Job Market Material - Karen Kelsky?

[fallen625]

Has anyone used Karen Kelsky / the professor is in to get feedback on job market materials? What are your thoughts on it / are there any other similar services you would recommend?

I am going on the job market this fall and getting some feedback on materials from my advisor, but thought it might be worth it to get another set of eyes on it.

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[Justanothergrad]

I'm not sure why I would pay for a service that I could get for free from others (including the several professors writing my letters). I'm sure it works fine and she may offer great insight, but that's just a personal view. At the end of the day there is so much variability in search committee desires/needs/values anyway.

 

[psych.meout]

I've never heard of her before, but it seems that she's a cultural anthropologist. I don't know how specific or helpful her information can be across disciplines outside of anthropology. Her advice might be helpful for strictly academic positions, but if you're looking at positions with clinical responsibilities (e.g., AMCs, VAMCs), she may be less helpful. Even in academic positions, she's probably less helpful than people in the field who are writing you letters or have mentored you in the past (e.g., she may not have a good grasp on what universities are looking for in faculty who could potentially supervise their grad students in practica).

 

[deleted343839]

I read her book and several of her articles in the Chronicle of Higher Ed. While there is some good advice there, I would only work in depth with someone who knows this field intimately. And she clearly doesn’t. Also, I’ve heard not great things about her very pricey one-on-one consultation service on the psychology job search wiki.

 

[GradStudent2020]

I read her book and several of her articles in the Chronicle of Higher Ed. While there is some good advice there, I would only work in depth with someone who knows this field intimately. And she clearly doesn’t. Also, I’ve heard not great things about her very pricey one-on-one consultation service on the psychology job search wiki.

Can you share the link to that wiki?

 

[calimich]

Totally agree with MamaPhD. I read lots of Kelsky's free material and I thought it was helpful during my academic search. I also agree that having knowledgeable mentors look over your stuff is probably more helpful; in my case I didn't have many who were able to advise on the academic search process.

the link I think you're looking for :Psychology Job Wiki 2018-2019 - Psychology Academic Job Search

 

[temppsych123]

I used her "negotiation service" when I was on the market (for the after-offer negotiation piece). Honestly, I found her not super helpful - wouldn't reply particularly promptly (even though she says same-day responses for negotiation clients), lost track of how many of my days we'd used, and her feedback on all my drafts of emails was "sounds great!" or "perfect!". Like, I think I'm a good writer, but really, nothing you'd recommend I'd change? Also, I never updated her once I signed an offer, and she never followed up with me to see what happened - obviously not required of her, but didn't make me feel like she was particularly invested in my outcomes or not.

 

[DynamicDidactic]

I looked over her broad (free) advice but never wanted to pay for this service. I really don't know how useful it would be. There is empirical evidence showing that the CV (and parts of the CV - pubs and grants) are most heavily weighted when looking at applicants. Not sure how much more helpful a good cover letter or research statement will make. Perhaps teaching statements could be better polished. But then I feel like you may sneak into a interview but if the materials do not represent your actual interests you wont do well in person.

 

[WisNeuro]

How much are people paying for "negotiation consultation?" The ideas of leverage and negotiation are not all that hard to understand

 

[temppsych123]

How much are people paying for "negotiation consultation?" The ideas of leverage and negotiation are not all that hard to understand

She charges $500 for 7 days of consultation via email or chat. I got a total of maybe 4-5 emails from her, and didn't feel it was helpful. That said, I wanted to have the support of someone with more of a track record with negotiation because of a spousal hire issue I was facing, and particularly wanted feedback in how hard to push/how to phrase communications around the spousal hire issue. I didn't seek her out (or really use her for) any more general support in terms of asking for start-up, salary, other kinds of negotiation issues that I view as more straightforward.

I would say, for $500, the negotiation service might be worthwhile IF you are someone who really struggles to be assertive about your needs, who doesn't have a lot of support from mentors/letter writers around negotiations, etc.

I also think, re: earlier comments above about getting feedback from mentors and letter writers - between myself, my spouse, and many friends who applied this year, the advice we got varied wildly across mentors, in part based on their own personalities and where they were/had been working. Of course, we'd all love to have super supportive mentors who have their pulse on the job market and are able to give you useful support, but some folks don't - either their advisors have been off the market for so long that they don't know what's realistic anymore, or they haven't trained other mentees who went the academic route, or their career isn't in the type of career you're looking for (for instance, if you have a letter writer who's always been at an AMC but doesn't know about arts and sciences jobs).

Anyway, I wouldn't say she's a godsend, nor would I say her services are a total waste of money - it really depends on what you need help with, what your other resources are, etc.

 

[futureapppsy2]

How much are people paying for "negotiation consultation?" The ideas of leverage and negotiation are not all that hard to understand

There’s been a couple of fairly high profile cases where TT faculty offers were pulled when the candidate tried to negotiate, so there’s some anxiety around that, especially with so much competition for TT jobs.

 

[EmotRegulation]

Haha, pay me and I'll review your materials for much less than Karen Kelsky! I should totally start a side consulting business on this. I basically wrote a 50 page booklet on applying to academic jobs....

 

[WisNeuro]

There’s been a couple of fairly high profile cases where TT faculty offers were pulled when the candidate tried to negotiate, so there’s some anxiety around that, especially with so much competition for TT jobs.

Well, that's where understanding leverage comes in. 🙂 Good reason to stick to clinical work right there.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I have a great book on negotiating (not healthcare focused). I’ll see if I can dig it up at home. I read it as part of an exec training program and found it invaluable bc it makes you think more of the biz implications and not just more trad psych stuff.

 

[procrastin8r]

I've used her blog and book to tailor my CV, cover letters, teaching philosophy statement etc. If/when I will get interviews for university-based positions, I'll re-read the interviewing section. I've found it helpful, in conjunction with field-specific knowledge. Of course she can't know all fields intimately, but much of her advice applies across subjects (e.g., stop acting like a groveling grad student, delighted to get any opportunity ever - I struggle with this one in my cover letters).