If we’ve never thought about what it is that we most love about academics, we may lose all of it without knowing how to save the essence of what matters.
The Essence That Matters
What IS that essence for YOU? What are the important pieces of your career and life that make you want to come back day after day?
Does the work situation energize you? Are you working with colleagues or working alone? Is it the search for knowledge that’s important to you, or is it what the results of the search can do for the world, and for you?
And, what does the paycheck allow you to do after work? Do you look forward to spending time with family or friends – in your own home? Do you tend to prefer solitary pursuits? What “stuff” do you need in your life? Who is the “real” you, under the career image you project?
The 8 Elements
If you have a good description of what really matters to you, you’ll be able to choose what Plan B looks like, if the worst should happen to your academic career.
Remember that career Plan B is a process, not a day-long project, and it consists of multiple steps that occur simultaneously, over time.
Here are eight elements to consider as you formulate your Plan B.
(Warning: sometimes this thread of thought leads to questioning your current situation.)
1. Values and Vision
Begin by looking at what you truly want to be part of your lifetime – not just your career, but how it fits in with the whole enchilada that wraps your values around your life. Ask yourself, what is REALLY important to you? If your office or home were on fire, what or whom would you risk your life to save? At life’s end, what do you want to be proud of having done? What IS that elusive state of being you can call success?
2. Assumptions
What do you assume that you have to do to get the life you want? You’ll need to discover and analyze your assumptions. Begin with a few questions. (More will show up on their own, sounding like reasons you can’t possibly make any career change.)
Do you assume that
- if you leave academia, you can’t return?
- there is no intellectual stimulation beyond academia?
Follow each question with “If so, why do I believe this?” or “Why not?” Research will convince you that your assumptions are not all absolutely true, and that many exceptions will open doors to new possibilities.
3. Mindset & Perspective
Resilience is the capacity to bounce back from negatives, whether they be barriers to overcome, mistakes we’ve made, or just plain bad moods. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have bad moods, but it does mean that a positive mindset can find the value in persisting. The self-fulfilling prophecy may be alive and well when we get “stuck,” but it is also alive and well when we succeed. To succeed, we must believe in our ability to succeed.
4. Support System
Because we all have low periods, when our resilience is under attack, and we can’t get unstuck by ourselves, we need a support system – at least one person we can turn to for support. Usually, that means emotional support, but it can extend to financial terms, too. No matter the form the support takes, the importance of other people who believe in us cannot be exaggerated.
5. Luck
John Krumboltz titled a book, Luck Is No Accident. He stresses the need to pursue your natural curiosity wherever it leads, and to continue learning more about whatever interests you, even if you think of it as a sport or hobby (think sky-diving or Civil War trains). Eventually, something clicks and you find yourself in a new career, saying “It was just dumb luck. I was seated next to this person and we got to talking ….”
6. Follow Up
Krumboltz also noticed that the active, and crucial, part of “luck” often consisted of follow up - both following the trail of the initial interest, and following up after the accidental “luck” that precipitated the change. Had the person not followed up in either situation, the change would not have happened. Too often, we allow our fondest activities and interests to drop out of our lives, especially when focusing on more “serious” career options, like grad school.
7. Owning/Sharing Your Abilities
Whether you volunteer information, time, or kindness to colleagues, friends and family, you are sharing your abilities. And, as you pass them along, you become known for who you are and what you stand for. The more you share, the more you become known, as you allow yourself to become visible to your community. This is called networking. Do it.
8 Career Development Techniques
This is the easiest element to learn, although few academics know how much the process differs outside of academia. It begins with exploration of your strengths so you can articulate them as you search for careers pathways that match your strengths. It continues with interviewing people working in careers that interest you (and inevitably includes revising assumptions you’ve made about how the world beyond academics works). Resume writing, interviewing and a host of other more mechanical steps complete the process.
The important part remains in the act of beginning the back up process.
© Copyright, 2010, Kate Duttro. All rights reserved. Used with Permission.
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Job-Hunt's Academic Job Search expert Kate Duttro is a career strategist, coach, and instigator. She writes the Career Change for Academics Blog, for current and recovering academics, and other smart cookies. For more than 10 years, she has provided career services at the University of Washington, where she has counseled, taught classes and workshops, and dug out information for thousands of undergrads, grad students, post docs and alumni in all phases of career development. Holding several degrees, including a PhD in anthropology, Kate has also earned many professional certifications in the field of career coaching.
