Alternative Careers Blog

I noticed a long time ago that the top Google hits to this blog are on three posts I wrote on alternative career tracks in academia for PhD scientists^*. I've also been contacted in real life by people at my institution who are interested in learning about my position and other non-traditional careers for PhDs. It seems that even though academia is becoming less hostile to alternative careers, there is still a dearth of open and honest discussion on a PhD scientist's options outside of the academic tenure-track.

Everyone I know who investigated alternative careers did so in secret out of fear of PI reprisals or of being labeled as a failure. As I discovered two years ago, this makes the process incredibly frustrating and lonely since one doesn't know where to go, or who to talk to, for information and help. In the end, I stumbled upon my current position only because someone offered it to me. All's well that ends well? Perhaps. But I would still prefer to not have spent months stumbling around in the dark by myself trying to find the right career path for me.

So I've been thinking about establishing a blog-based forum in which people can share their thoughts and information about alternative careers for PhD scientists. CAE and I have discussed this idea, and we think perhaps a multi-author blog along the lines of Active Academic and Economical Academic might be an appropriate format. Anyone who would like to discuss alternative science careers would be welcome to be a contributor on the alternative careers blog.

I'm envisioning a very broad definition of alternative careers--pretty much anything that isn't the dominant or traditional career path in your field counts--and an equally broad range of topics. I would love to have posts from people who have (or previously had) alternative careers discussing the pros and cons of those positions and offering advice or tips to those who might be interested in those positions. People who are still debating tenure-track vs. non-tenure-track, academia versus non-academia, or science versus non-science are also welcome to share their thoughts and experiences.

I think there are probably quite a few science bloggers who would have interesting experiences to share. CAE spent some time in industry but is now back in academia in a grant writing position. Bean-Mom, who took some time off to take care of her two lovely daughters, is now interviewing for a science writer position. Unbalanced Reaction recently graduated and will be moving on to a vising assistant professorship at a small liberal arts college. DrDrA has a great tenure-track position, but previously spent some time on the research track. Coturnix has a cool-sounding job of being the Online Community Manager at PLoS-ONE. EcoGeoFemme has been contemplating choosing non-professor positions after she graduates. And these are just a few people that I can think of off the top of my head!

So what do you all think? Is an alternative careers blog something you'd find interesting or helpful? Would you be interested in being a contributor or do you know someone who would?

*I'm excluding random hits from people searching for (1) tips on how to plan Alice in Wonderland themed parties, (2) "mad sex parties", and (3) info on cruise ship viral epidemics, which calls up one of my posts on noroviruses.