This is a how-to book for the academic life based on more than 50 years combined personal experience and 8 years of formal group mentoring as part of a workshop on these topics. The unwritten rules of university life are shared through fictional vignettes that are all too real. Secrets to successfully achieving short-term and long-term goals are provided in the progress timelines and suggested milestones. Beginning with selecting a training program and choosing a job, this book takes the student, fellow, or faculty member through the maze of academic secrecy to a new level of understanding and empowerment. KEY FEATURES: * Provides the unwritten rules for success and tells it like it is* Chapters are organized to help you develop and market your career and determine how to organize your curriculum vitae* Includes vignettes to illustrate possible pitfalls in academics and strategies on how to avoid them, or how to select the most effective course of action* Guides you step-by-step through the process of writing grant proposals, abstracts, slide preparation, poster preparation, and presentations* Provides timelines to estimate your overall career progress or for specific tasks such as grant writing* Describes negotiation techniques to assist you in interactions with your mentor, your department chair, grant officers, and journal editors* Summarizes content of each chapter in paragraph subheadings to facilitate reading Book InfoProvides an instructional manual for the academic life based on more than fifty years of combined personal experience and eight years of formal group mentoring as part of a workshop on these topics. Softcover.