Leaving Academia, no STEM degree
October 19, 2022 10:29 AM Subscribe
I am tenured faculty at a state university. I want to leave academia. I have applied for similar jobs all over the coast that I live on and I do not get interviews. Hope me.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide. I apologize for the length but as this is anonymous, I am including what I can.
The issue: I would like to leave academia and teaching in general. Nothing has happened (like, I didn't get fired and in fact have good reviews) but I am done with this life.
Complications: One of the issues I believe in finding appropriate positions and getting interviewed for them is that I am in a specialized program: Education. No industry-friendly STEM Ph.D. here. At the same time, I do not wish to work in my field any longer; that is, I do not want to go back to the classroom, I am not certified to be a building admin, etc. My experience for the last 20 years has been as a generalist--low research and high course load. I have chaired committees, undertaken school district-partnered programs, served as a director for my academic program, advised thousands of advisees, served on local boards, etc. All the things that make me a great Education faculty member and a terrible candidate for most jobs.
I have thought about what I like to do in my current job. Here is a shortened list:
*Academic advising
*Curriculum writing, design, alignment (this is my favorite)
*Creating presentations for training
*Typically fusty things like working with course revision documents and memos
*Determining advancement/remediation in appeals for individuals at academic risk
*Researching and maintaining a knowledge base for certification requirements, state law, etc.
*Coplanning with colleagues
*Interviewing candidates on search committees
*Teaching about and conducting qualitative research (I have zero meaningful skills in quantitative)
*I don't love the background work and the running of meetings but I am good at it.
Lots of the above suggests corporate trainer. I continue to look for these positions with not a lot of luck. I think the K-12 thing throws everyone off, even though I have created and continue to create adult programs, skill-building, and learning programs for teachers and campus faculty.
Other aspects of what I like to do and am good at suggest a qualitative research position, which would be great. Most postings I see want both a quali/quanti person. I think that is a lot to ask, but there it is.
Still other aspects of what I am good at suggest certification officer, certification specialist (say, at a state agency), or something along those lines. Most certification officers' duties in Schools with Ed have been economically rolled into other positions that I am not suited for--I don't think I would have terrible difficulty learning the certification aspects of other licensed professions, but that goes back to "state jobs that are impossible to interview for."
Some of the things on my list suggest working for educational publishing, yet having looked for the last year or so, it would seem that the only jobs available are sales and book rep.
What I have done to start the process: I've tried my best to have my resume reviewed and tailored for industry rather than academia. I certainly tailor things more specifically to postings when I see them. I am open to other services for resumes if someone has a very good recommendation.
I apply for state government jobs. State and local jobs in Education, but not in the classroom, are hard to come by. They often require civil service exams that have not been given in 10 years and have no foreseeable schedule of being given again. Many of them go through internal hire, which I understand, but makes it significantly more difficult to get noticed.
Other things I have tried, searched, etc.:
*State and local non-classroom job boards in districts/government entities/other areas of higher ed
*Publication houses
*Deep searches of Indeed for titles related to the above
*USA Jobs
*The Higher Ed job boards
*Reading all kinds of information on Stack Exchange, Reddit, and The Professor is In (these sites tend not to have significant advice for those of us in the Professions).
*Trolling all the big tech-- and smaller tech-- job boards/site-specific postings
*Looking at the professional offerings at state colleges, mine included
I know I sound helpless and complainy. I feel helpless and complainy. I know looking for a job takes time. I started this search a year ago. I am restricted in many ways due to the academic calendar, but I am really not letting that stop me at this point. I just feel like I am not making any headway at all.
Anything I am missing, any advice, or any unfair expectations I may have, please let me know.
All comments are appreciated.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide. I apologize for the length but as this is anonymous, I am including what I can.
The issue: I would like to leave academia and teaching in general. Nothing has happened (like, I didn't get fired and in fact have good reviews) but I am done with this life.
Complications: One of the issues I believe in finding appropriate positions and getting interviewed for them is that I am in a specialized program: Education. No industry-friendly STEM Ph.D. here. At the same time, I do not wish to work in my field any longer; that is, I do not want to go back to the classroom, I am not certified to be a building admin, etc. My experience for the last 20 years has been as a generalist--low research and high course load. I have chaired committees, undertaken school district-partnered programs, served as a director for my academic program, advised thousands of advisees, served on local boards, etc. All the things that make me a great Education faculty member and a terrible candidate for most jobs.
