Bio
Hi, I'm Greg. I specialize in making difficult things easy, whether that is onboarding new users to integrate a product into their workflow, optimizing an online course for learner success, or helping graduate students and early-career faculty finding rewarding careers in industry. I tend to see things the way newbies do.
Currently, I work in product at Stack Overflow, where I use data and my understanding of the new person's perspective to improve the new user onboarding experience. That means providing just-in-time messaging and recommending design revisions to optimize user engagement and success.
I hold a Ph.D. in philosophy and was for several years a full-time faculty member in philosophy. I remain active in academic philosophy, with peer-reviewed papers forthcoming, regularly reviewing papers for top journals, and teaching courses in higher education as an adjunct instructor. More information about my career change, and how I am able to help others through it, can be found below.
I also work on a contract basis as an instructional designer, with particular expertise in aligning activities and assignments to outcomes, identifying technologies that can accomplish instructional goals, and increasing student success. Here and there I review academic manuscripts and book chapters by contract.
Beer over wine, mountains over beaches, video games over Netflix, experiences over things.
Currently, I work in product at Stack Overflow, where I use data and my understanding of the new person's perspective to improve the new user onboarding experience. That means providing just-in-time messaging and recommending design revisions to optimize user engagement and success.
I hold a Ph.D. in philosophy and was for several years a full-time faculty member in philosophy. I remain active in academic philosophy, with peer-reviewed papers forthcoming, regularly reviewing papers for top journals, and teaching courses in higher education as an adjunct instructor. More information about my career change, and how I am able to help others through it, can be found below.
I also work on a contract basis as an instructional designer, with particular expertise in aligning activities and assignments to outcomes, identifying technologies that can accomplish instructional goals, and increasing student success. Here and there I review academic manuscripts and book chapters by contract.
Beer over wine, mountains over beaches, video games over Netflix, experiences over things.
Career Transition
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 better 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. That's what all that work got me. This 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 is.
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. I wrote down some tips that were widely shared here: How to leave philosophy (Guest post by Greg Stoutenburg) - The Philosophers' Cocoon (typepad.com)
I want to share 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.
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. That's what all that work got me. This 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 is.
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. I wrote down some tips that were widely shared here: How to leave philosophy (Guest post by Greg Stoutenburg) - The Philosophers' Cocoon (typepad.com)
I want to share 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.
Sharing my strategy
I created a series of emails that provide the strategy needed to transition from academia to another industry.
It covers narrowing your search from "non-academic job" to something personally meaningful, identifying your professional and personal goals, translating your academic background and accomplishments to specific job requirements, how to write a resume (and how a resume is not a C.V.), and how to write a cover letter.
SIGN UP HERE FOR EMAILS
And plug testimonials!
I also created a video course that walks through all aspects of the career transition from start-to-finish, including exercises and examples. It's designed to provide everything that you need to get from "I want a non-academic job" to "I can apply today for this job I'm excited about".
The course is for people who are serious about pursuing a non-academic career, even as a backup plan. If you aren't ready to put in effort to prepare for an alternative career, I recommend only signing up for emails. But if you do the course and the work that comes with it (my guess? 10 hours total, which really isn't that much) you will be ready to confidently apply for non-academic roles, and get interviews.
ENTER GUMROAD LINK HERE FOR CAREER CHANGE ACCELERATOR
Testimonials, again!
fera I also offer 1-1 coaching. DESCRIBE PLAN LIKE, If you buy this you get the Gumroad course; but also for $n I'll talk to you separate from the gumroad course.
Testimonials, one more time!
It covers narrowing your search from "non-academic job" to something personally meaningful, identifying your professional and personal goals, translating your academic background and accomplishments to specific job requirements, how to write a resume (and how a resume is not a C.V.), and how to write a cover letter.
SIGN UP HERE FOR EMAILS
And plug testimonials!
I also created a video course that walks through all aspects of the career transition from start-to-finish, including exercises and examples. It's designed to provide everything that you need to get from "I want a non-academic job" to "I can apply today for this job I'm excited about".
The course is for people who are serious about pursuing a non-academic career, even as a backup plan. If you aren't ready to put in effort to prepare for an alternative career, I recommend only signing up for emails. But if you do the course and the work that comes with it (my guess? 10 hours total, which really isn't that much) you will be ready to confidently apply for non-academic roles, and get interviews.
ENTER GUMROAD LINK HERE FOR CAREER CHANGE ACCELERATOR
Testimonials, again!
fera I also offer 1-1 coaching. DESCRIBE PLAN LIKE, If you buy this you get the Gumroad course; but also for $n I'll talk to you separate from the gumroad course.
Testimonials, one more time!