Non-Faculty and Non-Academic Careers
While the non-faculty career path has always been of interest to both master’s and doctoral students, more graduate students than ever include this as part of their job exploration process. For some students, non-faculty careers may be a first choice. For others, these careers may be necessitated by a tight academic job market or even be a part of a pre- or post-academic career path plan. Regardless, exploring non-faculty positions requires different steps than the faculty career path.
Exploring Possibilities
Since many graduate students may be unfamiliar with non-faculty career paths, it will be important to research:
- Gather information about market conditions, occupations, industries and employers. The University Career Center has three great resources: O*NET OnLine, The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), and CandidCareer Videos.
- Revisit myIDP or ImaginePhD, and this time review job families or careers. You can explore the kinds of career opportunities, connect to people and organizations within those careers, build skills and find sites for which to apply for those kinds of careers.
- Another valuable resource for job exploration is LinkedIn. With LinkedIn, you can search by keyword for people in careers of interest, jobs in those careers and groups and articles associated with those careers.
During Your Graduate Education
If you are considering a non-faculty position (either within or outside of higher education), it is still important to develop and refine your scholarly skills in research, teaching and service. Additionally, you will want to look for opportunities that develop and refine your skills in areas related to your non-faculty career paths of interest. Opportunities you might consider:
- Help run a conference on your campus or in your field
- Participate in community engaged research
- Take on a leadership role in a student organization
- Participate in an internship or practicum project if available
- Help write a grant or produce a project in your department
- Attend seminars, workshops, academies, learning communities, or other interdisciplinary programs and opportunities
These opportunities and involvement will help you develop transferable skills that will make you more competitive on the job market.
Access Transferable Skills Resources.
Understanding Timeline
Non-faculty positions within higher education sometimes run on an academic calendar, but not always. Alternatively, non-faculty positions outside of higher education will have a rolling timeline and may be more market driven. The length of application processes can run as long as academic processes – 12 to 15 months – for some positions (or sometimes even longer for positions in government), but also may be as short as a week or two, depending upon field, connections and size of the organization. Being prepared will help you be more flexible with the timeline.
Preparing Job Materials
The cover letter is designed to clarify how one will not only fit the organizational and job position, but how they contribute uniquely to the position that makes them the best candidate for that specific position. The cover letter should provide additional information about the most relevant accomplishments to that position.
Access Cover Letter Resources.
The resume format can vary widely depending upon the field of the position. Careers within higher education, in higher education or in research-related industries may allow for some conventions similar to a CV. However, the specific requirements of a resume generally remain the same. A resume should provide only a demonstration of how a student is uniquely qualified for a specific position, including how they meet the minimum requirements, preferred qualifications, and the value-added qualities they bring to the position. Resumes are typically no longer than the front and back of one page, should include specific verbiage from the job ad, and should provide detailed evidence of a student’s accomplishments.
Access Resume Resources.
Increasingly, hiring individuals and organizations look online to see what they can learn about a candidate. It is important that you understand how you might be searched online. If negative or problematic search results show up for you, you will need to work to remedy that problem. If you have no search results or are difficult to identify, you can work to better showcase yourself in results. Good search results in a competitive job market can be that additional positive attribute that makes you the most valuable candidate.
Access Online Profile Resources.