I have thought about what I like to do in my current job. Here is a shortened list:
*Academic advising
*Curriculum writing, design, alignment (this is my favorite)
*Creating presentations for training
*Typically fusty things like working with course revision documents and memos
*Determining advancement/remediation in appeals for individuals at academic risk
*Researching and maintaining a knowledge base for certification requirements, state law, etc.
*Coplanning with colleagues
*Interviewing candidates on search committees
*Teaching about and conducting qualitative research (I have zero meaningful skills in quantitative)
*I don't love the background work and the running of meetings but I am good at it.
Lots of the above suggests corporate trainer. I continue to look for these positions with not a lot of luck. I think the K-12 thing throws everyone off, even though I have created and continue to create adult programs, skill-building, and learning programs for teachers and campus faculty.
Other aspects of what I like to do and am good at suggest a qualitative research position, which would be great. Most postings I see want both a quali/quanti person. I think that is a lot to ask, but there it is.
Still other aspects of what I am good at suggest certification officer, certification specialist (say, at a state agency), or something along those lines. Most certification officers' duties in Schools with Ed have been economically rolled into other positions that I am not suited for--I don't think I would have terrible difficulty learning the certification aspects of other licensed professions, but that goes back to "state jobs that are impossible to interview for."
Some of the things on my list suggest working for educational publishing, yet having looked for the last year or so, it would seem that the only jobs available are sales and book rep.
What I have done to start the process: I've tried my best to have my resume reviewed and tailored for industry rather than academia. I certainly tailor things more specifically to postings when I see them. I am open to other services for resumes if someone has a very good recommendation.
I apply for state government jobs. State and local jobs in Education, but not in the classroom, are hard to come by. They often require civil service exams that have not been given in 10 years and have no foreseeable schedule of being given again. Many of them go through internal hire, which I understand, but makes it significantly more difficult to get noticed.
Other things I have tried, searched, etc.:
*State and local non-classroom job boards in districts/government entities/other areas of higher ed
*Publication houses
*Deep searches of Indeed for titles related to the above
*USA Jobs
*The Higher Ed job boards
*Reading all kinds of information on Stack Exchange, Reddit, and The Professor is In (these sites tend not to have significant advice for those of us in the Professions).
*Trolling all the big tech-- and smaller tech-- job boards/site-specific postings
*Looking at the professional offerings at state colleges, mine included
I know I sound helpless and complainy. I feel helpless and complainy. I know looking for a job takes time. I started this search a year ago. I am restricted in many ways due to the academic calendar, but I am really not letting that stop me at this point. I just feel like I am not making any headway at all.
Anything I am missing, any advice, or any unfair expectations I may have, please let me know.
All comments are appreciated.
I don't have a ton of experience in the space, so hopefully others will be along soon with more advice. But I would like to encourage you to keep applying to corporate training and education roles. I worked closely with the internal education folks in one of my roles at a huge tech company, and many of them came from K-12 or similar backgrounds. And they had people who specifically just designed curriculum and created content, so if you wanted to focus on that side without actually teaching, at least in that one company it does exist. Those jobs are probably not incredibly easy to get in the best of times, and this is an extra-difficult time to be trying to get hired in tech, but I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you stopped trying.
posted by primethyme at 10:43 AM on October 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by primethyme at 10:43 AM on October 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
When I saw the list of things you like to do in your current job, my first thought was project manager, and I see I am not the only one who thought that.
Since you are looking for your first job outside of academia, you should look into getting a PMP certification. I think this will help you break through recruiters and/or employers, who might not look at your resume otherwise. (The certifications matter less once you have some years of non-academic job experience under your belt.)
Regarding corporate training, in your resume, how much are you foregrounding the K-12 in comparison to the adult programs? Consider emphasizing the adult programs and training for teachers and faculty, and relegate K-12 to one bullet or just leave it out altogether. The resume is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of all you've done - it should highlight the experiences and skills relevant to the job you're applying for, and you can leave out the stuff that's not relevant.
posted by needled at 11:06 AM on October 19, 2022
Since you are looking for your first job outside of academia, you should look into getting a PMP certification. I think this will help you break through recruiters and/or employers, who might not look at your resume otherwise. (The certifications matter less once you have some years of non-academic job experience under your belt.)
