Meng Li received her PhD in English, May 26’. She is currently working as a Rhetoric and Composition Faculty at Kirkwood Community College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Meng responded to the questions we had about her career journey and what resources and programs she benefitted most at Binghamton University as a Graduate Student.
QUESTION: Can you give us a brief timeline on where you started in your career journey and what steps you took to gain more clarity on your career goals?
I attended the PhD career workshop held by the Fleishman Center during the Spring 2024 semester. Right after, I started working with Ozzy one on one to prepare all the documents (CV, cover letter, teaching statements etc.) during the Summer of 2024, which was immensely helpful for me to gain clarity on my career goals as an academic. I discovered I was more interested in teaching rather than research and applied for many teaching-centered positions in the Fall 2024 semester. I did interviews the following spring to gain experience. I also scheduled mock interviews with Ozzy, which was the most helpful! Some questions Ozzy asked me actually appeared during the real interviews!
QUESTION: What resources at Binghamton stand out to you for motivating your engagement and career development?
Workshops geared towards PhD students and one on one appointment availability, as well as meetings with the financial specialist Michael Wan to discuss salary negotiations was very helpful.
QUESTION: What are your future plans?
I will be teaching at a community college next Fall. I want to keep an active research agenda, have a good work life balance, and actually relax and enjoy life more after this long journey of searching for jobs.
QUESTION: What is your best advice for new Graduate Students?
Go to the Fleishman Career Center’s workshops; work with the amazing career advisors one on one; talk with colleagues and professors; and don’t give up—resilience is the key—in today’s job market. Relax when you can. Spend time with friends and family. You got this!
