Case study #3: Tara’s Journey From Grad Student to Success Outside of Academia

We’re back with another case study from Post-Grad Pathfinders alum Tara. Read on below to hear more about Tara’s story and how Post-Grad Pathfinders took her from feeling stuck taking temporary, short-term academic contracts, to finding the peace of mind and clarity she needed to leave academia.

Where was Tara in her career journey before joining Post-Grad Pathfinders, and how were things going?

Tara was finishing her PhD. program when she joined Post-Grad Pathfinders. When Tara first purchased the course- she felt confused, conflicted, and overwhelmed. At crossroads, she was unsure whether to accept a job outside of academia and fear of what to do weighed on her heavily.

Tara said:

“I remember this so clearly because I came to you and was like, ‘Help me, please!’ I was pretty much coming to the end of my Ph.D.

That's still ongoing in the background, but I had found myself in a place where I needed to make a decision between, am I going to try and keep pursuing temporary short-term contracts in academia or do I want to look and say this is no longer working for me, and I need to find a different outside of academia role?”

What was Tara feeling when she first purchased the course?

“I was coming to the end of my Ph.D.… and I had found myself in a place where I needed to make a decision.

I remember feeling so conflicted because it wasn’t just: deciding between job A and job B. It was the entire emotional association with academia, like is this failing? Is this doing what’s best for me?

It was all very much weighing on that decision. I remember coming to you and saying ‘I don’t know which of these two paths to take, please please help me.’”

What results did Tara get out of Post-Grad Pathfinders and working with me?

“I got so much clarity, so much peace of mind. And that's a combination of the work I did in Pathfinders before I made that decision and just having committed to so. But actually, and I was only thinking about this before joining the call, your visualization exercises and prompts were so beyond helpful. It was so helpful. I know when we had our session, the visualization where it was like, picture this door or that door.”

“And it was so clear to me as I was conveying to you what I'd seen. I know, I 100 % know. I have 95 % clarity, but I had spent weeks, literally weeks, see-sawing back and forth between the two… So on the basis of how clear that response came through for me, I opted to go outside of academia. Pretty much, I think every day in my job since has been validation that that was the right thing to do.”

What’s changed since completing the course?

“The peace of mind, I feel, is astounding. I am so much more at peace with having walked away from academia. I've done a lot of work with other coaches and friends and family as well about not framing that as a failure. But no, it was the best decision. It was the best decision I ever made. My quality of life, what I give into my job versus what the demands academia were taking from me for very little payoff or just precarity and being overworked and undervalued, it's astounding.

It's night and day to me, and I still think back every now and then, as I said to that visualization exercise, and just think, how was that so easily - I say ‘easily’ - I needed to be coached through it. But it was right there, and I just couldn't tap into it.

But asides from that, there hasn't been, I think, a single day where I've thought, ‘Oh, did I jump ship too fast? Did I make the wrong decision?’ So I am very much in a very good spot with my role.

But for me, 100 % it was the right decision, and the peace of mind that came from Pathfinders and from working with you was, it was like monumental.”

What did Tara learn and where is she now?

“In my personal circumstances, I cannot wait to be finished with research. That is not my thing. It was the teaching; it was the service, it was the admin that I actually loved. I think I'm the only person who's ever said; I love getting to grade and give feedback on students work.

…It seems so commonsensical, Chelsea, but I think I hadn't really realized that if I enjoy mentoring, if I enjoy being an expert if I enjoy supporting other people, I thought academia was the only way to do that.

Whereas in my role now [outside academia], that's part of my everyday... Pretty much every skill set or every aptitude I had in academia... I'm experiencing all of that in a much less stressful way and then a more creative way even.”

Who else could benefit from taking this course?

“Short answer, very confused, very stressed out, and anxious people like me. I think in my circumstances, I had been starting to reach a point where I was myself thinking, ‘Can I give any more to just trying to find a way into academia?’

But I also think... for earlier Ph.D. students as well, because despite knowing the state of academia and precarity and short-term contracts and all of that. I think for me, as someone who was first generation Ph.D. and even I think maybe one or two other people had an undergrad degree in my family, I didn't have access to that secret knowledge.

Previously, any job that I had had before in stuff like retail or hospitality or that if you went above and beyond, you got the promotion. It was a matter of time you would get to where you needed to be… [In academia] it's not a case of, you know, grind, and it will just happen.

So I think a combination, I think someone who is coming towards the end or who has been battling with that decision a little bit. I do think earlier Ph.D. students, and I do think even before someone commits to a Ph.D. program. …For anyone, having a check in with your values, having a check-in and seeing, am I where I want to be? How do I get there? And I think like I said, I know I've said it about ten times already now, but just those exercises and the prompts that you gave in particular compared to, like, I've done other free stuff online and that, but [Post-Grad Pathfinders] was just so much more connected, so much more holistic and related to me as a person.”

Tara’s closing thoughts:

“To be honest, and I'm not just saying this to be nice. I'm like, I can sit here. If you want to talk for another hour and I can just tell you, it was so good. It was so good. You're so great. The visualization, the doors, my doors. I knew all along the magic was in here. But no, honestly, it was like the... I mean, the other really quickly stand-out points I can think about doing it was the fact that it was self-directed. It was very helpful.

The platform it was on and the way that the actual logistics of navigating through the content I found very helpful, very useful. The prompts like I said, I have a journal here somewhere where I've returned to some of the prompts as a little check-in every now and again. The fact that they were in the little handouts, and the workbook was again all very helpful and the having the coaching session.

I think at the time I was so desperate for someone to almost just tell me what to do, tell me what the right decision is. So having the time to engage and come and say, I'm not sure, but then as soon as you were able to give me the specific prompts or questions, I knew. Whereas I think maybe if that had been done the other way around, which I've seen in some other, not quite similar, but career transitioning out of academia things, that sometimes comes at the start. And I know for me that may have swayed me more than, whereas this helped me find my own voice and find my own voice.”

Check out the other case studies!

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This course was designed to help people in grad school and beyond build careers outside the tenure track. That includes grad students, post-docs, faculty, PhDs working outside academia, and more. If you’re struggling to leave academia behind, regardless of where you are now, Post Grad Pathfinders is for you.

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