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.
Here is the link to the full recording of the webinar. Be advised, access will cease on September 30, 2025
Below is the synopsis!
Last Week: Seeking Guidance
Step 7 was all about reaching out for help — making lists of people to contact, drafting questions, and daring to admit you don’t have to do this alone. Some of you did that homework (good job!), and some of you… didn’t (typical academic avoidance). That’s fine. You can pick it up now.
The point was to start breaking the habit of solitary suffering and build some collective wisdom into your process.
This Week: Step 8 – Engage in Self-Reflection
In AA, Step 8 is about making a list of the people you’ve harmed. That framing doesn’t work for career transition. Instead, we’re reframing it as:
Engage in Self-Reflection. Regularly assess your progress and make adjustments.
Because here’s the truth: your next job is not your forever job. This is not a one-and-done leap from tenure track to permanent security. Transition is ongoing. Careers are evolving. Self-reflection is how you stay grounded and adaptable.
What Self-Reflection Looks Like
We suggest looking at three areas:
- Progress Tracking
- Build in regular check-ins. Weekly, biweekly, monthly — just make them consistent.
- Keep the measures small and concrete: “I looked at 3 job ads,” “I revised my resume header,” “I talked to one person.”
- Track emotional indicators too: confidence, curiosity, relief. Not everything has to be productivity metrics.
- Lingering Academic Attachments
- Notice where you’re still clinging to academic habits that no longer serve you.
- Common culprits: over-researching before acting, perfectionism, hierarchical thinking, refusal to be vulnerable.
- Ask: How are these habits holding me back from trying, experimenting, or just sending out the damn resume?
- Emotional Inventory
- Leaving academia feels like grief, because it is grief. You’ve lost an identity, a community, a dream.
- But notice the positive feelings too: pride, relief, excitement. These are signs of detachment from toxic validation.
- Don’t compare your grief to others. Your loss counts, no matter what anyone else is going through.
Two Concrete Practices
- Switch Your Language: Stop saying my job, my university, my department. Start saying the job, the university, the department. They are not yours. That linguistic shift helps you detach.
- List Your Skills, Not Your Titles: Every day, write down skills you have — project management, research, writing, teaching, data analysis. You are not your academic title. You are your skills.
The Outcome of Step 8
- Greater self-awareness: seeing yourself beyond “professor” or “grad student.”
- Adaptive career path: learning to pivot without panic.
- Solidified commitments: turning insights into action, not just thoughts.
And one more bonus: once you start detaching, you’ll be shocked at how negative your still-academic friends sound. “That will never work.” “Nobody hires PhDs.” “You’ll regret leaving.” You’ll realize you don’t have to think like that anymore.
That clarity — that freedom — is exactly what Step 8 is about.
? Homework: Write down your top three skills today. And practice saying “the university,” not “my university.” See how it feels.
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