don’t get enough exercise, my diet is less than great, I hate where I live, I can’t afford someone to help polish my job materials or therapy or courses to round out my skills, and I live with an inconsiderate roommate I feel desperate to get away from.

On top of that, the pandemic itself been rough: I lost one of my best friends unexpectedly to health complications that may or may not have been COVID-related, one of my siblings is routinely threatening suicide, two of them have had other health problems crop up within the past five months, and my dad is in a constant state of recovery post-cancer, leaving my mom to care for everyone else. That’s to say nothing of the other health problems in my extended family: dementia, MS, leukemia, and doubtless more I’m forgetting.

My initial hope after finishing the PhD was to get a particular academic staff position, but I believed that by dint of having the degree I’d be more competitive in the job market. I haven’t found that to be the case; I feel woefully inadequate in terms of specific accomplishments I can point to, and even with jobs I felt were within the realm of possibility I’ve gotten no traction. Like many academics, I’ve cobbled together an income from disparate sources, so my work history probably looks wonky. I’ve been underemployed in part-time work for pretty much the whole of my professional life, and I’m hesitant to leave the PhD off my resume because it accounts for a fair stretch of time that might be hard to account for otherwise. I feel stuck between being overqualified for some jobs and not qualified enough for the rest.

When I finished the doctorate, I was pretty open to moving wherever, but with the isolation and loneliness I’ve felt combined with everything happening at home, I’m looking to move back to that area once I have a job offer, to be closer to family and friends. Plus there are far more job opportunities available in said city. Since I haven’t been able to land something in academia, I’ve been looking more broadly.

I’ve applied to jobs in publishing, marketing, nonprofit work, and grant writing, as I have either an eclectic (if limited) smattering of experience in those realms and/or they align with the writing/editing/research skills I have. But the ads list knowledge of software I’ve never used or years of experience I don’t have (and I literally can’t afford to take classes or work for free to bolster my resume). I know, those qualifications are really more like wish lists, so I’ve applied anyway. Like over a hundred in the past four months. And I’ve had two or three interviews in that span. People tell me to take advantage of your network, but my network is full of people similarly underemployed or they’re academics—which is where I don’t want to be—or they’re full-time authors who are of no help with getting a foot in the door somewhere. I’m sure the pandemic has screwed things up to a tremendous degree, but it’s not like no one’s getting hired currently. My inability to change my circumstances has left me at a loss.

tl;dr: Having a hard time getting a non-academic job with a PhD in hand, feeling like I’m on the edge thanks to personal circumstances. What are my options for keeping it together (and, if possible, increasing my odds of success with the job market) when I feel overwhelmed with despair and the world continues to feel awful?

Throwaway e-mail for replies is arbitrary.alpha.numerics@mail.com.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (11 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
Can you please be specific about what your PhD is in? It's hard to give advice without knowing this. (You can contact the mods to add this info.)
posted by DarlingBri at 9:12 AM on August 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


Recovering stem PhD here. Happy to refer you to a position at my tech company if you can find one that fits your skills (we definitely hire humanities-trained people across various job functions), or brainstorm about how to get referrals to other companies in this industry. Feel free to PM me.
posted by shaademaan at 9:27 AM on August 4, 2021 [4 favorites]


Mod note: Edited the post with OP input to add that the PhD is in English.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:38 AM on August 4, 2021


Have you thought about temping? You won't get rich, but you might make a living wage, and you can get some recent, non-academic job experience on your resume. You might even learn some of that software. Ask your underemployed and artist friends if they have an agency they recommend. A friend of mine with a couple of masters degrees and a non-academic but similarly odd work history recently got a temp job she's pretty happy at. She connected with the agency through another friend who's a professional opera singer who has done a lot of temping in the past. This job started part-time but a few months in she now has the option to go full-time and she's gotten a significant wage increase as well.
posted by mskyle at 10:17 AM on August 4, 2021 [2 favorites]


Coming back to add a couple more things:

1) Remember that finding employment and finding a career are two separate things and it's 100% OK to prioritize finding paying employment right now and put your worries about your long-term career on the back burner. You will be in a much better position to make good long-term career decisions if you have enough money/job stability to feel secure. Simultaneously worrying about finding a viable source of income and finding a vocation is really hard. Try to keep them separated if you can.

2) If you're applying for jobs in your hometown, use an address in your hometown on your resume (your parents', a friend's, whatever). If you get called for an in-person interview you can deal with it then, saying you're currently in $OTHERCITY but that you're available for Zoom interviews and/or willing to travel back to HOMETOWN for an interview (whatever's workable for you - you generally don't spend a ton of money on travel just for an interview, but if you're thinking about going home for a visit anyway or whatever, maybe it does make sense for you).
posted by mskyle at 10:41 AM on August 4, 2021 [3 favorites]


I applied for temp jobs after my PhD, and discovered that I had better success making absolutely no reference to being in grad school - left degree off, my job title for that time was research assistant, I included only office skills from it like using Microsoft software. I wound up finding a job in a tangentially-related field before my temp job started thanks to an oddball suggestion after I posted an Ask here, so good luck!

Check in ("network") with folks you knew from grad school to see where they landed and profs to see what they're up to and if they have leads, especially since you want to move back to the city the school is in. You can likely also still use your uni's career services, which may have useful connections and advice to help you get a good-enough job.
posted by momus_window at 11:15 AM on August 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


Have you checked your local library?

They might have a career center or a business/career librarian that can help you polish your resume, find free training for whatever skills you want to build, and offer some (free) moral support. Sometimes libraries will offer programming in how to interview or apply for jobs in a specific field, and many subscribe to online training platforms like Lynda.

