Happy holidays (+ a great gift for the doctors in your life)

Sabine Hikel — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:04:15 +0000

It is a fact that, although I am very proud of my PhD, there are certain times when I do and don’t reveal that this is a designation I carry. When I’m applying for jobs, for example, I do NOT put “Sabine Hikel, PhD” at the top of my resume. To me, that would be like putting, “Sabine Hikel, Ponce” way up there (I do, however, note my PhD on the second page, under “Education”). But when I want to get a meeting with someone, for example, and I think they’d be more likely to meet with me if they knew my credentials, I’ll pop a “Dr.” in front of my name in my email signature file. Another example: when I had to order new cheques after I defended my dissertation, I made a point of changing the way my name appeared on my cheques to read “Dr. Sabine Hikel.”

One instance when I never, ever, EVER make reference to my credential is when I fly. There is absolutely no way I ever want to be on a plane when a flight attendant approaches me with an urgent medical emergency, and I have to ask if the person needs a political scientist to tend to them. When I book travel, it’s “Ms.” all the way.

Thus, I was thrilled to find this t-shirt over at ThinkGeek, courtesy of Anna over at ABDPBT (herself a former-academic-turned-blogger).

Don’t you have a smartypants in your life for whom this would be perfect?

Regardless of what kind of holidays you celebrate (or the clever gifts you give and receive), I want to wish all of my readers a happy and healthy holiday season (and tomorrow, I’ll be posting about the early Christmas present I got this year). Remember, if any of you are going to the MLA this year, I’ll be at the Inside Higher Ed booth on the 28th and 29th, answering any questions you have about the post-academic life.

Happy holidays, everyone!

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Leaving Academia » t-shirt

Happy holidays (+ a great gift for the doctors in your life)