In December 2011, I decided to leave a PhD program 1.5 years in. And for the longest time, I wished I could take some white-out and erase the entire experience from my history.

I dreaded job interviews for years afterwards…

Interviewer: “Tell me how you came to get an M.S. in Marketing?”

(because you typically don’t see people get an M.S. in Marketing)

Me: “Um...I was in a doctoral program but I ended up leaving with a Masters.”

Which would then lead to the even more uncomfortable question:

“So why did you decide to leave your doctoral program?”

And I’d be fumbling for an answer that didn’t make me sound like a failure or someone who didn’t know what she was doing with her life.

If you have an academic experience or a job in your past that didn’t work out or wasn’t the right fit for you and you struggle to answer questions about it, check out my Facebook Live from a couple weeks ago that addresses this topic.

The gist of the live is that I provide 2 questions you can ask yourself to stop beating yourself up and start reframing the experience for yourself and future employers:

What is the one thing I learned from the experience that I can apply to my next one?
What is one reason it wasn't the right path or experience for me?

If you’re up for sharing your responses once you’ve had a chance to sit and reflect, I’d love to hear!

Cheers,

Vidya