HWW Alumni Board Spotlight: John Moore
Meet John Moore, Communications Specialist in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
As a current member of HWW's alumni board, John consults with the HWW PI and staff on future workshop designs and other programming. John attended HWW's Career Diversity Summer Workshop in 2016.
Describe Humanities Without Walls in 1-2 sentences.
HWW is a fantastic community where it’s okay to admit that you don’t want to move wherever that tenure track job takes you. It’s an opportunity to reimagine your skills beyond the classroom in a very empowering way.
What is one thing you learned at the HWW workshop that impacted your life?
Often it’s the skills that you develop in order to complete a dissertation (and not the dissertation itself) that are the most valuable on the job market. As graduate students we are taught to think that our original research contributions are the most important things we bring to the table, but outside of academia teams need people who know how to do things.
I had to learn to teach first-year composition as part of my funding package. Being able to help others translate complex ideas into words has been a fundamental part of every job I’ve had since.
What advice do you have for workshop participants?
Do as many informational interviews as you can, and always ask the person your interviewing to recommend more people for you to meet. I learned so much in those conversations, and they really demystified the job search process.
What was the most memorable part of the HWW workshop?
Definitely the site visits! We learned a lot about different work cultures, work/life balance, and a wide range of careers I wouldn’t have thought of without those visits.