Learning to Let Go of Perfectionism in Grad School

I am a perfectionist by nature, but the professors have told us not to be that way in grad school. How do I shut it off? – Anonymous

Some of the content from this article was first published by Core Programs. It has been revised and updated.

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for writing in! I applaud your self-awareness to know that perfectionism is part of your nature and something that may keep you from putting your best foot forward in graduate school. Please know that you are not alone in struggling with perfectionism. The culture of academia tends to promote the notion that your work is always under the toughest scrutiny, leaving little room for error or work that may be rough around the edges.

Your professors are likely telling you to let go of perfectionism because that mindset is extremely difficult to sustain in graduate school. Let’s consider why that may be true. For some students, perfectionism may lead to staying up all night to finish a paper, which — especially when done repeatedly — may be detrimental to their emotional and physical health. Other students may set goals that are impossible to reach which may lead to procrastination, avoidance and feeling not good enough.

I encourage you to shift your thinking so you can acknowledge yourself as a whole person. Four thoughts below may give you ideas for how to approach your work differently:

Accept – Perfectionism reduces you to the sum of what you can and can’t accomplish. The reality is you can’t do it all, and you can’t do it all perfectly. Be concrete and intentional in your goal setting each quarter, so you can do work that is manageable and meaningful to you. Adjust your goals as you go so you know what is really possible to accomplish now, this weekend or this week.
Invite – Perfectionistic thinking distorts the way you perceive the quality of your work and can contribute to isolation. Instead of feeling like you have to buckle down and work harder, make time to ask peers, faculty advisors and colleagues to talk through your work with you and help you to clarify your ideas. Framing something as a “work-in-progress” can take some pressure off. Knowledge production is a process, not a product. Nobody just “gets there” from sheer self-determination.
Ground – Perfectionism can perpetuate obsessive thinking on school or work-related projects. Intentionally spend time with friends, family and community who know you are more than just a graduate or professional student. Your community can help remind you that you are a partner, sibling, parent, friend, artist, dancer, gamer, hiker… the list goes on and on.
Enough – Accepting “this is enough” means that you have done the best you could given the time, experience and resources available, and it is time to be done. It also means you are enough, just as you are. Remember that intellectual and professional development are constant processes that require supportive feedback, self-revision and personal growth over time; you won’t get there all at once, and that’s OK!

I hope this gives you some ideas of how to move forward. I also want to leave you with additional resources that some of your fellow grad students have found helpful:

The Battle Between Perfectionism and Productivity: A Ph.D. student gives some well-tested advice for figuring out why you are struggling with perfectionism and how to cope with it.

How to Overcome Perfectionism: This tool from an anxiety-awareness organization in Canada gives steps for recognizing and coping with perfectionism.

This’ll Do: Kelly Edwards, associate dean of Student and Postdoctoral Affairs in the Graduate School, explains her family’s saying “this’ll do” and why she has carried it into the workplace.

As well, if you are still feeling overwhelmed or simply want more specific strategies for coping with perfectionism, I encourage you to consider short-term counseling with the UW Counseling Center. Managing academic stress as well as moods and thoughts are all topics appropriate for short-term counseling, according to the Counseling Center.

All the best,

The Grad School Guide

Ask the Grad School Guide is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the guide doesn’t know the answer, the guide will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The guide is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.) Submit a question for the column →

5 Tips for Managing Your Time Wisely

Depending on your grad program, we know that you are busy with course work, teaching classes or writing your thesis or dissertation, while also fulfilling life and work responsibilities off campus. We see you and know how hard you are working! Below are time management strategies that we hope will be helpful as you work toward your goals in the coming weeks and months.

Review your time. It’s important to know exactly how you are spending your time, before coming up with a time management plan that works for you. Take note of what your usual distractions are: Facebook? Email? As you develop your schedule, create times where you can turn off those usual distractions. Save them for a break or reward at the end of a productivity session.

