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Calling all postdocs represented by PSAC at 杏吧原创! This upcoming event aims to showcase and recognize outstanding research achievements by Postdoctoral Fellows represented by PSAC, Local 77000 at 杏吧原创 University.

. The deadline to apply is September 29.

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Virtual Winter Career Fair

Wednesday, January 25, 10am-4pm

All 杏吧原创 students and alumni are invited to attend the Virtual Winter Career Fair on Wednesday, January 25! The Career Fair will give you the opportunity to:

• Chat with recruiters and professionals. Meetings will take place as speed-networking-style conversations (about 10 minutes). This is done primarily through text chat, though some employers may use audio or video calls.
• Explore full-time, part-time, summer, and co-op opportunities and browse current job openings. View the list of attending employers alphabetically聽or by degree. New employers will continue to be added in the lead up to the fair.
• Discover a range of organizations to see if you would be a good match.
• Optimize your time by learning about multiple employers in one virtual space.

If you have questions, or require accommodations for a disability, please email Career Services at career@carleton.ca.

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Navigating the Path to Industry

A Hiring Manager’s Advice for Academics Looking for a Job in Industry

By M. R. Nelson

Annorlunda Books, 2014

Navigating the Path to Industry is a short book that aims to demystify the basic steps academics and graduate students in the sciences need to take when conducting their first job search in industry. The book鈥檚 intended reader is someone who is well versed in academia鈥檚 standards but lacks the exposure to the standards that operate in industry.

Throughout, the focus is on securing a first position, and not necessarily one to which the reader might aspire. In the midst of a career transition, the logic goes, it is prudent to target a position that may not represent everything one hopes to achieve in industry, but where one can stay for a couple of years while acquiring the experience needed to thrive in future roles.

Nelson, whose background is in biomedical science and information technology, clarifies her book鈥檚 objective by stating early on that her intention is to provide a framework for conducting the job search, not offer a holistic treatment of the intricacies involved in career transitions. 鈥淵ou will need to fill in the details for yourself,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ased on your own particular skills and goals.鈥� She adds that Navigating the Path to Industry does not replace full-fledged books on career transition. Instead, it serves as a starting point.

Overall, three pieces of advice stand out:

First, the biggest mistake you could make is to wait 鈥渦ntil you need a job to start the process of looking for one.鈥� Even in the best of circumstances, finding a position in industry is a time-consuming process that could take several months鈥攅ven up to a year. The process involves research, self-inventory, and networking, all of which require a great deal of time and reflection. Failing to do this work beforehand would almost certainly sabotage your chances of making a smooth transition from academia to industry.

Second, it is crucial to learn the professional version of your academic field. Research how your specific academic expertise is applied in industry. Why do industry practitioners apply the expertise differently? Is it because they value reliability more than innovation? Try to find out the 鈥渉ow鈥� and 鈥渨hy鈥� while resisting the temptation to dismiss the different methodologies deployed in industry as deficient, because there is often a perfectly logical reason for that difference.

Third, put a considerable amount of energy into preparing to network. Before you even start networking, prepare a compelling but brief summary of your research鈥攐ne that is intended to start a productive conversation, not answer all possible questions about your research and expertise. Most importantly, never network 鈥渢o get a job.鈥� Rather, network to learn about the available options and 鈥渢o plant seeds鈥� that will bear fruit in the future.

Written in condensed, conversational style, Navigating the Path to Industry offers practical advice along the lines of the ones mentioned above, all without requiring a substantial time commitment on the part of its reader.

For more book reviews, visit our Bookshelf.

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ComSciCon is a series of workshops focused on enhancing communication skills and fostering an inclusive community that can effectively communicate scientific information to academic and non-academic audiences. Created in 2013 by graduate students at Harvard University and MIT, over 2000 graduate students have now benefited from learning the skills needed to communicate complex concepts within science, engineering and other technical fields to reach broader and more diverse audiences. ComSciCon has now come to Canada to empower the next generation of leaders in STEM fields across the country.

This year, ComSciCon Canada will be holding a National Workshop () in a hybrid format from August 12th-14th, 2022. The conference is completely free of charge for selected attendees (travel [full or partial], lodging, and food will be provided).

