applied jobs for PhDs Archives - Beyond The Tenure Track

If not academia, then what?

fatimahphd2018-10-02T02:29:29+00:00January 31st, 2014|Tags: alternative careers for academics, alternative careers for PhDs, applied jobs for PhDs, career development for PhDs, career transition, careers for PhDs, careers outside academia, careers outside the academy, humanities PhDs, informational interview, non-ac, nonacademic careers, professional development, quitting academia, what to do with my degree|

*Disclaimer: I'm writing this post on the go so I will return later to fill out the piece in a subsequent post. I've gotten lots of questions about career exploration (aka, how do I know what I'd do outside the academy). Chances are if you've been in academia for years you are not very familiar with sectors outside of education. Heck, most PhDs don't really consider education beyond higher ed and the professoriate. So when you get curious about what else you'd do besides becoming a tenure track professor, the options ahead can look unclear at best. If you've asked "if not academia, then what?", you are really asking a question about how to determine which career or job is right for you. There may be no one "right" career or job for you. However, when exploring your options you want to [...]

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FAQ: How do I get a job doing what I love?

fatimahphd2018-10-02T02:29:29+00:00January 6th, 2014|Tags: alt-ac, alt-ac careers, alternative careers for academics, applied jobs for PhDs, Career changer, career transition, careers outside of academe, careers outside the academy, graduate school, humanities PhDs, nontraditional careers for academics, quitting academia, what to do with my degree|

I've been compiling a list of FAQs that I receive from graduate students and PhDs so that I can share insights with you. I'll occasionally post these FAQs and my responses in an effort to show that you're not the only one asking real, practical questions about nonacademic careers and to help you think through your career journey. This FAQ is from a client consultation I did via email with a prospective graduate student in filmmaking, who has a background in Anthropology and Digital Media. CLIENT FAQ: "I'm mostly looking for mentorship and guidance with some issues I'm struggling with in terms of my future professional pursuits. I know that I am not satisfied with the reality of pursuing filmmaking in isolation of my passion for community outreach and organizing, academia, writing and minority advocacy. However, I am stuck in discovering a way to integrate [...]

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Job security outside of academia?

fatimahphd2018-10-02T02:29:29+00:00December 30th, 2013|Tags: alt-ac, alt-ac careers, alternative careers for academics, alternative careers for PhDs, applied jobs for PhDs, Career changer, career development for PhDs, career transition, graduate school, humanities PhDs, nonacademic careers for phds, nontraditional careers for academics, quitting academia|

As I present to PhDs on college campuses and conferences, graduate students express their concern about the lack of job security in nonacademic careers. The academic career path comes with a sense of job security because job options are clearly set. You either get a postdoc fellowship, visiting professorship, lecturer position, research position, tenure track job, or the dreaded adjunct or contingent position (but that's another topic for another day). Take note of the ratio of temporary to long-term positions among these options. Perhaps what PhDs are really saying is that academic careers come with a high level of job predictability, rather than job security. Nonacademic careers are the vast unknown for many graduate students who may not have spent much time in career planning, career exploration or out-of-classroom/department/university experiences. When beginning to look at careers outside the academy, PhD career changers tend [...]

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Post/ Alt/ Non Academic Careers– More than Semantics

fatimahphd2018-10-02T02:29:29+00:00October 5th, 2013|Tags: alternative careers for academics, applied jobs for PhDs, career transition, humanities PhDs, nonacademic careers, nonacademic careers for phds, nontraditional careers for academics, quitting academia|

Sometimes I stumble on my words when I speak to audiences about why graduate students should prepare for multiple career paths, not limited to the tenure track. It’s not that public speaking makes me tongue-tied, but that I have not settled on a simple term for non-tenure track careers that satisfies. After reading several articles about alternative academic (or, alt-ac), nonacademic, postacademic, non-tenure track, applied, and professional careers for PhDs, I have not settled on language that best suits the complexities of this seeming dichotomous relationship of being employed by a university to teach and research, or not. Perhaps, the “right” terminology eludes me because as one who has shifted from pursuing an academic career to working outside the academy, I know that the challenge is larger than semantics and terminology. A determined set of careers, usually those involving teaching and publishing [...]

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If not academia, then what?

FAQ: How do I get a job doing what I love?

Job security outside of academia?

Post/ Alt/ Non Academic Careers– More than Semantics

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