Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Kramnick on Kelsky (and her ilk): "a war profiteer of the collapsing job market"

Great line from philosophically-minded English professor Jonathan Kramnick (Yale) on Karen Kelsky, whom we noted the other day:

Jonathan Kramnick, a tenured professor who has led job-placement efforts for three English departments over almost 20 years, calls her "a war profiteer of the collapsing job market."

"Her client base is anxious and captive," says Kramnick, who now teaches English at Yale. "No one can offer all-purpose advice across all disciplines."

"The Professor is in," aka, Karen Kelsky

People occasionally ask whether her services are worth it.  I'm skeptical based on what I've heard (and even putting aside that she's a nut).   You can see some reactions from her paying clients recounted here.  A few excerpts from different individuals:

(1) I paid $150 for cover letter editing. She offered to read and comment on up to 4 drafts of cover letter with that money . I think the first and second drafts are helpful but the third and fourth aren't. I felt like she was editing after the second draft just to fulfill the contractual responsibility and to make me feel my money was well spent. I agree with hanginthere that reading her blog or her recent book will suffice. BTW, she made all of her new clients after Aug 2015 to buy a copy of her new book. And she is not at all nice.

(2) I have [used her service], it cost me $400… and I regret I did.  She is extremely condescending and almost rude in her correspondence, her cuttings prove that she does not read, she changes the meaning of your statements, she pays no attention. Her advice consists in making you buy her book.  It feels like a scam.

(3) I used her this year for my cover letter and research statement. It's a waste of money, and I really wish I hadn't done it. She doesn't personalize her advice, and you can tell that she cuts and pastes most of her feedback because it's so generic....

Karen Kelsky, aka "The Professor is in," is a nut

Engaging with Kelsky pretty clearly violates Shaw’s dictum “never wrestle with a pig” but there needs to be a brief public record of her outrageous misconduct if only for the benefit of people who might be thinking of paying her for "professional" (!) advice.

Kelsky found an obscure blog post on-line vilifying me for things that didn’t happen (what else is new?). Kelsky put a link up on her Facebook page (with 60K followers), along with a call for "philosophers to start making my professional life intolerable" and asking "What can I do here to encourage this?"  Put aside that this threat and incitement was predicated on no actual information:   no normal professional person posts this kind of threat and incitement even if they disapprove of the other person's actual conduct .   This is crazy behavior.

I probably would never have known about this except philosopher Christopher Pynes (Western Illinois) heard about it from a colleague who follows Kelsky, and texted me.  I forwarded her threat and incitement to my lawyer, who contacted her, and she, prudently, removed it (of course, she then threw another tantrum and even called me a "baby" [!]).