Going Post-ac in a Pandemic: Preparing for the Non-Academic Career

With COVID19, academic hiring and higher ed budgets have imploded. Everyone, even the tenured, need to contemplate Plan B income streams. This webinar will show you how to prepare for the non-academic job search, whether you’re still in graduate school, adjuncting, or well into the academic career. We begin with the emotional struggle of letting go of the dream of the tenure track, and the social and academic challenges involved in the transition. We’ll contextualize all of this within the COVID19 pandemic and economic fallout.

Then, we’ll look at the process of re-evaluation away from a single-minded focus on the tenure track. We confront the incorrect belief held by many Ph.D.s (especially in the arts and humanities) that you don’t have any skills for non-academic jobs. You have a multitude of skills; you just haven’t learned to identify and mobilize them for jobs outside the academy. This webinar gives you the tools. With the COVID19-related implosion of the higher ed economy, now is the time to act.

We’ll cover:
*COVID19 impacts on the job market
*Confronting grief, sorrow, anger, and loss
*Why the non-academic job search matters
*What’s in a name? Post-ac, non-ac, alt-ac, out-ac, and Real-Ac
*How do I tell my advisor?
*Obstacles to imagining a non-academic career
*Identifying your translatable skills
*Managing the all-important “keywords”
*Tips for the non-academic cover letter and resume
*Common pitfalls and challenges for the Ph.D. job seeker in the “real world”
*Job-search strategies that work
*Resources for the job seeker

This workshop is appropriate for anyone on the Ph.D. track–from early/mid-stage graduate students to ABDs, new Ph.D.s, and postdocs, instructors, and those already mid-career. It’s also good for any advisors who want to learn how to advise their students better. Includes time for Q and A. As COVID19 ravages the higher ed economy, understanding the post-ac transition has never been more urgent.