Good luck!
posted by juliaem at 12:05 PM on August 4, 2021


I work in proposals and I can offer some specific advice for when you apply to grant-writing positions.

This is an industry where certifications and formal organizations are still in their adolescence. As such, they offer a lot of "course material" and webinars for free. If you go over to the Shipley website or the APMP website, you will be able to read some papers, attend some free webinars, etc. Not only will you then be able to list whatever you've attended as part of your training, but you will also pick up relevant lingo and industry jargon that you can use to tailor your grant-writing resume.

Honestly, 90% of employers in the area of grant writing will probably not care that you have a freaking PhD in english (!!! CONGRATULATIONS what an achievement!). But they will care if you can talk big about grant pipelines and SBIRs and KPIs and whatever. You already know you can do the job - now convince them by learning their bullshit language.

This comment only addresses a small part of your Ask. The rest of it, I just want to give you a hug. You're going through a super stressful period in your life, and it's clear that this year has taken its toll on you. I'm so sorry. I hope you will be kind to yourself and make a truly focused effort to immerse yourself with the voices and images of loved ones who make you feel good about yourself. Fill up your emotional cup by calling up old friends and flipping through old photos. It's worth doing for your own sake, intrinsically, because you deserve to reconnect with whatever makes you feel loved and cherished! But I'm sure it will also help you get back to job hunting with renewed energy and optimism.
posted by MiraK at 1:14 PM on August 4, 2021 [3 favorites]


Hey OP -

I'm replying more out of an I had a dread as to "what can I do job-wise" with a PhD at a few times in my life as well as dissatisfaction with where I was living + it sounds like you are going through a lot right now.

First, I'm throwing a couple of wild ideas for jobs here because I believe you could get in rather quickly if it was something you wanted. These might not be ideal but maybe as something to carry you over until you go after a better fit so to speak:

  • Tech Writing The advantage here is that at one of the places that I worked (and other places that I applied to) one of the ways in was via a writing test and if you look for other fields you are comfortable with plus writing - I think with an English PhD you'd have a high chance of making it in. If you happen to be in Minnesota, email me because I can point to a company that I worked with and that did in fact hire an English PhD too as a tech writer


  • Teaching at a private school. Via this organization (Carney Sandoe & Associates) I was able to get placed easily and quickly and I believe it was specifically because of the PhD. Personally, I searched via the geographical location I wanted to live in - I believe that the location also helped when I wanted to leave that job a year later (proximity to jobs I wanted). I'm suggesting it as a *maybe* it could provide a job to explore for a year and get you where you want to be - although I'm not sure with the timing you could look into something mid-academic year. (Personally, I did not like the job and there is nothing in your post that points to this, but I'm throwing it out there as a job since it might = a job and place you where you want to live?)

  • Journals I don't know the types of journals in your particular field, nor the types of positions specifically to your field - but in the sciences, I've met people who have gone into everything from writing to editing, so why not peruse whatever type of English journals there are in your field.

    Other things to think about in regards to your questions and this is specifically in response to networking. I would consider myself awful at this and also over the top when it comes to anxiety/ shyness/ not very socially skilled etc. However, when job searching in the past, I did often build up a network fast and I believe you can, too. More specifically, it was via info interviewing (I typed out info as to how to do this before ). Anyway, I'll put it this way - approach people in your industry (even via email) in fields that you want to work in and express your commonalities and also remember that by nature, people often want to help (and the ones that don't will ignore your email, etc). Anyway, I'm suggesting this because it wasn't the network that led to a job for me but rather ... learning what types of jobs to look for (job titles - ie., I wanted writing and it gave me job titles and search terms that I would never have considered) along with things specific to the industry (i.e., a PhD as well as a CV was wanted for some of those positions) and I don't think I would have learned that with google or common advice, etc. It did also build a network, too, though, and at the time, people offered their names or connections and pointed to jobs hiring a few times, etc., and I believe it could work for you, too.

    I absolutely think you can get where you want to (i.e., you mention wanting to work in universities?), although it might take time, etc to find and get the ideal position, but if this is what you want, go for it!

    Feel free to contact me if you want another ear (from someone who was in a similar place), or more wild brainstorming, etc.

    Good luck!

  • posted by Wolfster at 1:42 PM on August 4, 2021 [2 favorites]


    Empathy, empathy, empathy. I quit my social-science PhD five years in, and have felt this kind of job-search angst every time I'm looking (including right now!).

    - If there's a particular kind of software you see pop up in roles you've been interested in, see if they offer a free trial and search for video tutorials to learn a bit. This won't make you a rockstar, and you can be honest that you've only just started learning, but it could give you the confidence that you'd be able to pick up Dedoose/Salesforce/etc.
    - Do you have interest in non-teaching roles at colleges/universities? Project management, event-planning, coordination, student advising, etc.
    - Are you looking at city/state/federal jobs sites? Grantwriting is a central component for many roles there.
    - If you're thinking about building a career in nonprofit work, I commend you - this is where I am, too. I also want to shout from the tar pit that it is a pervasively toxic sector, plagued by overwork and underpayment.
    - Are you looking at Communications roles? I know a lot of folks who took English into Comms work with nonprofits.
    - I know that you said you've got zero time to volunteer, but if you've got a couple of hours per week, you might find a project that could help you build your resume with Taproot.

    Wishing you the best of luck.
    posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 4:49 PM on August 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


    Wouldn't you know that I came across a job description tonight that might be right up your alley? If this is something like what you're looking for, maybe the vocab could help in crafting language for your search/resume/coverletters.

    Center for Effective Philanthropy: Editor and Writer, Programming & External Relations
    posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:19 PM on August 4, 2021


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