What career options are open to me outside of academia? Where do my academic and other skills and experiences fit within a non-academic career path? How do I get started? How have others found challenging and rewarding work outside of the academic setting?
This section includes a wide variety of links and articles exploring: challenges to exploring careers outside of academia, typical careers paths outside of academia associated with various fields of study and biographies and Career Profiles to provide inspiration.
1A. Challenges to Exploring Careers Outside of Academia
The majority of PhD candidates initially aim for a career as a professor. Despite this, between 50 to 75 per cent of PhD graduates find challenging and rewarding work outside of academia. One of the largest initial responses – instead of barrier to exploring options outside of academia is a psychological one. Given the familiarity with, and emphasis on, the academic route, admitting to yourself and others that you may be exploring a different path can be difficult. We see this difficulty compounded by fears of making the wrong choice, disappointing family and colleagues, uncertainty about other options, lack of familiarity with job search protocol and uncertainty about where one’s skills may fit. Choosing to explore non-academic careers can be a daunting choice and pursuing an alternative path it is a major career transition. However, those who make an informed decision to leave academia tend to find the move both satisfying and liberating. Here are some articles on the challenges and rewards of exploring a parallel path and inspiration to think 'outside of the box.'
1B. Articles on Careers Outside of Academia
- Article on considering careers outside of academia, understanding transferrable skills and strengths for careers outside of academia from University of California San Diego
- I wouldn’t use this entire article because it is already covered elsewhere…use the first few pages regarding mind set, myths and transferable skills.
- Article on identifying some of the concerns and barriers to pursuing a career outside of academia with advice on working through it; good article but duplicates a littlewhat is said in the above link
- Discusses academic vs other career paths for graduate students in the sciences
- A primer on finding your best fit in a science based career
- http://chronicle.com/article/Recasting-Yourself-for-Non-/46403
- A good overview of some of the steps involved in obtaining a career outside of academia
- Research based article on the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario on the need for PhD grads to prepare for and pursue career paths outside of the academy
- Similar to the above article but with a Humanities focus
- Similar article with a science and engineering focus. Provides a nice graph showing the growth of and relationship between PhD grads and tenure track positions
- Peer to peer post-academic support – a wide variety of useful insights and support on leaving academia that explores if and how to leave, the emotional impact and how to make the transition
1C. Bios and Career Profiles
- A site dedicated to real life stories of science graduates who have found their ideas careers outside of academia
- These three articles are part of the series “From PhD to Life" by Jennifer Polk a blog from University Affairs. For more, visit http://www.universityaffairs.ca/Blogs.aspx
- A blog giving information on a variety of alternative science career paths
- http://chronicle.com/article/From-Academe-to-Market/137965
- Downloadable podcast series on transitions to careers outside of academia based on interviews with those who have forged careers outside of academia from a variety of fields of scholarship
- Second podcast in series focusses on identifying transferrable skills and challenges of job search outside of academia
- One person’s experience with the challenges and benefits of finding a career outside of academia
- A useful PowerPoint presentation from UCLA that gives and overview of the career transition to careers outside of academia
1D. Sectors and Career Paths for Various Disciplines
- Alternative paths for those in the sciences
- Alternative career fields for grad students in a variety of fields
- University Affairs Career Congress 2008 Career Corner panel video series. Explores everything you ever wanted to know about non-academic careers for postgraduates but were afraid to ask from experts in a variety of fields
- Video presentation offering insights about what grad students should expect if they are considering employment in government
- US resource with good list of sectors and career ideas for social science and humanities grad students
- US resource with good list of sectors and career ideas for science, math and engineering grad students
- Article on “Alt-Ac or hybrid scholar-administrator roles within higher education institutions
- Article on hybrid academic careers that encompass a variety of involvements and projects
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