Answer these 3 questions to find your ideal non-academic career (Part 1)
If you’re a PhD student or recent PhD, and you know that the tenure-track professor path is not for you, the possibilities in striking it out on your own in a non-academic career can feel really overwhelming. I’ve been where you are! When I was a PhD student, I knew that I didn’t want to follow the traditional academic path, but I also didn’t know quite what I wanted to do instead. I felt a little bit lost and a lot overwhelmed with the idea of forging my own path.
Fortunately, in the years since then, I’ve found additional clarity on what I want out of my career. I’ve also found a few tips and tricks that might help you do the same! Below, I’ve listed three questions you can ask yourself to get some clarity on how to find your ideal non-academic career. This is a condensed version of a process I often use with coaching clients who are in a similar place of post-PhD career exploration.
1) What are you good at? This might seem the most obvious, but perhaps one of the most important things to consider during a career exploration phase is what skills you have. Spend some time reflecting back on your past work and educational experiences. What things do you excel? What things do you find colleagues or peers frequently asking you for help with? Consider the full range of things that you’re good at, including technical skills and “soft” skills. Also consider skills you use in a range of life experiences, including work, school, hobbies, and more.
2) What lights you up? Just because we’re good at something doesn’t mean that we enjoy doing it. Reflect on the things that light you up, or where you feel a spark of energy and excitement. These might be things that you would spend your time doing if you won the lottery and didn’t need to work for money. Another way to think about what lights you up is to consider the activities where you find yourself getting into a flow state, or where you get “into the zone” doing an activity and almost lose track of time while doing it. As above, consider skills and activities from multiple areas of your life, not just school or work!
3) What can you get paid to do? While many of us seek careers where we can be fulfilled and contribute to something larger than ourselves, at the end of the day the purpose of work is to make a living. Reflect on the skills or activities that you do that someone would pay you money for. As above, reflect on a range of skills and activities in multiple areas of your life - you might feel that an activity like creative writing or jewelry making is simply a hobby, but there are people who make money doing those things! Think outside the box when considering what you can get paid to do.
Once you’ve answered those three questions, review your lists. What overlap do you see? Is there a common thread or skill that appears on all three lists? That’s a good place to start in finding your ideal non-academic career! Begin to explore areas or paths where you might be able to use that skill.
If you don’t see clear overlap, don’t stress! In Part 2, I cover what to do if you have many different interests or don’t see alignment between these three questions.
Want to learn more about how you can apply this in your own post-PhD journey? My course - Post-Grad Pathfinders - has an entire lesson dedicated to this concept! Learn more about the course here!
