When Oregon State alum Thomas Dieter graduated in 2011 with an MA in Rhetoric and Writing, he knew right away that we wanted to move to a city. Here’s a bit about his daily life, teaching in a developmental education program at the City University of New York.
by Sean Crouch (MFA in Fiction, ’14)
As soon-to-be graduates shift their focus from thesis defense to career plans, they face a tough job market and dwindling tenure-track teaching positions. Two recent graduates, Jackie Luskey and Andrea Ardans, offer their thoughts and advice on life after Oregon State.
When it comes to job hunting, both grads advocate networking. Ardans advises, “Don’t hesitate to ask professors for help with your CV and cover letter before you graduate.” While initially skeptical of LinkedIn, Luskey found the online community a great tool for fine-tuning her CV and cover letter following graduation. “From ‘Publisher’s Lunch’ to ‘Social Media Today,’ I was well-read on topics that coincided with potential jobs.” Additionally, Ardans found success with the website higheredjobs.com and the job listings at the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Though it may seem that a master’s degree in English doesn’t directly translate to relatable job skills, Luskey found the versatility of her OSU experience to be an advantage. “Teaching and learning for the past two years is an asset, not a set back,” she says. “Don’t be deterred from applying for a job you are excited about just because the past two years in graduate school don’t exactly match a job description.”
And, as Luskey suggests, don’t be afraid to experiment. “There’s value in being able to demonstrate personality and humanity in application materials.” Ardans, too, commented on the importance of finding a way to stand out in a job pool with so many applicants.
For both graduates, the obvious may still be the most useful advice of all: be realistic, but patience and positive thinking go a long way.
Andrea Ardans (MFA in Fiction, ’12) teaches writing and English at Linn-Benton Community College. Jackie Luskey (MFA in Fiction, ’12) is a Communications Specialist with NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation.
A new page on the blog will be a place to share alumni photos (link in the black bar above). A few shots from CCCC last month will get us started; send any photos you’d like to share to Elizabeth.Delf@oregonstate.edu.
Oregon State alumni: whether you were an MA or an MFA, welcome. Maybe you were (or are!) a rhet/comp person, a fiction writer, a lit and culture critic, or a poet – and this year, the MFA program officially adds creative non-fiction writer to the list of possibilities. Whatever your focus was as OSU, we’d like to keep in touch.
Our goal is to develop a strong professional network beyond grad school: to build a post-grad community, to highlight the lives and careers of our alumni, to start a national conversation about where we’re at and what we do. We’d like to connect our current grad students with those who have spread out into the world, and connect alumni with one another.
And so, a blog is born. We’ll use these pages to share stories, teaching ideas, updates, job opportunities, photos, and connections. Other ideas? Let us know what you’d like to see; we want to make this space work for you.
Glad you’re on board!
Audrey Perkins (MA ’95) studied rhetoric and composition at OSU, and now teaches full time at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon. Audrey remembers Mina Shaughnessy’s book Errors and Expectations as particularly formative in her current outlook and pedagogy. Which articles or classes have stuck with you through the years?