The application deadline is April 18, 2022 and the application form is available here: 

 For more information, please refer to the National Workshop website () or contact us directly at our email address

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How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble

A Practical Guide

By Inger Mewburn, Katherine Firth, and Shaun Lehmann

Open University Press, 2019

Graduate students seeking advice on academic writing have access to a growing list of books that guide them through the process of becoming strong academic writers. Unlike many such guidebooks, which tend lay out the process from start to end, How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble: A Practical Guide follows a different approach: the authors organize their addition to the genre around the typical feedback graduate students receive, before providing techniques and suggestions as to how to fix these common issues. According to the authors, this is not a 鈥渉ow to鈥� manual but a recipe book whose chapters address common, frustratingly vague feedback such as 鈥淵our Writing Doesn鈥檛 Sound Very Academic,鈥� 鈥淲here鈥檚 Your Evidence for This?鈥� and 鈥淵our Writing Doesn鈥檛 Flow.鈥�

Though presented as 鈥渁 practical guide,鈥� the book鈥檚 most refreshing feature lies in the authors鈥� capacity to provide both practical, concrete advice as well as a high-level treatment that helps the reader appreciate the historical and linguistic roots of the feedback they receive. By doing so, they help readers understand their writing troubles at the conceptual level before offering them concrete suggestions as to how those troubles might be remedied.

For instance, the authors explain the reason non-native speakers of English tend to receive feedback related to the vagueness of their prose. Through a discussion of high-context vs. low-context languages, the authors explain that English, unlike many other languages, is a low-context language that requires writers to take into account that 鈥渢he recipient of the communication is not expected to work hard to understand what they are hearing or reading.鈥� In other words, 鈥渋f you are told your writing is vague, you are [possibly] writing in a higher-context mode than the reader.鈥� Having provided a conceptual explanation of this issue, the authors then go through a list of practical techniques that allow writers to write in a clear, crisp, and structured manner.

Another noteworthy example of this feature is the discussion on how the Norman Conquest of England created a a cultural and linguistic split between Latinate and Germanic words: words of Latinate origin became associated with learned discourse, whereas those of Germanic origin became associated with everyday language. Thus, if an aspiring academic writer is told their writing 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 sound very academic鈥� or that it is 鈥渃hatty or conversational,鈥� one technique the writer could use involves changing Germanic words with Latinate ones: large instead of big, advantageous instead of good, consider instead of think about. You don鈥檛 give participants forms to fill in; you provide them with forms to 肠辞尘辫濒别迟别鈥�a simple fix to what might seem as an intractable problem. The authors are careful to caution against overusing this technique so as not to sound stilted or pompous. They also caution against dealing with issues related to tone through making one鈥檚 writing unnecessarily complex鈥攁 common response to this type of critique.

The authors of How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble鈥擨nger Mewburn, Katherine Firth, and Shaun Lehmann鈥攈ave direct experience helping graduate students make the transition from competent academic writers to good academic writers. If you decide to pick up this book, you will have access to their three decades of cumulative experience helping junior academic writers become better at what they do.

For more book reviews, visit our Bookshelf.

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The Psychology Wellness Centre is a virtual centre staffed by 杏吧原创 University psychology graduate students who are trained peer wellness coaches. If you looking for non-urgent assistance with goal-setting, time-management, support to improve wellness goals, and information on other available wellness services at 杏吧原创 please complete the request form to meet with a peer wellness coach, /mental-health/resources/the-psychology-wellness-centre/

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This year, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs is running two separate communications contests for graduate students: the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) contest and the GRADflix contest.

Find out more here!

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From October 18 to October 21, 2021, the Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network is hosting the annual Canadian Career Symposium for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows, which is aimed at professional development and career exploration.

Because 杏吧原创 University is one of the sponsoring institutions, all 杏吧原创 graduate students and postdocs are welcome to attend!

Registration will open on October 1 at 

All sessions will be in English.

This symposium includes a keynote address by , owner of the Influence LLC leadership academy, and presentations by GPDN members and invited experts on topics including career self-assessments, labour market research, informational interviews, networking, and research impact. In addition to these sessions, the symposium will host career panels featuring speakers with advanced degrees discussing their experiences in government, consulting, and alternative teaching professions.

. A  will be available closer to the event.

Because this symposium is taking place outside of 杏吧原创, time spent at these sessions does not count toward pedagogical training hours for TAs, but we strongly encourage you to attend!

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