Schedule productivity. What times of the day or evening are you the most focused and ready to work, so you can study or write? Block out those times on your schedule, and do manageable chunks of work. For example, focus on reading or work on a paper non-stop for 25 minutes, then take a five minute break. This “Pomodoro” technique has been shown to help people make steady progress towards completing a project (hint: none of us can focus for four hour blocks!).

Set priorities. Time management doesn’t work if you have too much on your plate, so set priorities in order to have better control over your schedule: 1. Block out hard deadlines for things like final projects, conference presentations, funding or internship applications, etc. 2. Make incremental progress on long-term projects, while prioritizing other tasks with immediate deadlines. 3. Take stock; Are there some commitments you need to say “no” to, or “not right now”? It is OK to postpone certain activities or engagements — or even drop a class from a heavy course load — if the timing isn’t right for you.

Develop your system. After you have reviewed your time, identified the best times you are productive and set priorities, set up a calendar or task system that will work for you. Some students work well with online calendaring, while others prefer physical to-do lists. Some students usw both! The goal is to set something up that will help you use your time wisely each day and each week. Sometimes to-do lists can feel daunting, so choose two or three tasks you will accomplish each day, then enjoy the satisfaction of crossing them off your list once they are completed.

Fuel yourself. You are a whole person, not just a graduate student, so (let go of the guilt) and make space each week to spend quality time with friends and loved ones and to do your favorite re-fueling activities. Also, make getting enough sleep a priority as it will improve your focus, help you think creatively and ensure that you are your best self. Finally, when you complete a task (no matter how big or small), reward yourself by watching an episode of your favorite T.V. show, cooking yourself a nice meal, or having friends over for games night. Here are more examples of affordable ways to treat yourself.

Feel free to let us know what time management strategies work for you!

Best,

Core Programs—Office of Graduate Student Affairs
UW Graduate School

Start Fall Quarter Off On the Right Foot!

To all graduate students across the tri-campus University of Washington community, we extend a warm welcome and welcome back! There is a definite buzz in the air, as everyone plans for grad school experiences, tasks and projects that lie ahead or are already in progress. And while we know that there will be demands on your time — including many opportunities to cultivate your interpersonal, academic and professional growth — we hope the following tips help you make the most of your grad school experiences in the coming weeks and months.

Acknowledge imposter syndrome (but don’t stop there). If you’re feeling that you’re somehow not smart enough or don’t have what it takes to succeed in graduate school, you are not alone. Many grad students experience what’s called imposter syndrome — feelings and self-talk that makes us doubt our sense of belonging, our strengths and talents, and our capabilities. And we can experience imposter syndrome in different ways, based on our various identities and backgrounds. But you know what? These doubts are simply not true. You are good enough, and you do belong here. Approach being in grad school like it’s a marathon, not a sprint, with goals and milestones that you can achieve one step at a time. Check out these tips for coping with imposter syndrome.

Connect with community. Being a grad student can feel isolating at times, especially when you have so many demands on your schedule. Yet this feeling of isolation doesn’t have to be the norm. Whether you are new to the UW or returning to your campus, seek out opportunities to build intellectual and professional relationships with peers both within and outside your department. You are also a whole person — not just a student — so we encourage you to allow space in your schedule to foster relationships with community beyond the UW based on your social and cultural identities, hobbies, faith or spirituality, and values.

One opportunity to connect with peers is at the Graduate Student Resource Fair on Seattle campus, scheduled for Thursday, October 18 (3–6 p.m.) in the HUB Lyceum and organized by the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS). Save the date and attend this event to learn about campus resources available to you and network with peers from across disciplines! If you’re staying for the reception, bring your ID and Husky ID. This event is open to all UW graduate and professional students.

Build a mentoring team. Invest the time to seek out and build your mentor team who can advise, guide and cheer you on as you work towards your academic, professional and interpersonal goals. We recommend that you build yourself a mentor team, because while no one mentor can support you on all levels, a team can. As this UW Graduate School resource page states, “While mentors can be faculty members, they can be your peers, advanced graduate students; departmental staff; retired faculty; faculty from other departments, colleges or universities; and professionals outside the university.” Having a mentoring team can make the difference between surviving or thriving in grad school. Check out these UW guides on finding the best mentors for you.

