You're not alone. Today an increasing number of graduate students are opting for careers outside of academia. For some, the academic job market has necessitated considering other career possibilities. Others have made a decision to seek work outside academia for a variety of personal and professional reasons. The key is to find work to which you are drawn and for which you are suited. We encourage you to use the resources and ideas in this section to get started.

Making the Transition
It is not unusual to feel pressure in your department to pursue (tenure-track) careers in academia…

• "De-programming from the Academic Cult" The Chronicle of Higher Education.

…however, your department (along with you discipline's national professional organization(s)) may be the best place to get information on non-academic careers in your field. Try talking to your advisor, although this is often easier said than done!

• "Telling your Advisor the Truth"The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Breaking It to Your Mentor: Announcing Alternative Career PlansScience Magazine.

If you feel uneasy about broaching the subject with your advisor, try to find a faculty mentor in your department who is open to the idea of non-academic careers or come to Career Services for career counseling by a staff professional. (All counseling is completely confidential)

Read about the experiences of other graduate students who have made the decision to pursue non-academic careers.

• Journeyman: Getting Into and Out of Academe
• Dottie and Jane's Adventures Outside of Academia
• Out of Academia Salon.com.
• "Moving to a Non-academic Career"The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Start your transition to a career outside of academia by becoming informed and making a plan of action.

• Sellout: A resource for Ph.D.s considering careers beyond the Academy
• Four Steps to Succeeding Outside the Ivory Tower: a former academic offers lessons in joining the 'real world' (Salon.com)
• The One-Year Plan. Finishing the dissertation and starting a non-academic career The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• How to Plan for a Career Before You Have One (Chronicle.com)

Key Books about the Non-Academic Career Path
(available in the Career Services library)

• Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics Considering Alternative Careersby Margaret Newhouse. (Harvard University Press, 1993.)
• So What Are You Going to Do with That?: A Guide for M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s Seeking Careers Outside the Academy by Maggie Debelius and Susan E. Basalla. (Farrar Strauss & Giroux. 2001.)

Those in the Sciences should also read:

• Alternative Careers in Science: Leaving the Ivory Tower edited by Cynthia Robbins-Roth. (Academic Press, 1998.)
• Nontraditional Careers in Scienceby Karen Young Kreeger. (Taylor & Frances, 1999.)
• Career Renewal: Tools for Scientists and Technical Professionals by Stephen Rosen and Celia Paul. (Academic Press. 1998.)