Why You Should Hire a Former College Professor
We’re not who you think we are.
I've applied to more than 500 jobs now--both in the private sector and government. Some require a Ph.D. (in government) while others are looking for 10 years of experience. I have both, but I haven't even been past the first interview stage--if I get an interview at all.
People really don't understand how many skills a college professor truly has. I don't know if it's their own bias, thinking that we have cushy jobs where all we do is pontificate while smoking cigars and sipping brandy in the faculty lounge.
College professors are emotionally resilient
No, college professors (at least 90% of them are the workhorses, not the elite who show up on cable news and self-help circuits) have become the new therapists in academia. I've enjoyed good relationships with my students in the past, and they've always felt confident in trusting me with their ups and downs in life. Yet I noticed a significant shift over the past decade in the students who would come to my office.
While I did the best I could to direct them to the counseling resources on campus, it was emotionally overwhelming for me to see so much drama and trauma. I am not emotionally or academically equipped to be a social worker, yet my job entailed it. I burned out as a result. Yet I know that this prepares me for emotional resilience in the workplace. College professors are well-equipped to handle anything that's thrown at them.
College professors are good communicators
We see the results of the breakdown of K-12 education in the U.S., yet we must figure out how to educate those with varying capacities for learning new things. This means boring the students who come prepared yet challenging the unprepared students who might not be up to the tasks. These differences occur within each classroom, and I used to pull out my hair trying to find the proper balance.
This shows that we can handle differences in the workplace, communicating with different people in different capacities. College professors are good communicators because we learn through experience how to address the uniqueness of the individual.
College professors can quickly adapt
We're constantly navigating new situations each semester as we face new challenges in our disciplines and changing class dynamics. You can have the same course prep every semester, but it will land differently every single semester. That requires the need to adapt and course correct along the way. College professors are always asking, "Is this working?" If not, we're engaging our problem-solving skills to make it work.
College professors are always learning
I got into academia because I have an obnoxious intellectual curiosity. If we're not conducting research ourselves, we're always interested in learning something new. I would spend part of my summer taking professional development workshops to make my teaching better. Because media technology was always changing, I would also spend my nights, weekends, and summers learning new software programs and media platforms. That's what kept me going for the 20-plus years--always learning something new and continually growing as a person and as an academic.
College professors show up despite low pay
Many people don't know that college professors, particularly those in the humanities, just don't get paid well. Really, they don't get paid well. I don't know where people got the idea that college professors were rich. My friend who's a high school teacher in a small community in Connecticut makes 50% more in salary than what I did teaching in Philadelphia. WTF? Yet I remained loyal to my teaching position.
College professors can't just give their two-week notice like you can if you're in another field. That means college professors must suck it up, show up to work each day, even if the workplace is "toxic." I'm surprised at the salaries outside academia, so I'm more than willing to accept a job with lower pay--because it's probably higher than what I was making as a college professor.
Ok, so I know I went off a tangent this Saturday morning, but all this has been bubbling up the past two years. Yes, it's been more than two years since I've been in academia. I make just $21 an hour as a writer now as I continue to send out my resumes into the black hole of the ATS systems.
Those college professors trying to pivot to a new career shouldn't be overlooked because we have a Ph.D. Just having a Ph.D. shows that we are dedicated to doing hard work for the long haul. Most of us are earnest, not cocky.
Most of us don't fit into the "college professor" stereotype. Just like other workplaces and industries have changed, so has academia. Those old, stereotypical professors have been long retired, so the stereotype should be as well.
Hire us, please. Or at least give us a second look.
