A big announcement: The Professor Is In is expanding to the post-academic job search. I’ve collected a panel of experts who have all made successful post-academic transitions to a range of different types of work, and they’ll be posting regularly on the blog, and by later this Spring leading webinars and offering job document and career counseling help.*
Tomorrow I’ll introduce the first two Post-Ac Experts and their planned line-up of posts, and we’ll be off.
Why am I making this move? Because, I am asked almost daily for help with the post-ac transition. Up until now I’ve always turned would-be clients away with a regretful, “sorry, I don’t really do that.” But the tenure track job market is so awful, and the state of the academy so indefensibly wretched, that I am no longer comfortable limiting my services to serving that narrow, shrinking, and ethically questionable system.
My own post-academic transition was one of the hardest and most brutal, but ultimately most gratifying and satisfying things I’ve ever accomplished. I want to support others as they set out on this path. It really is OK to Quit.
Post-ac related information has a permanent home on the website on the Post-Ac Services page. Please share widely with any ABD/Ph.D. you know struggling with the wretched academic job market and seeking inspiration and information for a non-academic career. The email for this new post-ac side is: postaccareers@gmail.com. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any particular requests, or wish to share your story and/or expertise. I look forward to hearing from you. Best of luck whatever you decide to do — Karen
Yay! Thank you!
Looking forward to this series!
Hi, I was wondering whether you could find a “post-ac expert” to speak about community colleges. After four years on the market I would be very interested in pursuing a career at a community college, but I am concerned that I look too “researchy.” I have won several research awards and held a post-doc — accomplishments that have not paid off in terms of attracting the attention of hiring committee, but that make me look unappealingly research-oriented to community colleges (I have applied to several and, despite articulating my desire to teach and/or work as an administrator, I have not received any response). I imagine lots of people who trained as researchers have successfully found jobs at community colleges — what is a good strategy?
A CC career is not a post-academic career. It’s a very legit academic career. Please read everything Rob Jenkins has ever written in the Chronicle of Higher Ed (and maybe elsewhere) about how to approach these jobs.