By Cassie Ferguson

Gazette Staff

When graduate students looking for academic career advice walk into Margaret Newhouse's office, she tells them, "Make sure you have a passion for the subject. Be strategic. And find a mentor who'll be involved in your work and professional development."

"Most people who have a good mentor probably don't need to see me for the academic career search," said Newhouse, assistant director of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' Office of Career Services.

For those who do need the extra career guidance, however, Newhouse provides invaluable advice based on eight-and-a-half years of counseling candidates for doctorates and master's degrees at Harvard as well as her own academic experience. Over the years, she has guided hundreds of students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences through the process of searching for jobs -- both academic and nonacademic.

In that time, she has gathered more than enough material to fill a new book, Cracking the Academia Nut: A Guide to Preparing for Your Academic Career, a resource for graduate students aiming to break into the academic job market.

"I want to let graduate students know that they're not alone, and to help them maximize their graduate studies to position themselves strongly on the market," she said.

Newhouse had originally planned a light revision of two earlier books published by the Office of Career Services in 1989. However, based on her counseling experience as well as the changing market, she wound up with a substantially new book. (A related book, Scholarly Pursuits, was published in 1980 by Cynthia Verba, director of fellowships at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and has since been updated.)

Newhouse spent a year and a half putting together her book for those pursuing academic careers in a sometimes difficult -- but certainly not desolate -- job market.

"Gone are those nearly mythical days when graduate students could ignore professional development until just before their job search and still expect plum tenure-track positions to fall into their laps," she writes.

The guide targets students at all stages of the process who are preparing for graduate school, as well as those who are negotiating for or beginning their first academic jobs.

For early graduate students and those just beyond their general exams, Newhouse stresses the importance of networking, gaining teaching experience, and thinking strategically about dissertation topics.

For students already applying for positions, she suggests preparing thoroughly and practicing for interviews and aiming for a win-win situation in job negotiation.

"When some applicants come into my office, we talk about who they are and what they want to do," Newhouse explained. Some people, she said, need more reassurance and emotional support than technical help.

"Sometimes people get frustrated and need help dealing with rejections," said Newhouse.

Students who procrastinate also find support from Newhouse, who is ready to help with everything from brainstorming options and strategies to critiquing cover letters.

"We also try to figure out fallback positions in case things don't work out," she said. "I try to help students keep their options open."