Best wishes on a great start to fall quarter!

Sincerely,

Core Programs—Office of Graduate Student Affairs
The Graduate School

Phase three of the job search: Assessing the job search strategies

Debunking myths about tenure-track positions

This week, the School of Medicine hosted a two-day Future Faculty Fellows workshop under the leadership of Drs. Chet Moritz and Rosana Risques. The panels and workshops addressed all elements of a successful academic faculty application package, including how to negotiate your first position. For the 90+ postdocs present, one of the more confusing sessions was the “money panel” where we discussed all the different ways you can get paid to be a faculty member (regardless of title).

Dr. Kelly Edwards joined Drs. Moritz and Risques to describe the variety of arrangements they had each been through, from Acting Instructor, Acting Assistant Professor or Research Assistant Professor to Associate Professor with a 50% component with tenure, and full Professor “without tenure for reasons of funding.”

As you can tell, faculty positions come in a number of varieties, each with different characteristics and expectations. As shown below, the time spent at each early stage is limited. Acting appointments are optional, and are there to give you time and support needed to build publication and funding track records that will help you compete successfully for a permanent faculty position.

What’s tenure mean, anyway? It means the University is making a permanent commitment to you for your faculty position. However, it does not mean that there is guaranteed and permanent funding with that position. Each of our UW departments has different components to the salary — often referred to as “A plus B”. Part of the salary (anywhere from just 10% up to 50-60-75%) is covered by “hard” money from the department or University; for the additional “soft” money component, the faculty member is expected to cover it via grant dollars, additional teaching commitments, or clinical service.

In addition to tenure, each entry-level faculty appointment has different rights, responsibilities, and expectations. This is dependent upon your school and department, and by the Faculty Code. For example, some tenure-track Assistant Professors must provide their summer salary, usually from external grants. Similarly, some Research Assistant Professors are not awarded independent research space without external research funding. When you’re investigating a potential position, be sure to clarify the opportunities, expectations, policies and procedures for the given University and department.

Other myths we discussed included whether having a K-award or career award covering 75% of your salary was really the only way to start out as a funded junior faculty member. There are many other models, including being an active co-investigator with a diverse number of research projects and groups, even outside of your primary department. To be competitive for Assistant Professor positions, often “without tenure for reasons of funding” or even with tenure with expectations of a “B” or “soft money” component, the main thing is to show you are fundable and can compete with a variety of funding agencies. Having a diverse funding portfolio and a robust set of research collaborators can set you up for success, even in challenging economic times.

Confused? Come talk with us at the OPA and we’ll be happy to answer questions and sort through the questions to ask as you are evaluating different positions. Even as you are inquiring about job positions, it is important to explore what “tenure-track” means for that department or University. As you get into second visits and interviews, it can help to ask harder questions: what kind of start-up or initial period of support is available? What kind of support is there within the department or school for grants administration? What teaching opportunities or obligations are there with the type of position you have? What kinds of bridge funding are available, if needed? Remember, during the negotiation, the Chair is looking to recruit and support you at their institution. Ask for what you legitimately need, and work with the Chair to make the most complete package as you start your independent career.

Being Intentional and Productive This Summer

Summer is the perfect time to make room for activities and experiences that will help you be—and feel–prepared for the coming academic year! The pace can feel slower during this time of the year, and there’s a little more wiggle room to be intentional about visualizing and achieving your intellectual, professional, and interpersonal goals. Maybe you’re starting from scratch (or already have some initial goals) and just need a plan of action. Maybe you need some structured time and support to work on a writing project? Or maybe you’re interested in career development activities?

No matter where you’re at, below are some initial strategies that can help you create intentional space for productivity this summer!

