When we started the Mama, PhD blog, coeditors Caroline Grant and Elrena Evans really wanted to have a career advice component – a place where our readers could ask your burning career-related questions and get support in your transitions and challenges. Thus, my Monday “The Career Coach Is In” Q&A was born. As the newness of our blog wears off, and the school year winds down, the individual email questions I’ve received has diminished.

So, I wanted to use today’s column to solicit more questions from readers – to ask you to let me know what’s on your mind career-wise. Are you in the throes of a decision? Stuck in your job search? Or, if you don’t have a specific, situational question, are there career topics you would like to see me cover here?

I'll throw out some topics that came up often from graduate students in my career counseling office at UC-San Diego, and I hope you will let me know if you want to see any of these issues addressed here:

1. Converting a CV to a Resume (or Improving a CV)
2. Informational Interviewing and “Networking”
3. Being Pregnant on the Job Market
4. Figuring Out the Best Career Fit
5. Talking With An Academic Advisor About Career Issues
6. Redefining Success and Failure
7. Writing Great Cover Letters
8. Interviewing (Presenting Oneself in Career Transition, Especially)
9. Researching Alternative Career Possibilities
10. Discussing a Career Transition with Family Members/Partners
11. Academic Culture/Career Issues (e.g., professionalizing and covering one’s career bases in a one-track academic culture)
12. Handling the Stress of Career Transition/Job Search

If any of these topics strike a chord with you, or if you have other topics you’d like to see, please drop me a line at mamaphd@insidehighered.com, and let’s see if I can help.

Also, I can interview individuals (particularly mamas, if you’d like) who have successfully transitioned from academia to careers outside of the tenure-track (or out and back in), and share their stories with you here as well. Please let me know if this interests you, and if you have any particular career fields or other specifics in mind.

I hope you will add your input and join the conversation. I look forward to hearing from you.

Wishing You Your Own Vision Of Success,

Megan