WHERE SMART PEOPLE READ | EARLY CAREER ADVICE 🍀 PERSONAL FINANCE
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How to write a journal publication: FREE LaTeX template!
In this post, I share a LaTeX template for a journal publication. The template is from a paper I wrote as the corresponding author for the journal Nuclear Instruments and Methods. The LaTeX template I share here should hopefully make the process of typesetting your paper easier and faster. I wrote this paper…
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How you could become a consultant after graduate school
I recently transitioned from academia to industry. I was a Ph.D. student in particle astrophysics and now I am a senior consultant. I am really enjoying being in industry and would like to address this question that I have been asked by Ph.D. students and postdocs: What skills do I need to become a consultant?…
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Dear workaholic, this is why work life balance is important
Dear workaholic, this post is for you. I have timed it with the month of October – the month of Librans. The zodiac sign Libra is all about balance (I think) Balance. Balance is hard for a workaholic. People say “workaholic” like it’s a good thing. Maybe, to some extent. As a workaholic, I…
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Getting into graduate school and dealing with rejection
Applying to graduate schools is an exercise in several things: paying tons of application fees, playing the waiting game, and dealing with rejection. For who knows what reason, schools will reject you but the great thing is you only need to get into one! I share the story of my grad school applications in this…
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Why doing a PhD required me to think like a business owner
Every Ph.D. candidate thinks about quitting, however, thinking like a business owner rather than a student is a strategy that can help to actually complete the program. If you are thinking of quitting, you are not alone. It’s OK. What helped me finish mine was to act like a business owner. Many Ph.D. candidates leave…
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Welcome to How to PhD, new readers!
Welcome to How to PhD! I am so excited to see you here! In this post, I will quickly go over the How to PhD website so you know what is available to you. Plus, I will catch you up on the content that has been posted already! If this is your first time on…
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How to add value when sending a LinkedIn connection request
Having the mindset to add value when sending a LinkedIn connection request will make you lots of friends. Need a job? You have probably heard that it’s all about who you know. So, let’s make you more friends on LinkedIn! The first step of networking is to switch out of “I need a job” mode…
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What is particle astrophysics?
Particle astrophysics is the probing of events or objects in the sky with the help of particles other than light such as cosmic rays and neutrinos. When it comes to traveling the largest cosmic distances at the highest energies, light is not the most reliable messenger of astrophysics. We live in a boring part of…
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Why adding value is the best thing to do during your job search
Everyone who is anyone will tell you to add value first when job searching and networking. The idea is that you reach out to people and instead of asking them to do things for you, you add value to their lives. This is in Colorado! I 💜 mountains When networking or job searching, expecting that…
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Story of a terrible phone screen and the mistake on a cover letter that you cannot afford
I share the cover letter I wrote for a job where I got the phone screen, had a terrible experience, and did not get the job. Although not directly related to the terrible experience, I point out the mistake in my cover letter that I have since learned to avoid at all costs. Let me…
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How to survive criticism and use it to your advantage
Learning to not take criticism personally is one of the most liberating and productive things you can do for yourself and your career. In graduate school, I learned how to take criticism for what it is and it really helped me to succeed. Photo by Anthony Ginsbrook on Unsplash By the time I was in my third year…
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How to create a research poster: FREE pptx poster template!
If you have to put together a research poster presentation and haven’t done one yet, it is way easier to start from a template. In this post, I share a research poster presentation template using PowerPoint. Photo by Jean-Philippe Delberghe on Unsplash I love poster presentations. You can get a lot of traffic and have more time…
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What’s a good school for astrophysics?
What’s a good school for astrophysics? I get this question from prospective college students. I did my Ph.D. in particle astrophysics at Ohio State University and went to college at North Carolina State University. During my college years, I worked on three research projects. These were in the fields of analytical chemistry and neuroscience, nonlinear…
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How to write a research statement for a postdoc fellowship
In this post, I share the research statement I wrote to become a finalist in a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship competition called the Owen Chamberlain Postdoctoral Fellowship at Berkeley Lab. At the time of the application, I did not have any main-author papers published yet but some in the pipeline. If you are wondering what do…
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FREE LaTeX template for figures, tables, and equations!
In this post, I provide LaTeX templates for figures, tables, and equations by sharing content from a few chapters of my Ph.D. thesis. I hope this helps you to write your thesis! Template for a figure, group of figures, figures using subfloat, tables, and equations are provided below! To use LaTeX to typeset your thesis,…