Create a plan to meet your goals. As graduate students—and as whole people with complex lives—we know that completing your graduate degree is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to meeting your goals. And we know it takes time to reflect on the skills you already possess—and the academic, professional, and interpersonal competencies you’d like to develop in the future. Creating an Individual Development Plan (IDP) can help you map out realistic, achievable goals for your time in graduate school and beyond. Use your IDP as a roadmap for meeting with mentors and advisors. What’s great about an IDP is that you can adapt and revise as you see fit!

Make progress on your writing. Whether you are working on a thesis, dissertation, or an article for publication, set achievable and concrete writing goals for yourself this summer. In past Core Programs newsletters, we encouraged you to start out by setting aside 15 min. blocks of time to write each day. Then try working your way up to 30 min. chunks of time. You’ll eventually see that you’re making progress. Reach out to peers (they can be peers outside of your graduate program too) to schedule skype and/or in-person writing support group meetings.You can receive and share constructive feedback on writing projects and hold each other accountable to getting tasks done. Finally, here are great tips on how to move past feeling stuck in a writing rut from Dr. Kerry Anne Rockquemore, President of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity.

Get involved in professional development activities. There are many ways to brush up on your professional development this summer. 1) Update your CV or resume with skills and professional experiences you have gained from 2016-2017. 2) Identify conferences you’d like to present your work at for the coming year, and mark those proposal and registration deadlines on your calendar. 3) Set up informational interviews to network with professionals currently working in fields or companies you’re interested in working for. 4) Volunteer in your local community to gain skills and to give back. 4) Contact your UW career center at Bothell, Tacoma, or Seattle for guidance with your internship or job search. 5) Check out just a few of our Core Programs newsletter links below on professional development:

Research funding opportunities. Whether you are seeking travel funds to participate in an academic or professional conference or grants to fund your research, start by learning about the breadth of possible funding opportunities available to you. Because application deadlines and eligibility requirements vary widely—and can sneak up on you when you’re busy during the academic year—it’s always a good idea to plan in advance.

Funding Information Resources

If you’re in the beginning stages of searching for ways to fund your graduate education, connect with the Graduate Funding Information Service (GFIS). GFIS is available to all UW graduate students via e-mail, online chat, or in-person appointments.
Subscribe to the GFIS blog to receive the latest funding information alerts.
Seek out funding information for all UW graduate students.
Learn about funding opportunities for UW international graduate students.
If you’re interested in learning about fellowships administered by the UW Graduate School, contact the Office of Fellowships and Awards.
As always, check in with your Grad Program Advisor regarding a departmental application for the UW Graduate School’s student conference travel awards. All tri-campus graduate students are eligible, and the request comes to the Graduate School from your GPA or designated staff in your department.

We hope you find these strategies useful, and please let us know of tips that worked for you!

Best,

Core Programs Team
#UWGradSuccess

Identifying your career interests: Phase two of three in the job search

Note: This article is the second in a series of posts about job searching. You can find the first post, on self-assessing your application materials, here.

The academic year has flown by, and some grad students are graduating and approaching an exciting new phase in the working world: others are continuing their education and looking for summer work in-between. But what if you don’t have a job lined up, and are unsure of how to get started?

Lucky for you, the Guide attended a workshop detailing an approach to the job search, taught by Caitlin Goldbaum, career coach at the Career & Internship Center. The following is an outline of the strategies Caitlin recommends for a successful job search. It is being published in three parts, corresponding to the three phases of the job hunt: (1) self-assess; (2) identify the work you are looking for; (3) assess the three core strategies for job hunting.

This week we focus on phase two: identifying the work you are looking for. Feel free to email the Guide with any questions, or comment below about any self-assessment tools or strategies that have worked for you. Happy hunting, grad students!

Phase two: Identify the kind of work you are looking for to help narrow your selection criteria and tailor your application materials.

Try these steps:

Take stock of your top skills and strengths. These may or may not be related to your area of study.
Identify what you are interested in. Again, this could an area you study or something else.
Describe your ideal work environment — is it in an office or outdoors? People-focused or not people-focused?
What do you want your day-to-day activities to look like?
What is an industry you’re interested in?
>What persuasive essay you are able to consider and write?

