I started my program thinking I wanted to go into academia, but I feel less and less interested in an academic job. I only have one year left of my program, so I’m committed to finishing, but I don’t know what kinds of jobs I should look for. What do I do?
It’s entirely common to change career plans in graduate school. And it can be exciting (and maybe a little overwhelming) to think about all the possible kinds of jobs out there that you could end up in beyond academia. But my advice, when you’re starting to explore possibilities, would be not to look for jobs.
Before diving headfirst into “what’s out there,” you have to better understand what you want out of your next job. And sometimes when your plans are shifting, you can be more motivated by what you don’t want instead of your interests. A simple practice to start that process of self-understanding is through journaling. Once a week, take time to think about your work as a graduate student and jot down any observations paying particular attention to things that gave you energy and also things that felt draining. You can try out a career values exercise (link to our values worksheet) or other career assessments such as myIDP or ImaginePhD. The goal is to build an inventory of the stuff you want in a job -- daily tasks you want to do, skills you want to use and develop, problems you want to solve, people you want to work with, etc. Now you know what to look for when you look for jobs.
Then, once you’ve done this kind of reflection, you should start looking at jobs. Use some of the tasks and terms from your energizing lists and plug them into an occupational database to see what jobs come up. You might find a title or two that sounds interesting to use when searching online job boards. But when you read job ads, avoid the impulse to assess your qualifications first. It’s not helpful to look at jobs through the lens of your “hireability” on a first pass. Consider your level of interest first. All that stuff you spent time thinking about that you wanted in a job, is there enough of it in the ad? Most ads will be a combination of elements that make the job more appealing, less appealing, and also confusing. So your goal when looking at ads isn’t to find the “right” job but to first better understand the kinds of jobs out there.
Importantly, you don’t have to look for all the jobs all at once. You can’t learn everything about all the options, so focus on one at a time. Find a type of job that sounds appealing (for any reason) and approach it like a research project. Collect more data, through job ads, but also talk to people who do that kind of work through an informational interview. Ask them about all those things you identified in your inventory. Ask them about the things you’ve seen in job ads. Ask them what other career paths you should investigate based on your interests and who else they might know that would be good to talk to.
This process of self-reflection and career research takes time and effort. But it will help you feel more certain about your options and better prepare you for how to pursue those opportunities in the job search. Your degree isn’t going to automatically qualify you for a certain subset of jobs and only those jobs. Be open-minded and intentional when exploring careers. Know that whatever you do next beyond grad school likely won’t be the last thing you do, which means you’ll be asking, “what should I look for” again – but with a plan for how to answer that in the way that best suits you.
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Mike Firmand has held multiple positions in higher education related to career and professional development. Currently, he is a Training and Development Specialist with Illinois Human Resources’ Employee Learning & Organizational Effectiveness unit. Prior to this role, he worked for six years in the Illinois Graduate College’s Career Development Office and two years with the College of Business at Illinois State University.
