Welcome back to our 12 Steps to a New Job series, where we use the 12-Step model (completely secularized, we promise) to guide you through leaving academia.
I’m Kel Weinhold, productivity coach for The Professor Is In. I work with postdocs and academics at every stage of transition, and if you’re interested in talking through your options with me, you can always reach me at postac@theprofessorisin.com.
And, of course, each week on our free webinar, I’m joined by Dr. Karen Kelsky, founder of The Professor Is In and The Professor Is Out, who’s been helping academics both stay in and get out since 2011.
Below is the synopsis!
If you’ve been following along, you know Steps 1–6 focused on mindset—quieting the academic noise that keeps you stuck. From here on out (Steps 7–12), we pivot hard to action. Today is the hinge: where shifted thinking becomes concrete behavior.
The Reframe: From “Humbly Ask a Higher Power” to “Seek and Accept Guidance”
Traditional Step 7 is deeply religious. Ours isn’t. We translate it as:
Seek and accept wisdom, feedback, and guidance from people who’ve walked this path before you.
Why? Because career change is not a solo sport. Academia trained you to go into a room alone, figure it out, and emerge flawlessly. That mindset sabotages transition. This step asks you to practice a different kind of humility: admit you don’t know everything, get curious, and let other people help.
Your #1 Free Resource: The Professor Is Out
If you’re not already there, join The Professor Is Out Facebook group. It’s ~36k strong and packed with people at every stage, from early PhDs to tenured faculty and deans, actively navigating exits. You can post anonymously, ask targeted questions, and hear directly from folks who’ve made specific pivots (e.g., “I left English for K–12. Here’s how.”). It’s crowdsourced expertise, 24/7.
“Humility” (The Useful Kind, Not the Academic Kind)
Academics love learning new things. That curiosity is your superpower here. The humility we’re talking about isn’t self-erasure; it’s dropping the pretense that you should already know how to do a brand-new thing. It’s asking questions, testing hypotheses, and iterating—in public.
- Academic humility: “I don’t know this yet; teach me.”
- Academic self-sabotage: “If I can’t do it perfectly, I’ll wait.”
- Step 7 humility: “I’ll ask, try, get feedback, and adjust.”
LinkedIn: Tool or Trash Fire? (Yes.)
Let’s name it: many academics recoil at LinkedIn, its corporate tone, networking norm, and profit-talk. And yet… it’s where a massive portion of the nonacademic labor market lives. Step 7 humility means using platforms that work, even if they aren’t your vibe.
How to make LinkedIn useful (and less overwhelming):
- Search by role + location, not field nostalgia. Try “research analyst” + “Denver” rather than “census” because that’s what your dissertation did.
- Skim titles to learn bundles of skills. Note recurring software, verbs, and outcomes.
- Translate, don’t disqualify. If they list three tools and you know one (plus two analogues), that’s still viable, frame it that way.
- Consider Premium if you can swing it. It’s not mandatory, but the analytics and filters help when you’re actively switching.
Important: Don’t apply through LinkedIn when you can avoid it. Find the company’s posting and apply there. You’ll dodge some of the stricter platform screening and get closer to a human faster.
ATS Reality Check (Game the Robot, Tell the Truth)
Most employers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that parse keywords and numbers. If a posting says “5 years experience,” and your resume says “3 years,” the filter might bounce you before human eyes ever land. Don’t lie, but do map your academic experience to industry language so the machine recognizes it:
- “Led a multi-semester research initiative” ? Program management with timelines, budgets, and stakeholders
- “Designed and taught X” ? Training, curriculum design, stakeholder engagement
- “Conference planning/service” ? Event/project management, vendor coordination, logistics
Informational Interviews: Your Step 7 Power Move
No, they’re not about asking for a job. They’re about learning the landscape: roles, skills, vocabulary, and where you might fit.
Who to ask:
- People doing roles you want (or think you want)
- Alumni from your department
- Colleagues’ friends, former students, your cousin who’s crushing it in ops
- People you find on LinkedIn with a shared thread (university, city, cause)
What to ask (examples):
- “What do you actually do week-to-week?”
- “Which skills mattered most when you were hired?”
- “What would make my resume legible for roles like yours?”
- “If I had 60 days to skill-up, where should I start?”
Etiquette, always:
- Be concise, specific, and grateful.
- Implement at least one suggestion before you circle back.
- Signal that you’re building a relationship, not extracting freebies.
Taming the “Yeah, But…”
If you were socialized to minimize yourself (hi, women and NB folks), Step 7 will trigger the chorus of “Yeah, but…”
- “Yeah, but I don’t have 6 years in industry…”
- “Yeah, but my software is different…”
- “Yeah, but I said that in line 3…”
When a knowledgeable person says “this isn’t clear,” the operative response is not “but I meant…” It’s “Got it—how would you phrase it?” Then try it. Show your work. Iterate.
Values Aren’t Disposable
Leaving academia isn’t “selling out.” Your values came with you. Step 7 helps you find where those values live in other sectors—and who can show you the route. That’s the point of listening to people who’ve done it.
This Week’s Step 7 Assignment
- Make a list of 5 people to contact this month for guidance. (Alumni, role models on LinkedIn, a colleague’s friend, your Uncle Bob who pivoted industries, someone in The Professor Is Out who did a move you admire.)
- Draft 3 thoughtful questions for each person. (Use Ask A Manager’s guidance for outreach tone and structure if you need a template.)
- Keep a running log of what you learned and how you applied it. Note what didn’t work and what you’ll tweak next time. (Friday-you won’t remember what Monday-you did. Write it down.)
Affirmation for Step 7:
I do not have to know everything to take the next step. I welcome the insight of those who walked this road before me.
When You Want More Structured Help
I start everyone with a 30-minute intro session where we clarify what you actually want your days to look like, scan real job posts together, and map your academic experience to roles that fit. If that kind of hands-on translation would help, you know where to find me.
See you next week for Step 8, where we keep the action rolling. And if you didn’t finish the homework… show up anyway. Progress beats perfection, every time.
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