Go check what recentPhD has written about the job at her old employer. Go now.
Then read her follow up post about why she thinks a postacademic would be perfect for this job, and how she's involved in this hiring process and would potentially be able to directly help the right postacademic candidate get this job.
Want a potential lifeline out of grad school misery or adjunct hell? Or even out of a good tenure track job that you hate? Live in or around DC, or ever wanted to move there?
Email her now. Now now now. recentphd [at] gmail <dot> com. Or go check out the job ad on Versatile Ph.D. and apply.
But then email her so that she knows that you're a postacademic who's applying for the job, so that she can try to help you out! I can't speak for her, of course, but I know that if anyone ever applied to a job at my company and referenced that they were a reader of my blog and were a postacademic, I would definitely go the extra mile in making sure that person at least got an interview. And I can't imagine that she'd be blogging about it if she didn't genuinely want postacademics to apply.
So all of you who've been saying that you want to leave but you aren't sure how to do it? Or aren't sure how to find a position that you can be pretty sure will be in a pleasant working environment? Or how to reach out and get network contacts and help in applying? Or how to convince a nonacademic employer that a postacademic would be perfect for their job?
This is your chance! Here's your help in finding and applying for and matching your skills to a nonacademic job. Here's your chance to apply for a job at a company that another postacademic worked at and can vouch for as a good place to work. Here's your chance to have a ready-made employer who wants to hire another postacademic!!!
If you're even remotely serious about leaving, email recentphd. At the very least, get some more info about the position. See how you feel about it.
In the absolute worst case scenario ... you decide the job isn't for you and don't apply. Or you apply but they hire someone else. But that's the worst that can happen.* No one's going to place your face on a billboard with the caption "Don't Hire this Moron!" No one's going to call your department and tell them you explored a job opportunity outside of academia. You're just exploring your options.
And who knows ... maybe this is your ticket out. You have to start somewhere!
If I were unemployed, I already would've emailed RecentPhD. I urge everyone else to at least consider it. This could be your ticket out of academia!!
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*And hell ... in the latter case, at least you'd come out with a nonacademic resume and possibly some interviewing experience from the whole deal. It wouldn't be a total loss!
Thanks, JC!! Bring it on, people! Don't let your preconceived ideas about the politics put you off!! It'll be an adventure!
ReplyDeleteAnd you know, speaking of the politics ... people need to realize that they're looking for a Next Job, not a Forever and Ever Job.
DeleteYou're willing to vouch for the fact that the people have been nice and the politics weren't unbearable for the past, what, 1-2 years? Others should realize they wouldn't be signing on for a lifetime contract at Think Tank. It could just be the one job to catapult them out of the academic world ... just like it was for you.
It's far easier to see from the outside, I know. But the outside world just works differently.
Yes, and really, outside academe you don't get to surround yourself with a department full of people who are going to vote exactly the same way as you. You need to be able to talk to and get along with all kinds, especially in a city like DC.
ReplyDeleteI haven't said too much about this on my blog yet (don't worry, it's coming eventually!), but because my new job is policy-related and involves coalition building among people with very different perspectives, the time I've spent at Think Tank -- the connections I've developed sleeping with the enemy, so to speak -- has already proven useful in incredibly serendipitous ways.
And yet, I can see a lot of would-be post-acs looking at the description and thinking, "What? Do that boring job?? AND have to deal with right-wing crazies? No way."
The outside world most definitely does work differently, and there's no better time than the present to take the plunge!