Hacking Grad School

a studyblr for an I-O Psychology PhD student

[hackinggradschool]

Check the poster title behind me :)

[hackinggradschool]

Starting to be able to reproduce my mind maps of connected theories

[hackinggradschool]

Comps prep

[hackinggradschool]

81 days till comps

[hackinggradschool]

Being productive with social psychology— connecting theories and simplifying content

[hackinggradschool]

92 days... finished reviewing the lit on happiness, engagement, and affect. Feeling burntout and flat. -_-

[hackinggradschool]

93 days till comps

[hackinggradschool]

100 days of productivity log: comps countdown . Been working on my notes for stats; promising myself I’ll finish today.

[hackinggradschool]

Other people hang up pictures of their family... I don’t have loved ones, just models of psychological concepts

[hackinggradschool]

Flashcards accountability

[hackinggradschool]

Comps season has begun. Let the flash cards begin!

[hackinggradschool]

Being in school has definitely aggravated life-long issues of depression for me, and I finally decided to go to therapy. I was lucky to find someone who takes state insurance.

He asked a really interesting question: given that I have a hard time building habits and finishing projects, could it be that I’m engaging in self-sabotage? I always just thought of it as a lack of self-discipline, but not I’m not sure. It might be both.

[hackinggradschool]

Sometimes you just need some puppy love

[hackinggradschool]

Overloaded this week and had a melt down before TA-ing s midterm review session. Spent the weekend eating healthy, playing with puppies, and doing arts & crafts. Don’t forget to take care of yourself!

[ambienne]

Dear internet,

Please give me all the advice you have on writing cover letters. Like, the closer you can get to literally just writing a cover letter for me, the better. Ok bye.

[emilysidhe]

This is how I did the one for my librarian position.  I hope it helps.

Dear Person Hiring for this Job,

I am writing to ask you to consider me for X position.  This is a paragraph about why I want to do X position in general.  It includes at least one personal detail and at least one job skill I consider a particular strength.  It argues that I am passionate about this career.  It is not long.

I have had the opportunity to gain experience in this job by - paragraph about my work or study experience.  It should go from most recent experience back.  Include some details about your responsibilities/achievements in your most recent or most important positions.  If you have mostly study experience, give more detail about what exactly you studied.  If you shadowed people, mention that.  If your work experience is largely unrelated, try to shoehorn some of it in (e.g. I gained experience working with people by).  You can supplement with relevant hobbies.  (But if you do have recent, relevant work experience, you should largely be detailing that.  Only embroider the other stuff if you need to flesh it out.)  This should be the longest paragraph.

I hope you will consider allowing me to do X thing at your company.  This is a few sentences about why I want to work at your company in particular and what I think I could bring.  Try to mention at least one detail from the company website, so they know you visited it.  This is a short paragraph that parallels the first one.

Thank you very much for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Person You Would Be a Fool Not to At Least Interview

[walkingoutintherain]

oh my god thank you this is relevant to current interests

[magpieandwhale]

Two other points, to challenge what’s being said above a little:

1) Remember that the person reading this cover letter wants to know how you can contribute to the company. Not how excited you are about the position: it’s all about what they gain. Try framing the whole thing in that sense — “You would gain my X awesome skill that would help you Y with your mission.” “Here’s why I’m awesome and a great fit for making your company go better.”

2) At the end, ask for the interview. “I am available at PHONE NUMBER at your convenience. I look forward to speaking with you about this great opportunity soon.” Maybe even say you’ll be following up at a specific time and date. Ask for the job. People respond to that, and it’s a good way to fake confidence until you make it. Ask for the job.

Okay, three points. People reading cover letters get SO BORED going through them. Think about starting off with a story that relates to why you’re interested in the job, or that demonstrates a skill or a strong interest that would make you a good candidate. Be memorable — people remember stories, even (maybe especially) very little ones.

[walkingoutintherain]

*hoards advice*

[wishuponastardis]

Special skills: extensive Harry Potter knowledge, can watch an entire TV show in a week, knows words to every Disney song, can form abnormally strong attachments to fictional characters, Microsoft Word

[writerlyn]

So you mean, able to retain knowledge, has incredible focus and drive, excellent at processing media, remembers obscure details when needed, and has great skill at creating connections with individuals despite minimal interfacing?

And Microsoft Word?

[hackinggradschool]

Resume magic

[hackinggradschool]

Halfway there!