I've decided to leave academia. What job can I do?

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Hi,

I have decided today I want to leave academia. I have research experience and a PhD, publications, some lecturing experience too, but I just want to leave.

My ideal job would be health related, a patient-facing role. I did have a dream to be a GP but financially it isn't feasible now, and it is tough in the medical profession. I'm open to going into training again, but can't afford to spend more than 2 years (and don't want to take a loan out). I had a look at the Physician Assistant training programme but that is coming up very expensive too (and not sure it is worthwhile with a loan).

Any ideas please? Thanks!

Watching with interest - walked out last week myself: ridiculous, really, as only supervision and admin (and research, obviously ) until September - but they can stuff their fucking job where the monkey put his nuts

I'm swinging between elation and sheer terror atm. So I made sure I burned all my bridges in case I was tempted to eat humble pie

So - in addition to OP's request: can someone think up possibilities for an ex- SL in economics, with doctorates in Dev Studies and History, and major mental health issues (though tbf, these weren't major until I moved to my last institution )

Those aren't grins, btw - more ricti (rictuses?) of abject terror

And I realise I have now outed myself comprehensively - so if you know me in RL give me a shout, and when my lawyer has finished threatening them, I'll be happy to buy you a coffee!

How about becoming a sonographer?

OP, not patient facing, but what about the pharmaceutical industry? With your qualifications and publications you could apply for a clinical or possibly medical affairs role

Watching with interest. I tried to get out at one point as I couldn't stand where I was. I looked for other jobs, eg research ones within the NHS, a charity, and I ended up going to academia again. HOWEVER I am far happier where I am now - as I say the place I was before was unbearable.

However sometimes I wonder if it is an option to leave realistically even if you wanted to with a humanities / social science PhD.

Eggs, I'm on here by accident (no academic background) but I'd expect it's like leaving any other career. Retraining is often required and you generally need to start in a more junior, often less paid post to build up the new career.

eggs that's literally (in the literal sense ) what I've done. If I go to a think tank (I wish!) I'd be looking at a £10 K cut. Realistically, I'm looking at starting over, so probably around a £30K cut.

My savings have gone on the lawyer; I've been hotel-hopping as I was between (rental) homes - but at least there's just me, so no other people are impacted or affected.

I will never again accept responsibility without power, or being expected to do eg routine admin tasks whilst on annual leave - or work of all kinds whilst on sick leave.

I say now... On a more positive note, I'm really fat: hopefully, I'll lose weight now I can't afford to eat

You're right. I'm so glad you got to where you wanted to be @Hefzi. I'm in my mid thirties now, the problem is I just don't feel I have the time or money to retrain- I'm only where I am due to a studentship. And the long term plan is emigration - so time is not on my side. I guess I'll just have to suck it up. Or perhaps retrain in something once we get over to where we want to be in the world.

I think all of us are surprised by how academia has went in the UK over the last decade or so. If I'd known I question if I'd have put myself through it all TBH. But - I am so lucky to have a job at all!

I knew someone who left to become a vicar. Not an easy option, and quite a pay cut.
Also knew someone who retrained as a lawyer. Pretty successful now. I counldnt imagine leaving, except for if one of my books really took off...ho ho......, but I have to say conditions are so shit now, someth8ng like a 19% pay cut in real terms over last 20 years, and that is before all the pension business. DH’s father was a prof, as am I, 40 years ago.They lived in a massive house in London, on one wage, had 4 months a year in their French home etc etc. Me,ex council flat and a weekend in Blackpool!

someth8ng like a 19% pay cut in real terms over last 20 years

I'm not sure this is really true. Salaries did improve considerably under Labour, relative to other employment areas.

In pretty much no area of employment have salaries kept pace with house prices. Very few regular jobs allow people to live in massive houses in London on one wage these days.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

@JoJoSM2 I am going to look into this option. I've considered Midwifery but again it is about re-training and the hours are long too.

@heucherella I have not been too keen on pharma. But maybe it is something I should consider.

jobs I've seen people take from science PhDs include

• patent agent (training required)
• data science (if you can code well)
• pharma (writing / management roles as well as bench work)
• roles in science grant agencies / journals
• teacher

Apparently there’s a shortage of clinical psychologists, and you can do a 2 year conversion course if you have a degree. I started looking at it but returning to full-time study isn’t viable for me so didn’t get any further than that.

How about an optician or opthalmologist?

How about medical writing for the pharmaceutical industry? Look up Healthcare communications jobs. Lots of different roles in agencies all around the country. At senior level good experienced scientific staff are extremely well paid.

Thanks everyone

@Slightlyperturbedowlagain This would interest me. I need to look into this.

@theconstantinoplegardener That would require another 3/8 years of training and I can't afford that.

@elastamum I've never considered this. I will look into it.

@Slightlyperturbedowlagain I can't seem to find an accredited converison course for clinical psyhcology, only doctorates? www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/career-planning/course-finder?field_leading_to_a_career_in_tid=198&field_qualification_type_tid=All&field_study_mode_tid=All&field_provider_name_tid=All&field_region_tid=All

www.bps.org.uk/public/become-psychologist
There’s loads of info about accredited courses etc on this site

www.bps.org.uk/public/become-psychologist/career-options-psychology
And some info on graduate level career change.

Hefzi I had a full-bore nervous breakdown towards the end of my PhD and ended up leaving the sector...it still hurts (I loved lots about the work) but predictably happily I've totally recovered my MH. I don't want to trivialise what you've got-I have no idea and I know it might be a very different scenario-but what I thought was a long-term problem with anxiety and depression turned out to be pretty bloody circumstantial. I've watched lots of very very clever and talented and totally broken friends jump ship over the last few years with similar results.

No helpful suggestions from me career-wise though-I had to get a job in a cafe to give myself room to recover/make ends meet, then got pregnant. I'll be basically starting from scratch when I look for work again/retrain, but lots of people end up doing that in their mid-30s anyway. Best of luck with everything.

Op, I am an ex academic who now works in clinical trials for a large CRO.
I’ve done a lot of drug safety work, clinical surveillance and now I’m a project manager.
The pressure is high, but the money’s good. Would that be something you’re interested in?

eggsandchips social sciences PhDs are pretty popular in user research, which is a pretty well-paid and increasingly important field. If you have a bit of tech skill, or are willing to brush up, you'd be in quite a good position. Humanities...it depends!

@Anatidae yes that would work for me. I am meticulous but I work fast and I like fast paced environments.

What’s your PhD in? If it’s biological, pharmaceutical etc then you’d have a reasonable shot. Be prepared to go in on the ground level.

CRO companies if you want to have a look at their websites:

IQVIA
PPD
Syneos Health
ICON
parexcel
Chiltern
PRA

Are the main players - plenty of chances to work abroad too. It can be VERY stressful - it’s a very different environment to academia and I found it a challenge at first to move over to such different stresses and pressures but overall worthwhile (it’s got me a 3x payrise, a chance to work all over Europe and a husband ;) )

All sorts of career paths: clinical management, regulatory, medical writing, labs etc. Have a good poke around the jobs sections

clinical trials manager, data protection (health) any of the big pharma, medical sales, I spoke to a bloke this week who quit academia to sell (he tried hard to sell me a microscope).

How about academic publishing? That's my field and I don't have a PhD but there are lots of jobs which require one. Especially in the sciences where people who want to work in publishing are less likely to have a science PhD.