Note: Check out blog posts on the Career Services website to help you identify industries you may be interested in and narrow it down.

A few things to keep in mind during this phase (and always):

You don’t need to know everything right now.
There are a lot of ways to find satisfaction in your career: teammates, day-to-day activities, the mission of a company — think about different ways you might find satisfaction in your career, where your priorities lie, and be open to new information and experiences.
Your first job is not the only job you’ll have; most people change jobs six–10 times in their career. But your first job may help you figure out what you want to do and what you don’t want to do.

Have a grasp on your interests and career skills? You’re ready for the third and final phase of the job application process: assessing the tools for job hunting.

Why Celebrate?

We know this time of year is intense. There are flyers, emails, and Facebook posts about all kinds of events. When you are buried in final deadlines, it can be hard to think about attending anything. If you haven’t done so already, below are a few reasons why you should consider going to a UW end of year event. It’s worth it on many levels. Plus, you deserve it!

Celebrate being present. Graduate school is more like a marathon with obstacle courses than a sprint. We can get so caught up in the stress of everything we need to get done, that we either forget — or don’t realize — that it is possible for each of us to slow down and decrease the pressure. Between classes or meetings, take slow, deep breaths. Arrive 15 minutes early to your next appointment to reduce feeling stressed out. And as Kyla Minguez recommends in The Importance of Slowing Down, “Rushing makes us stressed, causes us to overlook important details of our lives, and fuels egocentrism… Take some time to wait between tasks. Drink a glass of water, watch the sky… whatever you need to do, just relax.” And don’t underestimate the power of just showing up for someone; your presence can make a huge difference.

Celebrate milestones. This can apply to everyone — from those of you who are graduating in just a few weeks to those of who you are still working toward your degrees next year — recognize and reward yourself for each step you have taken toward completing your degree. No one else is going to do this except you. Completed your first year in your grad program? Take yourself out to dinner (and invite a peer or friend or two). Wrote one sentence, paragraph, or page of your doctoral dissertation? Go camping for the weekend, because we know the sheer amount of concentration and determination it takes to even write one sentence of your dissertation. Set up an informational interview with a professional whose job mirrors your career interests? Go ahead, put your phone on silent and stream your favorite TV show for several hours. However you decide to reward yourself, enjoy it!

Celebrate in community. From departmental to university-wide ceremonies, we encourage you to consider the positive aspects of attending end-of-year events. Why? 1) Being around people can help you feel less isolated and can get you out of your head. 2) Related to the first point, you’ll never know what potential friendships or professional connections you’ll make if you don’t go. 3) Depending on the event, stay for as little or as long as you want. 4) Last but not least, there’s a strong chance you’ll be able to enjoy free food and refreshments!

Again, we hope you take some time to participate in one of several end-of-year celebrations across our tri-campus communities at the University of Washington!

Best,

Core Programs Team
#UWGradSuccess

Self-assessment: Phase one of three in the job search

Lucky for you, Your Guide attended a workshop detailing an approach to the job search, taught by Caitlin Goldbaum, career coach at the Career & Internship Center. The following is an outline of the strategies Caitlin recommends for a successful job search. It is being published in three parts, corresponding to the three phases of the job hunt: (1) self-assess; (2) identify the work you are looking for; (3) assess the three core strategies for job hunting.

This week’s phase is self-assessment of your job search materials. Feel free to email your Guide with any questions, or comment below about any self-assessment tools or strategies that have worked for you. Happy hunting, grad students!

Phase One: Self-assess your job materials.

