Preparing for Jobs Outside the Academy

Authors

  • Brad Stoddard McDaniel College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.17720

Keywords:

job market, tenure, academia, alternative careers, freelance, non-academic

Abstract

At the 2019 meeting of the AAR in San Diego, Dr. Brad Stoddard led a workshop that encouraged graduate students to look outside academia for potential jobs. As the academic job market tightens, many qualified people are left scrambling for careers in theirfield of study. As Stoddard suggests in his workshop, the answer may lie in pursuing work outside the field of academia. Following Kelly Baker’s example, Stoddard showcases how much work is available through a portfolio career, offering advice on reinventing oneself academically, obtaining freelance work, and finding employment in non-profits that likely will fulfill one’s intellectual hopes and dreams.

Author Biography

  • Brad Stoddard, McDaniel College

    Brad Stoddard is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at McDaniel College.

References

Baker, Kelly J. 2019. “Not So Graceful Period: My Alt-Ac Story.” http://www.kellyjbaker.com/my-alt-ac-story/.

Basalla, Susan, and Maggie Debelius. 2014. “So What Are You Going to Do with That?”: Finding Careers Outside Academia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226200378.001.0001.

Burns, Jennifer Bobrow. 2006. Career Opportunities in the Nonprofit Sector. New York: Checkmark.

Donoghue, Frank. 2008. The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities. New York: Fordham University Press. Fruscione, Joseph, and Kelly J. Baker. 2018. Succeeding Outside the Academy: Career Paths beyond the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Furstenberg, Frank F. 2013. Behind the Academic Curtain: How to Find Success and Happiness with a PhD. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226066240.001.0001.

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Neff, Rachel Anna. 2019. Chasing Chickens: When Life after Higher Education Doesn’t go the Way You Planned. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh4zhmx.

Polk, Jennifer, and L. Maren Wood. 2018. Preparing for a Nonfaculty Job.” Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/08/08/tips-preparing-gradschool-alt-ac-position-opinion.

Polk, Jennifer, and L. Maren Wood. 2019. “A Beyond the Professoriate Faculty Challenge.” Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2019/01/08/faculty-should-interview-people-their-campuses-betteradvise-students-about-job.

Prothero, Stephen. 2007. Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—And Doesn’t. San Francisco: Harper-SanFrancisco. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131940701795253.

Vick, Julia Miller, and Jennifer S. Furlong. 2008. The Academic Job Search Handbook. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Published

2020-11-09

Issue

Section

The Conference

How to Cite

Stoddard, B. (2020). Preparing for Jobs Outside the Academy. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 49(1-2), 23-26. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.17720