Regarding corporate training, in your resume, how much are you foregrounding the K-12 in comparison to the adult programs? Consider emphasizing the adult programs and training for teachers and faculty, and relegate K-12 to one bullet or just leave it out altogether. The resume is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of all you've done - it should highlight the experiences and skills relevant to the job you're applying for, and you can leave out the stuff that's not relevant.
posted by needled at 11:06 AM on October 19, 2022
Yes, continue to look into corporate education companies, including those involved in LMS and SMS programs. Pearson and Edupoint are big players, and both have consultant & remote workers on both coasts.
posted by TDIpod at 11:16 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by TDIpod at 11:16 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Your points also suggest "Regulatory Manager" for private industry, especially in manufacturing. Electrical safety and EMC come to mind, but there are also more specialized areas like RV (recreational vehicle) certification.
Do you have any experience with various ISO (international organization for standization) standards? Private industry with ISO 9001 cert can use a "quality system manager." Or ISO 14385 for medical devices.
A lot of it can be learnt on the job with a smaller outfit, or as a junior position in larger outfits.
There are also courses to be accredited as various ISO auditors.
posted by porpoise at 11:27 AM on October 19, 2022
Do you have any experience with various ISO (international organization for standization) standards? Private industry with ISO 9001 cert can use a "quality system manager." Or ISO 14385 for medical devices.
A lot of it can be learnt on the job with a smaller outfit, or as a junior position in larger outfits.
There are also courses to be accredited as various ISO auditors.
posted by porpoise at 11:27 AM on October 19, 2022
Qualitative research makes me think that UX work might be a possibility. UX is kind of specialized, but temperamentally, I think they'd be similar. Maybe look into a certification?
The fact that you mentioned interviewing as something you particularly liked might make talent acquisition interesting for you. Some of the other stuff (advancement/remediation, advising, training) make me think that being an HR generalist might have some appeal. I used to work for a small company whose HR person organized a lot of "soft skills" training, and her title was something like Director of Organizational Development.
"Business analyst" is a term that's broad enough to cover a lot of the things you like. Not every BA job will fit, but you might find some that are especially documentation-focused.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:46 AM on October 19, 2022
The fact that you mentioned interviewing as something you particularly liked might make talent acquisition interesting for you. Some of the other stuff (advancement/remediation, advising, training) make me think that being an HR generalist might have some appeal. I used to work for a small company whose HR person organized a lot of "soft skills" training, and her title was something like Director of Organizational Development.
"Business analyst" is a term that's broad enough to cover a lot of the things you like. Not every BA job will fit, but you might find some that are especially documentation-focused.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:46 AM on October 19, 2022
Instructional design, continuing education program development, and academic transition coach all come to mind.
posted by Juniper Toast at 12:53 PM on October 19, 2022
posted by Juniper Toast at 12:53 PM on October 19, 2022
Just wanted to suggest you look at your school's continuing ed program (or whatever they call it) and see if any of the certificates or programs sound appealing. Maybe you could take a project management class or two, or something in another area, without doing the whole certification (or whatever), to get some more eyeballs on your resume.
Also, you do not sound hopeless and complainy. You sound like someone who is assessing their skillset and looking to make a transition to another industry.
posted by bluedaisy at 1:06 PM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, you do not sound hopeless and complainy. You sound like someone who is assessing their skillset and looking to make a transition to another industry.
posted by bluedaisy at 1:06 PM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Have you considered Grant Management? I know several academics move successfully into Grant management.
The position of grants officer / manager exists both at grant making organisations (those awarding grants) and at grant receiving institutions.
In your position i would look at positions at grant making orgs, eg. philantropic foundations or similar. In a position like that deep knowledge of academia is an asset, while you yourself are not in academia and teaching.
I think that grants officer positions at grant seeking institutions may be rare outside outside academia or at least too close for comfort. But i have also seen academics who wanted out succeed if they truly changed sides, so to speak.
posted by 15L06 at 1:11 PM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
The position of grants officer / manager exists both at grant making organisations (those awarding grants) and at grant receiving institutions.
In your position i would look at positions at grant making orgs, eg. philantropic foundations or similar. In a position like that deep knowledge of academia is an asset, while you yourself are not in academia and teaching.
I think that grants officer positions at grant seeking institutions may be rare outside outside academia or at least too close for comfort. But i have also seen academics who wanted out succeed if they truly changed sides, so to speak.
posted by 15L06 at 1:11 PM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Have you looked into curriculum development positions for online programs in higher ed? I'm thinking, for example, of e-Cornell certification programs and the like. It would still be university work, but a few steps removed from a standard academic position and typical teaching - particularly if you were in a curriculum development role (they're also constantly hiring people to teach online courses - but that's a whole different ball of wax, and probably not what you're looking for at present).
