The Alt-Ac Decision (for PhDs)

by Robyn Byrd

Whether you have fallen out of love with your specific field, or have simply realized you don't want to spend your life at a university (darn kids everywhere!), there may come a time when you consider the alt-ac path. That is, looking for a job outside of universities, and maybe even outside of research. This might seem frightening and even disappointing to even consider, after years of work and best laid plans for the future.

Yet in this economy, a job that is a lucrative alternative to an academic career (hence, alt-ac) may be a prudent plan. I myself have considered looking for alt-ac work, probably for a temporary bridge between the doctorate and a tenure-track teaching position. After a decade of low-wages and part-time work, I am ready for a "grown-up" salary! But then I have to consider... how could this break with university culture and work affect a future prospective tenure-track opportunity? Woe is me! This is hard.

First, some things to consider about alt-ac:

Is alt-ac your long term plan? Are you ready to get out for good? Motivated by pay? Go for it. Your track record of project-management, working with teams (your committee), and stick-tuitiveness (not to mention your intelligence) make you a great catch for the corporate world.

Is this a temporary bridge plan, because of the poor academic job market? Do your research. Do the types of universities you wish to court consider alt-ac work to be a lowly thing or a shirking of your nobler projects? Or do they understand, as a community college or state school might, that financial pressures put people to work at all sorts of things? Seek a job that gives you experiences that could leverage you back into a highly-sought research/teaching position. Or even aim for an administrative role that would not have been open to you as a "merely" academic Ph.D.

Do you want to leave the university, but hate the idea of the corporate world? Research options in non-profit work, consultancy, and government offices. Depending on your credentials, you could work for a state-run food bank, a local housing authority, a non-profit counseling and psychiatry firm, or even the U.S. Geological Survey (there's an office right up the road from DeKalb...). Some of these positions would not pay as well as the corporate world, but they would allow you to continue your research and problem-solving in impactful ways, perhaps even more impactful than the classroom.

Are you looking for a job the way a normal person would? This isn't the academic job market! Reformat your CV as a resume. Seek out workshops now on how to maximize your LinkedIn presence. LinkedIn employers frequently contact people like us for non-academic work.

These are just a few problems and questions that have been on my mind, and a few ideas for where scientists, teachers, psychologists, and all manner of doctorate holders could find work outside of the familiar, yet sometimes growth inhibiting, landscape of the college campus. Good luck in your search! The Ph.D. may narrow your opportunities in some ways, but the payoff is in the specific and rewarding opportunities it opens up.