Building a Career outside Academia: A Guide for Doctoral Students in the Behavioral and Social Sciences

After years of hard work and many long hours, you've finally finished your dissertation and earned your doctorate. You've persevered through many challenges, but one dilemma still lies before you: What will you do with your degree? Many graduates go on to pursue academic careers -- but academia isn't for everyone. This career guide examines the rewarding opportunities that await social and behavioral science doctorates in nonacademic sectors, including government, consulting, think tanks, for-profit corporations, and nonprofit associations. Jennifer Brown Urban and Miriam R. Linver have gathered experienced professionals to provide an insider's look into their respective fields. They explain why they chose their paths, the challenges they overcame, and how they applied their PhDs to make a difference in the real world. Chapters offer tips for leveraging support from mentors, conducting job searches, marketing your degree and skill set, networking, and preparing for interviews. This expert guidance will help you decide what career is the best fit for you. After an introduction by the editors, chapters in this book include: (1) Academia or Not? What Moderates a Doctoral Student's Career Decisions (Jennifer Brown Urban and Miriam R. Linver); (2) Leaving and Returning to Academia: Can You Ever Go Home Again? (Lisa Lieberman); (3) Postdoc: The Next Logical Step? (J. Zoe Klemfuss); (4) Government: Using Your Skills for the Public Good (Layla E. Esposito and Valerie Maholmes); (5) Private Foundations: The Other Side of the Research Coin (Sarah Clement); (6) Consulting: Applying Your Skills in New Arenas (Scott R. Rosas); (7) Think Tanks: Applying Your Academic Skill Set to Policy Research (Lisa A. Gennetian); (8) For-Profit Corporations: Finding Your Way in the World of Business (Debra Mazloff); (9) Nonprofits: Bridging the Research-Practice Divide (Jonathan F. Zaff); (10) Non-Tenure-Track Academic Jobs: The Side of Academia You Didn't Know Existed (Jane L. Powers and Lisa A. McCabe); (11) How to Get the Most from Your Mentoring Experience (Patricia L. Mabry); (12) Preparing for and Conducting Job Searches Outside Academia (Kerin McQuaid Borland, Terri LaMarco, and Amy Hoag Longhi); (13) Networking: How to Market Yourself and Your PhD (Alan Pickman and Lisa Chauveron); and (14) Interviewing: What to Expect and How to Prepare (Dana M. Foney and Olivia Silber Ashley).