My journey out of Academia

This past year, I started a job in industry after 10 years working in academic research. In this article I am sharing what I learned from this transition.

A little bit of background

I took it as a challenge to publish the research work involved in my PhD, which as a result ended up taking very long. At the end of it I felt exhausted and unsure where to go from there. I had kept my eyes and ears closed to avoid distraction from the single goal of finishing this work.

I needed some time and did not feel ready to take on the task of figuring out what else I could be doing right away. At this point, doing research had become part of my identity. I took the path of least effort and signed up for a postdoc.

2 years later, my postdoc work was going well, and I enjoyed a more relaxed environment. However, the excitement of doing research was fading steadily and the next decision point loomed: was I to stay in academia, the time was approaching to apply for a junior group leader position.

From those who take this path, few make it to become professor, typically only the most dedicated. While I found my research field fascinating, I had a hard time picturing myself investing more energy into the competition. I wanted to do something else, but did not know what. Only then did I start seriously considering alternative career options.

About a year later, I signed a work contract and handed a resignation letter to my supervisor. Looking back, there are a few things that I wish I had known.

Some introspection

Choosing a different career path is of course an important decision. Jumping ahead and scrolling through job descriptions as a first step will most likely leave you desperate about your profile never matching, regarding HR jargon as a foreign language, and ultimately failing to picture yourself in a different environment.

Instead, I found it worth spending time pondering these questions before doing anything else:

-????????? What brought me to follow my current career path? What interests, personal history or personality traits led me to do research on this topic?

-????????? What do I like about my current position? What type of activity do I enjoy?

-????????? What do I dislike about my current position?

-????????? What would I look for in a different position?

What you prefer spending your time on should give you directions as to the types of activities you will be looking for. Another benefit of getting clean answers to these questions is that people you will meet outside of academia, including potential employers, will certainly ask.

Taking to strangers

If you are like me, you might only have a vague idea of what job titles in industry entail. How does a typical day of, say, a clinical manager look like? Do people enjoy this job for the same reasons I think I might? A quick online search can only tell you that much. Even if you know people working in the field or specific job title you are curious about, it is advantageous to hear from people from various backgrounds, seniority, and working in companies of various sizes to get a full picture.

Nobody knows that many people, that is where LinkedIn is great. If you search for people using a job title as keyword, it suggests those with the closest connection to you (studied in same university, work in the same city, etc.). Even if you never met them, there is no harm in asking them to tell you about what they do in their job

If, like myself, you are on the introvert side of the spectrum, this might sound a bit scary, but the worst case is that they won’t reply. I found that most strangers are happy for someone to show interest in what they are doing and open to telling you about it.

If they accept a phone or video call, my advice is to stay humble in this context. Introduce yourself briefly and state that you would like to hear about their job experience and get a better idea of it: what they like in it, what they don’t like, how they got there, etc.

The more people you talk to this way, the more natural it will become for you to introduce yourself to strangers in a virtual meeting (first interview rounds are typically online) but also the more specific and meaningful the discussion will become. That also means that people you talk to will start to take you more seriously, and what started as curiosity gradually becomes networking. Even though that is not the main objective, some people might remember you and let you know about open positions.

Even though I got no “networking benefit” out of it, I found this process very rewarding. Conversations that started awkward became smoother with repetition and I became more relaxed doing this exercise. People in industry are also typically used to introducing themselves and describing their work, which helps quite a bit. After meeting people with different personalities, I started to think: why not me?

Making a decision

This was the hardest part for me. And yet, the sooner the better.

I had thoughts such as “it is too late” or “I don’t have the right mindset”. Feelings have their place, but in the end, deciding on a career path should be an informed, rational decision.

I listed the pros and cons of each option, including staying in academia, and thought it helpful to convince myself that it was correct to try something else. It really brought some clarity, from which I was finally able to decide.

Accepting consequences

I thought that should you I leave academia, some of my skills will be unused, some projects unfinished, some people disappointed. I would go from the position of an expert to that of a novice with everything to learn and to prove.

While there might be some truth there, the path ahead will likely not leave much time to linger on these thoughts. It is more likely that you will be absorbed in meeting new people, learning new skills and opening your mind to new and exciting perspectives. Even if things don’t work out right from the start, you will gain valuable experience and learn a lot.

Besides, someone once said that there are always problems, so we should just trade worse problems for better problems. Once a decision made, there is no point looking back.

What was NOT useful:

Updating CV too early

I wasted a lot of time updating my CV: adding and removing sections, rephrasing and reformatting. I am sure that it is important to have a neat, compelling resume but it is only worth doing once you know what job you are looking for. I tried and failed at crafting a more general CV that I could tailor for different applications simply because my interests were too wide in the beginning.

Applying to positions I knew little about

I experienced applying to jobs online as impersonal and unrewarding because I did it wrong for a while. If some people can afford a “just try, you never know” attitude, for a career switch I don’t think that it is worth playing the numbers game and applying to open positions you know little about.

The ideal situation, of course, is to have access to the hidden job market though your network and apply to jobs that are not posted online.

When applying for online job offers, I can only recommend taking care of one application at a time, but to do it thoroughly. Try to find all the information you can about the opening: check the company webpage, look for recent posts on social media, look for clues as to where the company is going and most importantly: try to get in touch with people working there. Even if you can’t reach people in the same team or department, there is always a little bit of useful information to be gained on top of showing your interest.

A word of thank you

Along the way I met and received help and advice from many people, many giving their time with no expectation of return. I am grateful to all of them (of you). ?Although I can’t thank everyone personally, by writing this article I hope that others in a similar situation can benefit from my experience.

I wish you success in your own career transition, whatever it is that you decide to go for!

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