The Paideia Institute is excited to announce the Legion Project Bridge Fellowship program, a career placement fellowship that helps highly motivated and broadly competent classicists transition to successful careers outside the academy. Through the program, the Paideia Institute places graduate students or recent PhDs in Classics in partner organizations run by leaders who believe that advanced training in the Classics can be leveraged to solve complex problems faced by modern industries. Host organizations pledge to train and support candidates as they learn to apply their skills in research, writing, higher-order critical thinking and textual analysis beyond the humanities. Bridge Fellowships last from 1 - 2 years, and positions may either full or part-time, with the expectation that part-time candidates will continue with academic work in their free time.
CURRENT AVAILABLE FELLOWSHIPS
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Boston / Cambridge, MA (6 Fellowships Available)
- Communications/Public Relations
- Digital Marketing
- Project Management
- Concierge & Administrative Services
- Non-profit Fundraising (Advancement/Development)
- Digital Graphics Artist & Manager
HOST ORGANIZATION STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Up to six Legion Bridge Fellowships are available in the Boston Area for outstanding graduate students and recent PhDs in Classics or related fields. The Fellowship is intended to help transition classicists from academia to commerce in eighteen (18) months by supporting development of marketing, public relations, communications, events, administrative, and other related and unrelated skills useful to both commercial and non-profit enterprises. As mutually agreed upon, a single fellowship may include training and opportunities spanning more than one professional area, for example, a single Legion Bridge Fellowship might include work in both marketing and fundraising.
The sponsor enterprises offer learning opportunities and a version of real-world experiences that are designed to help a successful Legion Bridge Fellow obtain a functional job in industry (or nonprofits). Specific responsibilities may include (i) creation, administration, and/or management of advertising and marketing via social media and/or traditional channels, (ii) general management, (iii) event planning, (iv) project management, (v) secretarial support, and even (vi) personal assistant / concierge tasks and projects. There are multiple work formats available from Part-time/job share (minimum 20 hours per employee) to Full-time (40 hours) to Full-time+ (beyond 40 hours), and each position structure may be customized, as mutually agreeable. Positions may also be structured to support family obligations.
Field specific training and mentorship will be provided as part of the program. Legion Bridge Fellows, on a case-by-case basis, will also be given time and encouragement to continue their academic work as classicists, including time off to attend classics-oriented professional conferences or similar.
Ideal candidates will embrace the difficulty of changing from the purely intellectual, self-directed work of personal meaning that Classics offers to work done at the behest of and for the explicit benefit of others (clients, supervisors, interested persons--many of whom may be less intellectually developed than a typical Legion Bridge Fellow). The transition is not easy, nor to be taken lightly.
Outstanding academic achievements are a given, good candidates will intuit that the essential requirements for a successful Legion Bridge Fellow will include outstanding attitude, personal engagement, independent initiative, and a joy about industry in the service of others. Legion Bridge Fellowships will be highly competitive.
Additional details: Legion Bridge Fellowships include medical/vision/dental insurance, disability insurance, 3+ weeks of paid personal time off (vacation, sick, holiday, personal), 401(K) plan, and as necessary, paid cell phone and laptop. The positions are salaried (not 1099). Note: benefits may be prorated for less than full-time employment.
APPLY
The fellowship selection process is multi-stage with interested applicants being screened by Paideia and then finalists forwarded to the individual sponsor organizations for follow-on telephone and onsite interviews. To apply please email a current CV and a letter of interest (cover letter) to legion@paideia-institute.org. Your letter should address your motivation for bridging from academia to non-academic employment, how you see yourself fulfilling the requirements/process described above, and how a Legion Bridge Fellowship would be advance your career plans. Also, please indicate which fellowship position(s) for which you would like to be considered (if more than one position is of interest, please indicate ordinal preferences, if any). Finalists will be provided additional specifics about the appropriate Legion Bridge Fellowship(s).
Deadline: The selection process operates on a rolling monthly basis until the positions are filled. The first deadline for applications is November 30, 2017, but outstanding candidates may be interviewed and processed immediately (depending on the apparent quality of the candidate).
EEO STATEMENT
Legion Bridge Fellowship sponsor organizations provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Legion Bridge Fellowship sponsor organizations provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.