Also there's a facebook group that you might find helpful - it's The Professor is Out (hosted/managed by Karen Kelsky and her crew). I'm not one for Facebook, but this group is worth it: there's tons of discussion, advice, and support re: leaving academia, among people who are either in the process of departing now or have already successfully made a transition into other work (in a range of fields). There's lots of talk there re: crafting a resume, navigating private industry expectations, etc. I recommend!
posted by marlys at 1:13 PM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also there's a facebook group that you might find helpful - it's The Professor is Out (hosted/managed by Karen Kelsky and her crew). I'm not one for Facebook, but this group is worth it: there's tons of discussion, advice, and support re: leaving academia, among people who are either in the process of departing now or have already successfully made a transition into other work (in a range of fields). There's lots of talk there re: crafting a resume, navigating private industry expectations, etc. I recommend!
posted by marlys at 1:13 PM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
The bulk of your question is talking about figuring out what jobs to apply to, but that's not your problem:
I have applied for similar jobs all over the coast that I live on and I do not get interviews
The job application process is a five-part funnel, and you can make a generalized statement at each level:
5 - If you can't find jobs to apply to, you're looking in the wrong place.
4 - If you can find jobs to apply to, but you never hear back, there is something wrong with your resume and/or cover letter.
3 - If you find jobs to apply to, get an interview, and don't progress beyond one or two interview, there is something wrong with your interviewing skills.
2 - If you find jobs to apply to, interview for them, have your references checked, and don't get an offer, there is something wrong with your references.
1 - If you find jobs to apply to, interview, have your references checked, and get an offer, you've got everything lined up right.
You're stuck at level four: You can find jobs to apply to, but you don't hear back. Logically, the issue is your resume (and/or cover letter).
Focus on fixing that.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:48 PM on October 19, 2022 [16 favorites]
I have applied for similar jobs all over the coast that I live on and I do not get interviews
The job application process is a five-part funnel, and you can make a generalized statement at each level:
5 - If you can't find jobs to apply to, you're looking in the wrong place.
4 - If you can find jobs to apply to, but you never hear back, there is something wrong with your resume and/or cover letter.
3 - If you find jobs to apply to, get an interview, and don't progress beyond one or two interview, there is something wrong with your interviewing skills.
2 - If you find jobs to apply to, interview for them, have your references checked, and don't get an offer, there is something wrong with your references.
1 - If you find jobs to apply to, interview, have your references checked, and get an offer, you've got everything lined up right.
You're stuck at level four: You can find jobs to apply to, but you don't hear back. Logically, the issue is your resume (and/or cover letter).
Focus on fixing that.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:48 PM on October 19, 2022 [16 favorites]
Also: Almost no one is a STEM graduate. You not having a STEM degree isn't negatively impacting you at all.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:50 PM on October 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 1:50 PM on October 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
Seconding porpoise that regulatory management or quality management seems like a potential fit. Health care systems, medical devices companies and other highly regulated industries have a lot of internal training requirements for their employees to meet their certification requirements. This means a dedicated training team creating and updating curriculum content, managing completion tracking, responding to requests for data from auditors, etc. I picked Medtronic at random and see a decent handful of remote training specialists/support roles open right now.
I would also emphasis any experience you have with specific Learning Management Systems/Document Management Systems or other tools used to create and deliver educational content online in your resume. You may not know the industry, but if you know the software you're coming in with skills they want.
posted by thatquietgirl at 2:58 PM on October 19, 2022
I would also emphasis any experience you have with specific Learning Management Systems/Document Management Systems or other tools used to create and deliver educational content online in your resume. You may not know the industry, but if you know the software you're coming in with skills they want.
posted by thatquietgirl at 2:58 PM on October 19, 2022
I agree partially with NotMyselfRightNow, but you also need to be working your network. Tell all your friends (not just colleagues) that you're looking for X type of positions and please keep you in mind. If you see something you want to apply for, double check whether you have any connections to that place that you can mine.
