Background
In 2021, I left my full-time position in philosophy for a non-academic career. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew the future would be brighter than the past. It had to be.
Here is my website as it was in 2019. As you can see, I had 10+ peer-reviewed publications, a teaching award, a research award, good teaching evaluations. The works. My Google Scholar profile shows lots of citations, too.
In total, I had tenure-track interviews at four places in four years. That's what all that work got me. Mine is the story of someone who did things right, and the reward just wasn't there.
It took a few agonizing years to figure out how to make a big change from my dead-end, low-pay academic position to something else. A "non-academic" job, whatever that could be.
I did eventually figure it out, and now, looking back, I'm confident that I could have made my way into a more satisfying position in about three months if I had known what I was doing, because three months is about how much time I spent actively pursuing my career change goal (after years of inactively doing it). I wrote down some tips that were widely shared here: How to leave philosophy (Guest post by Greg Stoutenburg) - The Philosophers' Cocoon (typepad.com)
Now I'm sharing my strategy for transitioning from academia--whether that's being a graduate student or faculty member--to a rewarding career in another industry. Flexibility, more opportunity for growth, higher pay, better culture. Much of what I say will apply to people transitioning from other fields, but I'm sticking to what I know well enough to be sure that my advice works.
Here is my website as it was in 2019. As you can see, I had 10+ peer-reviewed publications, a teaching award, a research award, good teaching evaluations. The works. My Google Scholar profile shows lots of citations, too.
In total, I had tenure-track interviews at four places in four years. That's what all that work got me. Mine is the story of someone who did things right, and the reward just wasn't there.
It took a few agonizing years to figure out how to make a big change from my dead-end, low-pay academic position to something else. A "non-academic" job, whatever that could be.
I did eventually figure it out, and now, looking back, I'm confident that I could have made my way into a more satisfying position in about three months if I had known what I was doing, because three months is about how much time I spent actively pursuing my career change goal (after years of inactively doing it). I wrote down some tips that were widely shared here: How to leave philosophy (Guest post by Greg Stoutenburg) - The Philosophers' Cocoon (typepad.com)
Now I'm sharing my strategy for transitioning from academia--whether that's being a graduate student or faculty member--to a rewarding career in another industry. Flexibility, more opportunity for growth, higher pay, better culture. Much of what I say will apply to people transitioning from other fields, but I'm sticking to what I know well enough to be sure that my advice works.
Need Career Transition Help?
If you'd like my free advice, see this article. I'd write it differently now, but I stand by the basic strategy: How to leave philosophy (Guest post by Greg Stoutenburg) - The Philosophers' Cocoon (typepad.com)
If you'd like more detail, sign up for my email series here. Messages will come to you once or twice per week, so that you have time to make your way through this process thoughtfully. Instead of a long set of instructions, like a book or wordy blog post, these emails will guide you through concrete steps, starting from "I want a new job" to being interview-ready.
These messages contain detailed guidance that will help you identify your interests and strengths and prepare you for a meaningful career change.
If you'd like more detail, sign up for my email series here. Messages will come to you once or twice per week, so that you have time to make your way through this process thoughtfully. Instead of a long set of instructions, like a book or wordy blog post, these emails will guide you through concrete steps, starting from "I want a new job" to being interview-ready.
These messages contain detailed guidance that will help you identify your interests and strengths and prepare you for a meaningful career change.
I've helped a lot of people make a meaningful career change. Here are a few of them: