Humanities scholars have always flourished in a range of careers in, around, and beyond the academy, but graduate programs have typically not focused on preparing students for the variety of careers they pursue after their studies. This year’s MLA convention featured several sessions, discussions, and workshops on postgraduate career paths, reflecting not only member interest in the topic but also the MLA’s ongoing commitment, with support from the Mellon Foundation, to support increased transparency about and preparation for graduate students’ wide range of career pursuits.
One discussion of note was a pragmatic, nuts-and-bolts discussion about career options for humanities PhDs. Presenters included three career services professionals who specialize in working with graduate students. The discussion covered practical suggestions about where to begin, how to approach different kinds of searches, how to prepare application materials, how to incorporate a postdoc into career development, and how to make good use of campus career-services offices.
Audience members in the packed room tweeted using the #mla14 and #altac hashtags. An archive of the tweets provides a record of the many suggestions that the presenters offered and also reveals points of particular interest and discord. Speakers emphasized the importance of networking, professionalism, and maintaining general application materials that can easily be customized for different searches. They also suggested a range of resources, including Web sites that post jobs that may appeal to graduate students (e.g., HigherEd Jobs, Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, USAJOBS, and Versatile PhD).
The MLA is already beginning to plan related events for next year’s convention in Vancouver. We welcome your suggestions for topics that might be of interest.
A few notes from the discussion
