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  • >PhD Students
    • Get a PhD?
    • Find an advisor
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  • >New Professors
    • Start Strong
    • Teach Better
    • Publish More
  • >Independent Scholars
    • Find a great job
    • Write for Impact
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ACADEMICS ONLY
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What are Some Non-academic Career Options for a PhD or ABD?



What am I Interested in that I Might Have Overlooked?


This 60-question Interest Profiler might generate some unexpected insights

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60 Question Interest Profiler (US Dept of Labor)

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Melissa Anders (Toronto)

Lots of useful worksheets in this Planning Guide

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Assessments & examples (UC Irvine - 34pp)



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What are Some Examples of
​Cool Non-Academic Jobs?


A sample of 353 ABD jobs in the US

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From LinkedIn

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Two views of non-academic career path options

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Mel Bruce (Southern Cross - Australia)
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Arunodoy Sur (Florida Atlantic)


How do I get a job with a PhD or ABD?

Advice and Examples


Resources and Networks


An Academic’s Guide to Getting a Non-Academic Job
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Philip Wolgin (Berkeley)

Two Useful Guides


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12 Success Stories (Vrije Universiteit - Amsterdam)
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Humanities Advice APA (34pp)

Great Advice on Cover Letters and Vitas (Resumes)

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Writing a non-academic cover letter (Illinois)
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Writing a non-academic vita or resume (Edinburgh)

Emphasize these in your letter and vita

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Isaiah Hankel (Iowa)
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Klodjan Stafa (EPFL, Switzerland)

Still Interested in an Academic Career?

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Sean Heuston (The Citadel)

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  • Alternative PhD Careers
  • Beyond Academia: Non-Academic Careers for PhDs
  • Global PhD Network
  • PhD Career Transitions
  • The LinkedIn Alumni Tool

Some Inter-web Resources

  • Beyond the Professorate: Useful free webinars and advice from panels of successful people.
  • Versatile PhD: This is a ABD PhD support group to find a job outside academia. 
  • PhD Career Guide: Here's lots of career options to pursue that aren't in academics. 
  • Imagine PhD:  Helps Humanities and Social Science PhDs examine their  interests and skills and then plan  their next steps.
  • MyIDP - On-line assessment tool to help with STEM PhDs find the best fit. 
  • Cheeky Scientist: Helps a person explore industry opportunities and provides monthly updates.

A slide deck of additional options

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Sociology (Berkeley - Slides)

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Share Your Insights and Ideas

What have you created or found that's been useful and could be helpful for other PhD students, new professors, or independent scholars?  ​
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  • A pdf handout on teaching 
  • Tips on surviving grad school
  • Favorite career-advice articles
  • A paper submission checklist 
  • A list of inspirational quotes
  • A productivity aid you use
  • ​​​​The goal-setting system you use
  • Your most useful go-to websites
  • Helpful academic How-to articles
  • A method to keep perspective or manage stress

​Send an email to AcademicsOnly@yahoo.com if you have something you think would be useful to share with others on this website
, or if you have ideas on how to make this more useful to you or your students.
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Stay in touch

If you want to know when new tools added, blogs written, videos made, or whatever, we can send you an update that points out what might be relevant to you.
Keep me posted