You might also consider informational interviewing as a way to build your network. Reach out to folks who have the kind of job you want or manage people who do the kind of job you want and ask to take them to coffee and get their advice on working in that field, etc. Boom! Now you have a connection at the company should an opening arise!
posted by purple_bird at 3:08 PM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
You might also consider informational interviewing as a way to build your network. Reach out to folks who have the kind of job you want or manage people who do the kind of job you want and ask to take them to coffee and get their advice on working in that field, etc. Boom! Now you have a connection at the company should an opening arise!
posted by purple_bird at 3:08 PM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
When I made the same jump after grad school, I found that people were putting a shocking (to me then) amount of emphasis on things I'd done, and basically no emphasis on things I'd studied or the research methods I'd used. In my case, that meant that I got a job as an editor because, just by accident, I had happened to spend a few semesters copyediting manuscripts for a journal as a side job. That experience wasn't part of my professional identity at all. But it counted in the corporate world for way more than the stuff I considered important. And it meant that editing jobs were easy to get interviews for, and jobs related to my actual field or research methods were much harder.
I suspect that means that if you're looking for jobs in education, you need to emphasize your teaching experience — the times when education was one of your job duties — way more than you're used to, and emphasize your research expertise in education way less, even if you think of that research expertise as the most important thing about you. Your story should probably be something like "I'm a great teacher [and my PhD in education makes me an even better one]" rather than anything that puts your research first.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:34 PM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I suspect that means that if you're looking for jobs in education, you need to emphasize your teaching experience — the times when education was one of your job duties — way more than you're used to, and emphasize your research expertise in education way less, even if you think of that research expertise as the most important thing about you. Your story should probably be something like "I'm a great teacher [and my PhD in education makes me an even better one]" rather than anything that puts your research first.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:34 PM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Private school headmaster - no credential required.
Education policy fellow at a think tank or lobby shop.
Research director for a teacher union.
Analyst for a private equity or hedge fund that specializes in education investing.
posted by MattD at 8:18 PM on October 19, 2022
Education policy fellow at a think tank or lobby shop.
Research director for a teacher union.
Analyst for a private equity or hedge fund that specializes in education investing.
posted by MattD at 8:18 PM on October 19, 2022
I think you may want to consider (remote) positions for D.C. based orgs... e.g. think tanks, policy/advocacy / industry groups. Also government contractors more generally.
IMHO it would probably be ideal to work with a specialty coach who helps people navigate the job hunt outside the ivory tower. (No specific recs, sorry). However, absent what is ideal, it may still be helpful to have someone else who is familiar with hiring in industry help you review your application materials. (Friend? Maybe the career center of your alma mater?)
What does seem absent to me on your list is "the human connection." I've found Linked In to be a helpful tool while job hunting. Who knows, perhaps your high school classmate just posted about the perfect job available at her firm.
posted by oceano at 12:13 AM on October 20, 2022
IMHO it would probably be ideal to work with a specialty coach who helps people navigate the job hunt outside the ivory tower. (No specific recs, sorry). However, absent what is ideal, it may still be helpful to have someone else who is familiar with hiring in industry help you review your application materials. (Friend? Maybe the career center of your alma mater?)
What does seem absent to me on your list is "the human connection." I've found Linked In to be a helpful tool while job hunting. Who knows, perhaps your high school classmate just posted about the perfect job available at her firm.
posted by oceano at 12:13 AM on October 20, 2022
You have probably seen this advice from Ask a Manager. If not, it might be helpful.
1. Step by step guide to writing a resume.
2. If you are not getting interviews.
Looking for work is exhausting. Best of luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 3:09 AM on October 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
1. Step by step guide to writing a resume.
2. If you are not getting interviews.
Looking for work is exhausting. Best of luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 3:09 AM on October 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oops, wanted to include an example of a strong cover letter and resume, also from Ask a Manager.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:10 AM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Bella Donna at 3:10 AM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ph.D. in Education? Testing companies. Here are jobs for NWEA, ETS, ACT.
posted by Dotty at 5:57 AM on October 20, 2022
posted by Dotty at 5:57 AM on October 20, 2022
Can you share what state(s) you’re looking in?
posted by purenitrous at 10:16 AM on October 20, 2022
posted by purenitrous at 10:16 AM on October 20, 2022
I hope you ask the mods to post additional information responding to some of the questions above. I'm academic adjacent and recommendations above for looking at DC based organizations are good, and it sounds like you're already looking at school districts for curriculum development, etc. - those jobs will probably pay similar to higher ed and run on the academic year.
But I looked again at your question and it sounds like the core challenge is not necessarily which jobs to apply to, but that you're not getting call backs from your applications. If that's the case, I want to nth everything that's been said about making sure you use a resume instead of a cv. This is critical, and keep it to two pages if you can. If you're tenured, you've probably been in the same job for a very long time so instead of a chronological resume, maybe structure it around projects with accomplishments and skills used for that project as the bullets. For jobs that don't need a PhD, you might move your resume's education section to the end so that the doctorate is buried rather than the first thing people learn about you.
