Testimonials
All testimonials are collected via anonymous feedback.
I just signed a contract for a tenure track position at my top choice institution. I really feel I owe a lot to Kate! She not only made my materials as polished as they could be, but she make me feel more confident going into my interviews and campus visits.
This was absolutely the best professionalization experience I've had at Brown so far. We all learned so much about the process and built confidence through the exercises Prof. Thomas brought in--it's not uncommon for me to come out of professionalization workshops a little more overwhelmed than when I entered, but I left feeling optimistic.
Professor Thomas made the whole miserable prospect of going on the job market seem possible and even rational. She broke it down into bite-size chunks – the letters of rec, the teaching statement, the research statement, even how to organize the letter and whom to address. The initial interview, both if it’s in-person or online, and the campus visit. She even gave time to the first year on the job. I feel like I have a vision of the immediate future for the first time, and so much better prepared for it!
It was very interesting hearing about the peculiarities of the Liberal Arts College. I didn’t attend one, and I had a somewhat skewed understanding of what they are looking for. Kate gave me so much more confidence about those applications than I had before. I think a lot of what she talked about will help me in all my applications, to be honest.
The combination of real-life information from someone who has directed many searches at a SLAC, with individual attention to my application materials, was invaluable. I feel like I’m much better prepared for every aspect of the job market – and not only for SLAC applications and interviews, but across the board.
The individual session with Kate was the most useful. She sat down with my letter, teaching statement and my CV and showed me what someone reading it might be looking for and helped me get out of my own bellybutton and revise my materials to foreground what’s important. I was able to really talk about my particular field with her and, since she’s not directly in it, make my materials just that little bit more accessible and less anxious-sounding. The focus on liberal arts colleges was great and helpful, but mostly it was good to have someone from outside come in and talk about how to pitch myself to the market in general.