Humanists@Work Berkeley

Our terminal workshop was held on April 30 at the David Brower Center.

Workshop Sessions

Stories from the Field

UC Humanities PhDs share their stories as humanists at work in the world.

Simon Abramowitsch
English Instructor
Chabot College

Elizabeth Gessel
Director of Public Programs
Museum of the African Diaspora

Silvie Liao
Global Curriculum Development Manager
RiseSmart

Dana Carballo Linda
Executive Operations and Content Strategy
Menlo Ventures

Jeanelle Horcasitas (facilitator)
PhD Candidate
UC San Diego

Developing Our Questions and Narratives about the Humanities PhD

Using statements and questions submitted by participants upon registration, session leaders will facilitate an interactive process whereby graduate students take stock of their skills and experience and create and refine questions target for industry/government leaders. This is part one of a two-part session at the workshop, and will prepare workshop participants to engage in employer-based dialogues later in the day.

Kelly Anne Brown (facilitator)
Associate Director
UCHRI

Rebecca A. Lippman (facilitator)
PhD Candidate
UC Los Angeles

Breakout 2: CV to Résumé: HumWork Tested & Tried Methods That Work

On May 8, 2014, Jared Redick presented at HumWork’s first-ever gathering. For nearly two hours, Jared shared the methods he uses to build complex career change résumé for bespoke clients, with a topical focus on converting a traditional CV into a competitive résumé.

Nearly four years later, Jared has presented nine times across the UC system, and conducted a variety of Saturday morning webinars and PhD candidate group coachings. He has also worked one-on-one with a handful of PhD candidates and post-docs in their job search efforts.

The feedback has been exciting, with careers launched in technology, private equity, management consulting, and the nonprofit sector—and those are just the ones we know about. PhD candidates have even used Jared’s ideas for quantifying the seemingly unquantifiable to boost research funding.

Today’s break out session compiles into a single presentation the data and experience gathered since Jared’s first HumWork appearance, ranging from his long-standing “purpose, content, design” approach to résumé writing and the principles of his Job Description Analysis, to creative ways of reimagining one’s academic experience as marketable work experience.

The session includes industry-veteran advice for soon-to-be PhDs, like the following from a chief marketing officer in finance: “I don’t want to know all of the details about their PhD experience. Rather, I’d like to hear about the skills and experience they bring to the table that they gained from their PhD experience.”

Overflowing with ideas, tools, and examples, Jared hopes his presentation will energize participants about how to value and best present their academic experience. His slides will be available by email following the event, including five real-life résumé examples that put his ideas to the test—and succeeded.

Jared Redick
The Résumé Studio

Breakout 1: Managing Up

During this interactive session a humanities PhD and his supervisor will lead a discussion about “followership,” drawing from experiences in their work relationship and building upon research in the field of leadership development and organizational communication. Participants will learn how to navigate communication, expectations, and power with their advisors or boss’s and strategies to build a productive and positive work environment.

Annie Maxfield
Interim Director Graduate Student Resource Center
Associate Director, Graduate Student Professional Development
UC Los Angeles

David Blancha
Assistant Director, Graduate Student Career Services
UC Los Angeles

3:30–4:45 PM So What Do You Do? Communicating Across Industry, Government, and Academia

What perceptions do “those who work” beyond the university have about the general value of the PhD, and the humanities PhD in particular? So often professionalization efforts ascribe university-generated assumptions about what employers need and/or want from prospective employees, especially those who pursue advanced degrees, without the research to confirm these impressions. Given a noticeable lack of dialogue between laborers inside and outside of the university, our communities often struggle to find common language through which to express our experiences, expertise, and adaptations to technologies that drive continuously shifting modes of work in most areas of contemporary employment. By collaborating in an inclusive space with employers from diverse industries, we want to cultivate perspectives that allow us to better understand each others’ work in professional settings.

Building on four years of Humanists@Work conversations and activities related to careers beyond the professoriate, this multi-part session aims to host a dynamic and interactive conversation among humanities PhDs and invited leaders in business, nonprofit, and government. Through dialogue, we wish to:

Learn about obstacles in the minds of industry experts regarding the value of a PhD that must be overcome in order for those with advanced degrees to clearly articulate the experience and expertise that they bring to the world of work, and why their contributions should matter to non-university audiences and industries.
Gauge the extent of translational challenges that our graduate students face as they transition out of the university, and build communication strategies directed towards industries outside of the university, and to faculty and staff who work on professionalization within university settings.
Generate a plan of action for future Humanists@Work research, communication efforts, and resource development that registers the questions posed by session participants and the answers we hear. By the end of the session, we wish to have a sense of how to imagine and plan for the next employer-facing incarnation of Humanists@Work.