Non-Academic Job Searches

Articles

"What else can I do? And other frequent questions," By Mary Johnson

Mary Johnson presents the frequent questions that graduate students ask themselves when they reach the end of grad school: What else can I do (instead of academia)?, Have I wasted the last six years?, etc.

Web sites

www.hiremizzoutigers.com

This site is an information portal for employers, Mizzou students and alumni. Users will find information about upcoming career fairs and may link to all of the career service offices on campus.

ScienceCareers.org

A career development resource for graduate students and postdocs. Published by Science, this resource provides information about research and nonresearch careers in academia, industry and other locations. Issues regarding scientific training, grant writing and career development for scientists.

USA Jobs

Allows students to search for jobs with the U.S. government based on location, job category and salary range. Students can also look for job postings within a particular agency.

Employment Spot

Users can look for jobs by city, state, vocation, company or search for international jobs. The site also contains tips on interviewing, salaries and the best companies for employees.

Guide Star

Allows students to research nonprofit organizations. The research process is fairly complicated, but there's a tutorial that runs through all the procedures.

Idealist.org

Allows students to search for jobs and volunteer work with nonprofit organizations.

Science Jobs

Great for students who are seeking jobs in science outside academia, though students can also seek academic jobs through the site. Search by field (i.e., botany, food science, molecular biology) and by location.

HireHealth.com

Users can search for jobs in the biopharmaceutical field. The search engine can be a bit difficult to use; it requires that students use a keyword to search, and if they don't know what exactly they're looking for, they're not going to get very far. However, if students have an idea of what aspect of biopharmaceutical work they would be interested in, this can be extremely valuable.

Engineering Jobs

Engineering students can search through an enormous list of engineering companies. The search process of this page is rather tedious; students should have an idea of which companies they are interested in, as the list is rather long. Through the site, students can then check out the Web sites of those companies and find the particulars of job announcements there. Students can also post their résumés.

Engineering Central

Engineering students can search for jobs by job categories (i.e., chemical engineering, civil engineering). Click on a category, and a long list of jobs (with location) appears. Pick a job and click on it for the particulars.

Journalism Jobs

Students can search for jobs in journalism by job categories (i.e., newspaper, TV, radio). Click on the area of interest, and a long list of jobs appears with company and location information. Pick a job and click on it for the details.

Job Search Beat

This is a messy site — very busy and lots of distracting links attempting to sell you a variety of things (interview guides, etc.). However, this site does include links to various job searches. Some of the searches are quite typical (i.e., flipdog.com) while others are more obscure (i.e., space jobs). There are also links into regional job searches worldwide. Click on "Japan," and you can find a good list of job search engines for Japan.

CareerFrames: International Job Searching

Allows students to search for jobs by country or by job type; there are usually several types of searches for each country and job type. Typically, the job type searches will be international.

Teach for America

Teach For America employs recent college graduates of all academic and professional backgrounds who then commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools.

Books

Kleinman, C. (2002). Winning the Job Game: The new rules for finding and keeping the job you want. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Gives advice on how to live and thrive in the job market after school has been completed. In particular, this book covers important subjects: how to keep your job, how to advance your career, how to utilize your education and why to seek more education. The book also provides lists of professions, the requirements for those professions and the starting salary. Found at Ellis Library: HF5382.75.U6 K545 2002

McClure, J. (2006). How to Find Your Dream Job and Make it a Reality: Solutions for a meaningful and rewarding career. Trafford Publishing.

 

Kruempelmann, E. (2002). The Global Citizen: A guide to creating an international life and career. Ten Speed Press.

 

Basalla, S., & Debelius, M. (2001). So What are You Going To Do With That?: A guide for M.A.s and Ph.D.s seeking careers outside of the academy. Farrar Straus Giroux.

The authors detail how soul-searching can lead scholars out of the academy all together and explain how to get your feet wet in the world of nonacademic employment.