Linguistics Careercast

“The buzz in LLMs now is all about training data” Andy Edmonds has an MS in Human Factors, Applied Psychology from Clemson University. He started his working career as a webmaster in 1995 and has since developed a huge breadth of expertise in UX, e-commerce, web analytics, online experimentation, data science, information retrieval, and software development methods at tech companies including Micr...

“I love the process of directing voice actors – and I never would have found out about it without the internet” Colette Feehan is an audiobook director with a PhD in linguistics who specializes in multi-language books, books with technical jargon, and multi-book series that require maintaining a strong pronunciation database. Colette’s doctoral research focused on the intersection of articulatory...

Linguists at Work! This is a special mini-podcast of the Linguistics Careercast called Linguists at Work. It’s a series of 5-minute interviews with career linguists, conducted by grad students in the Georgetown Linguistics program, in which they ask the question: “What’s your job and how did you get it?” Every interview focuses on a job that a linguist not only can do, but adds value to based on t...

“In tech, I feel like I’m giving a sociolinguistics 101 course once a month” This episode is a recording of a special live episode of the Linguistics Careercast podcast. Our panel of linguists discusses how artificial intelligence (especially Gen AI) is impacting linguistics as a field. We’ll cover topics like AI bias, challenges in training data curation, and implications of GenAI on online langu...

“Conversation designer jobs are inherently collaborative” Jyoti Iyer earned her PhD in linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Since then she’s made the journey from theoretical linguistics to expertise in customer-facing language experiences.  She is currently employed as a conversation designer, working at the interface between customer-focused experience design and enterprise...

This episode is titled “Jobs in Tech for Qualitative Researchers and Social Scientists”. Our moderator, Alfonso Sánchez-Moya, guides a discussion with panelists Lex Konnelly and Jyoti Iyer on how backgrounds in linguistics and social sciences can shape innovation and drive meaningful change in tech companies. In this session, you’ll learn how to utilize skills and expertise in analysis, critical t...

This episode is titled “Re-Finding Your Career Path”. Our three panelists, Nancy Frishberg, Emily Pace, and Laurel Sutton share stories of their careers and the decision points that led them to their current situations. This panel emphasizes the importance of always considering your next steps and career goals as you encounter unpredictability and many unknowns throughout your life. You’ll hear ca...

This episode is titled “The New Role of Faculty – Advising Linguistics Students”. Did you know that a draft-eligible baseball player has better odds of playing Major League Baseball than a new linguistics PhD has of getting a tenure-line job? In this session, panelists Alex Johnston and Sue Steele review the real data on academic employment outcomes, and the other opportunities (beyond academia) t...

This episode is titled “Salary and Benefits: Negotiate Like a Pro”. The presenter is Alex Johnston, who is Director, Master’s Programs & Career Management in the Georgetown University Dept. of Linguistics. In this presentation, you will learn how to prepare for the negotiation stage and the proper etiquette to request what you need, as well as how to respond to tricky questions from employers rega...

“The pairing of linguistics and law makes a lot of sense” Marta Baffy is a lawyer and linguist who has over a decade of English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching experience both in the United States and abroad. She received her Ph. D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University and her JD from the Cardozo School of Law. Her research focuses on the discourse processes underlying law students’ socia...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “Leveraging LinkedIn: Creating your Profile and Using LinkedIn as a Research Database”. The presenter is Alex Johnston, who is Director, Master’s Programs & Career Management in the Georgetown University Dept. of Linguistics. In this workshop, you’ll learn not only how to optimiz...

“You need to have a heart of service to do this work” Carole Chaski is a forensic linguist who is considered one of the leading experts in the field. Her research has led to improvements in the methodology and reliability of computational linguistics and inspired research on the use of this approach for authorship identification. She has provided expert testimony in several federal and state court...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “Informational Interviews”. The presenter is Alex Johnston, who is Director, Master’s Programs & Career Management in the Georgetown University Dept. of Linguistics. Informational interviewing is the key way to learn about jobs of interest, what jobs might be a good fit (or not!)...

“In customer research, if there is any group that’s capacitated to just go out and talk to people, it’s linguists” Mary-Caitlyn Valentinsson earned her Ph. D. in anthropology and linguistics in a joint program from the University of Arizona in 2019. Her dissertation research was on fandoms – the way communities engage with pop culture. After finishing her doctoral degree, she taught at Appalachian...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “Creating and Tailoring an Effective Resume”. The presenter is Alex Johnston, who is Director, Master’s Programs & Career Management in the Georgetown University Dept. of Linguistics. In this presentation, Alex will answer the following questions: How do I “convert” my academic,...

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held at the Linguistics Career Launch in the summer of 2024, titled “Networking for Introverts”. The presenter is Alex Johnston, who is Director, Master’s Programs & Career Management in the Georgetown University Dept. of Linguistics. In this presentation, she’ll talk about on-ramps to career conversations, how small talk isn’t ‘small’, and how t...

“Are you competent? And are you someone I want to work with? You need to be both” Christopher Farina holds a doctorate in linguistics from the University of South Carolina. He has over 10 years of experience across a wide range of functions in qualitative and quantitative research in applied linguistics and in the social sciences. He is currently Associate Director, Listening & Linguistics, at InV...

“Linguists make the best everything” Minnie Quartey is Vice President of Impact & Innovation for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington . She earned her PhD in linguistics at Georgetown University and embarked on a career working in the non-profit organization management industry. Her research has been featured on the front page of the Washington Post, she has been a guest on NPR, and she was th...

“I’d like to see anthropology become a household word again” Elizabeth Briody is an anthropologist who has been involved in cultural-change efforts for over 30 years – first at General Motors Research and later through her own consulting practice, Cultural Keys. She has led many career initiatives including an analysis of AAA Mentoring programs, numerous career webinars, and the Career Tools for A...

“Linguistics has a marketing problem” Andrea Berez-Kroeker is the Linguistics Department Chair at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and an At-Large member of the LSA’s Executive Committee. She is primarily a documentary linguist specializing endangered language preservation. Andrea Berez-Kroeker on LinkedIn Andrea Berez-Kroeker’s website Kaipuleohone, University of Hawai’i’s Digital Language Arch...

“ Build relationships with your coworkers – you don’t have to be friends with them” Taylor Melton is a linguist and educator with over 15 years of international experience in teaching, language consulting, and data-driven research. She earned her Master’s in Linguistics from National Taiwan Normal University, as well as attending Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. Her car...

“Go work with people in legal fields because they are the ones working on language access” Serena Williams received her PhD from UC Davis. She is a linguistic entrepreneur who leads walking tours, does genealogy research, is writing a textbook, developing K-12 linguistics courses, and is even writing a memoir about her time spent doing van life with her daughter while teaching her lessons tailored...

This is just a reminder that Linguistics Career Launch 2024 is happening SOON – July 15-26, 2024 . If you’re a linguist looking for a job outside academia, LCL24 is THE two-week event that will jump start your career journey. LCL events are open to undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and alums — in short, any linguists who want to transition from academia to industry. There wi...

“Be open to doing things that are not what you studied in school” Peter Benson received his PhD in linguistics from UC San Diego in 1973, in addition to studying neuroscience, neuropsychology, and computer science. He’s worked on speech recognition, user interface, and artificial intelligence. He had a long career in aerospace communications, while navigating life as a single parent. He is now ret...

This is just a reminder that Linguistics Career Launch 2024 is happening SOON – July 15-26, 2024. If you’re a linguist looking for a job outside academia, LCL24 is THE two-week event that will jump start your career journey. LCL events are open to undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and alums — in short, any linguists who want to transition from academia to industry. There wil...