It would also help to know what level of role you're looking for: entry, mid, senior?
In the hiring I've done, the cover letter is really important- it seems like people in corporate fields don't use them anymore but they are still looked at in many places. You'll want to address why you're moving out of higher ed in the first paragraph. It can be brief but it's going to make someone keep reading rather than throw your application into the discard pile. Again, I'd suggest taking a project based approach in explaining how you fit with the job. No more than one page, shorter sentences than in academic writing. As someone mentioned earlier, academia values what you've studied, who your network is (relationships) or people you've mentored, mostly other fields want to know what you can do so reframe to management skills for projects or people. One last thing comes to mind: I've seen colleagues reject candidates with academic backgrounds because they thought they couldn't do anything quickly because time was measured in semesters or years, depending on where you're hoping to end up, the pace of ordinary work can be much faster elsewhere. As an example: in many workplaces, you're expected to respond to emails within 24hrs, maybe a couple of days if you're very important, but when I've worked with academics, a week seems like the standard. Colleagues who rejected academic applicants had these kinds of things in mind when they talked about academics as unreliable and slow. I would look at your cover letter and resume with this lens and de-emphasize how long things took. E.g. academic searches may take most of the academic year, in other sectors, unless you're filling C-suite roles, a search that takes more than a couple of months is not desirable.
posted by Ensign at 12:42 PM on October 20, 2022
But I looked again at your question and it sounds like the core challenge is not necessarily which jobs to apply to, but that you're not getting call backs from your applications. If that's the case, I want to nth everything that's been said about making sure you use a resume instead of a cv. This is critical, and keep it to two pages if you can. If you're tenured, you've probably been in the same job for a very long time so instead of a chronological resume, maybe structure it around projects with accomplishments and skills used for that project as the bullets. For jobs that don't need a PhD, you might move your resume's education section to the end so that the doctorate is buried rather than the first thing people learn about you.
It would also help to know what level of role you're looking for: entry, mid, senior?
In the hiring I've done, the cover letter is really important- it seems like people in corporate fields don't use them anymore but they are still looked at in many places. You'll want to address why you're moving out of higher ed in the first paragraph. It can be brief but it's going to make someone keep reading rather than throw your application into the discard pile. Again, I'd suggest taking a project based approach in explaining how you fit with the job. No more than one page, shorter sentences than in academic writing. As someone mentioned earlier, academia values what you've studied, who your network is (relationships) or people you've mentored, mostly other fields want to know what you can do so reframe to management skills for projects or people. One last thing comes to mind: I've seen colleagues reject candidates with academic backgrounds because they thought they couldn't do anything quickly because time was measured in semesters or years, depending on where you're hoping to end up, the pace of ordinary work can be much faster elsewhere. As an example: in many workplaces, you're expected to respond to emails within 24hrs, maybe a couple of days if you're very important, but when I've worked with academics, a week seems like the standard. Colleagues who rejected academic applicants had these kinds of things in mind when they talked about academics as unreliable and slow. I would look at your cover letter and resume with this lens and de-emphasize how long things took. E.g. academic searches may take most of the academic year, in other sectors, unless you're filling C-suite roles, a search that takes more than a couple of months is not desirable.
posted by Ensign at 12:42 PM on October 20, 2022
That was a much longer response than I intended - feel free to DM me, I'd be happy to look at a resume or cover letter and provide feedback.
posted by Ensign at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2022
posted by Ensign at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2022
You'll want to address why you're moving out of higher ed in the first paragraph.
This is key. You'll also want to have a well-scripted answer to this for when you get to the interview stage. To a lot of people, it will look like you already have a dream job, so how could you be seriously looking?
posted by Dip Flash at 6:46 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is key. You'll also want to have a well-scripted answer to this for when you get to the interview stage. To a lot of people, it will look like you already have a dream job, so how could you be seriously looking?
posted by Dip Flash at 6:46 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
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Second: have you considered doing education research outside of academia? I work for a for-profit company that does social and behavioral science research for the Federal government, including education research. We have a whole department focused on that, and they always need people who understand education from a boots on the ground perspective.
Third: have you considered picking up a certification in something outside education? If you had a PMP, I would hire you as an experienced project manager in a heartbeat. I'm not suggesting a PMP specifically, but something outside education might help you break through to employers.
posted by OrangeDisk at 10:42 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]