Permanent careers in academia may be rare but it is extremely rewarding to help students. As I traverse a path from academia to consulting to the government, I strive to touch base with students through this blog and events like my recent colloquium given at High Point University. Even as I have transitioned away from pure academics, it is nice to go back to school.

Therefore, I am grateful for the opportunity. I thank my friend and current professor of physics at High Point, Dr. Khalida Hendricks, for thinking of me for this talk. I share the video recording of the talk here in this post.

After graduate school, I transitioned to the aerospace and defense industry, and I am passionate about helping current students and academics find careers beyond academia if they so choose.

How to transition from academia to consulting

Academia to consulting

I might have had a career in academia but I took a different route. I accepted a position in the industry and learned a lot more about the real world by doing so. Now, I feel confident about career options for physics PhDs and really any STEM PhDs.

Right out of graduate school, I started an engineering consulting role at Booz Allen Hamilton working for the government as my clients. Moving to now, I am starting a role in the government directly.

From consulting to the government

I am excited about this role as I have a perspective on how things work in academia as well as private industry. I am ready for this new challenge and can appreciate the things that are better here, that may well be taken for granted by those who have not had experience in the other industries.

Why my new job is kind of like getting tenure in academia

I do believe that opportunities are what you make of them. An opportunity is boring until you turn things on their head and do what nobody could imagine was possible.

When I started graduate school at Ohio State, nobody thought I would be deploying to the bottom of the Earth to Antarctica for my research. Sometimes opportunities lay buried and they have to be dug out from the depths.

I may have gone from academia to consulting to the government but I remain as excited as ever to help any student.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Liq6fIsHhbE

Enjoy the talk and let me know any comments or questions!

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