We at Philosophy News recently have had the pleasure of being introduced to and getting to know Dr. Paula Chambers, Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, Founder of WRK4US (1999) and The Versatile PhD (2010). Her website, The Versatile PhD has a wealth of information for those pursuing graduate work in a variety of disciplines and is worth checking out if you’re in academia as a student or professor, you’re advising those working towards a graduate degree, or if you’re consider graduate work. Dr. Chambers describes her mission this way:

The Versatile PhD is a web-based, woman-owned, socially positive business that helps universities provide graduate students with non-academic professional development. Our mission is to help graduate students identify, prepare for, and excel in possible non-academic careers.

We want graduate students to be informed about academic employment realities, educated about their non-academic career options, and supported in preparing for a wide range of careers, so that in the end, they have choices. The key concept here is versatility: the ability to apply skills, abilities and interests in a wide variety of positions and fields.

In our brief interaction with Dr. Chambers we’ve found her to be the real thing. She’s caring, tenacious about helping those who need it, and aggressive about accuracy in her data and attention to detail. While we’re just getting to know the site and its manager, we think this resource can be extremely valuable to anyone involved in higher education. We’ve also found a kindred spirit. Our Placement Reports are designed to help prospective students better prepare for graduate school and the job market and Dr. Chamber’s work aligns perfectly with this goal.

Check out the site at The Versatile PhD. Learn more about Paula and her team here.