Consider each component of your application – resume, cover letter, LinkedIn, and possibly a portfolio – and ask yourself if you they are comprehensive, free of typos and formatting errors and updated for your next job search. Before you start the job search, you should:

Have a strong resume that can be tailored to any job

A resume will be necessary for any job application
Create a new resume for every job. Highlight your experiences that prepare you for this position
Pull out keywords from the job description and try to capture your experiences through the lens of those keywords.
Use a variety of action verbs to describe what you did in each experience. Include information about the task, the actions you took, and the result of your work.
If your resume isn’t ready, here are a couple good places to start:
- 15 minute drop-in appointments with the Career Center for resume (or cover letter!) consultation
- The Career Guide (written by the Career Center) includes templates to help you with layout of your resume. Pro-tip: Don’t download a template from online (they’re dated), create your own in Word.

Be confident that you can write a compelling cover letter

Most jobs require a cover letter. If it’s optional, do it.
The cover letter gives the employer a “more complete” story of who you are and what experiences have prepared you for the position .
A cover letter is a persuasive document. The first paragraph will include a thesis statement on why you are the best candidate for the position
The middle paragraph is where you tell a complete story about a past experience connected to the keywords in the job description.
The concluding paragraph is where you reiterate your interest, highlight why you are well qualified, and invite the employer to bring you in for an interview to discuss your qualifications further.
You’ll create a new cover letter for each job you apply for with different stories from your experience.
To answer on the question how to write my essay, just go and buy it, and you will save the time

Regularly utilize LinkedIn for networking

LinkedIn is not required, but is highly encouraged: many jobs and industries look for this.
Having a LinkedIn allows you to control your online presence.
It allows an employer to see the full trajectory of your career.

Have a portfolio that clearly showcases your best work, if-needed. Industries where you may need a portfolio are the arts, journalism, design, architecture, engineering.
Feel comfortable interviewing. Need to practice some interview questions? You can set up a mock interview with the Career Center!

Feeling confident in your job search materials? Move on to the second phase of the job application process — self-assessment of your interests and skills!

Ask Your Grad School Guide is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the Guide doesn’t know the answer, the Guide will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The Guide is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.) Submit a question for the column →

Making a strong first impression when applying for jobs

There are multiple components to a successful job application, including a resume or curriculum vitae (CV), letters of reference and a cover letter. All are important, but you just get one chance to make a strong first impression and convince the reviewers to give the rest of your application materials a look.

The cover letter is the first opportunity you have to convince the hiring manager or your future boss that you are a great fit for the job. Even if you use primarily the same CV or letters of reference for many applications, it is always well worth the time to tailor and target your cover letter each time.

Regardless of sector, and whether requested or not, the cover letter allows you to connect specifics from your experience to the position and organization. Here are some tips for writing a cover letter that will help you stand out from the applicant pool:

Highlight and expand on some of the details listed in your CV or resume, but do not merely repeat what is already detailed there. The cover letter, or statement of interest, is the chance for you to bring your resume to life for a reviewer.
Use specific examples to convince your future employer that you are the right person to do the job. Similar to letters of reference, don’t simply list your skills and traits. Give specific examples on how you used the desired skills to successfully solve a problem or move a project forward. A detailed description will provide great insight into you as a person and a future employee.
Read the job description and personalize your letter for the specific job posting. Most readers can readily tell when you’ve sent out cover letters in bulk, with little effort to address the hiring organization and skills required for a particular job. When compared to a well-researched letter, the candidate with the non-specific letter will surely not be invited for an interview.
Your letter should include the skills and competencies outlined in the job posting. Many companies use computers to perform the first screen during the evaluation process. If your letter is not responsive to the job posting, then your application might be discarded prior to the start of the real evaluation.
Be concise. Hiring managers don’t have time to read long letters, especially when a single job posting receives hundreds of inquires. While providing enough specific details to stimulate excitement for your application and a more careful review, be sure to keep you letter to two pages (or one). The goal of a letter is to get invited for an interview, and there you’ll have the opportunity to expand at length!

As you start to think about your future job search, we encourage you to attend the Future Faculty Fellows workshop that takes place in June each year or check out the online guides provided by the Career & Internship Center. You can always reach out to us at the OPA with questions, or make an appointment to go through draft materials with you.