While in grad school (or postgraduate studies, as the Brits say), I worked for a big investment bank through an arrangement with my university’s business school. I’m still involved in this work, but to a lesser extent than before. Commitments to my research post keep me primarily at the scholar’s desk. Only when time allows can you find me in the boardroom, so to speak.
Students often ask me how I got this side gig and how they might pursue a career beyond the academy … or perhaps in parallel to it. I won’t answer those questions head-on in this post. But I think a few tips for current postgrads — especially for those in theology and religion (my own disciplinary field) — are in order.
1. Find your ‘Why’
Ask yourself why you want a career outside of the academy. The reasons most likely have to do with money and job security. These are very good reasons. But these reasons are not enough to sustain a thoughtful search for an industry or public service or non-profit career.
So, ask yourself why a career in X sector is appealing. More specifically, ask why it is good for you. And ask why it is good for society. You may think that monitoring and limiting the use of chemical weapons in war is good for society. But it may not be good for you: the job may not fit your skillsets, interests, or lifestyle. Conversely, you may identify a job that actually suits your skillsets, interests, and lifestyle. But it may not be as praiseworthy, or socially impactful, as you’d like. Perhaps the job involves being a cog in a huge corporate machine, where the social purpose of your work is hard to discern.
Getting your why right means aligning it with yourself and with the needs of others. Theologically speaking, I call this intersection your vocation — the thing you were or are called to do. Find your vocation, your why, and this will help sustain you when your career or career search gets rough. And trust me, it won’t always be smooth sailing.
2. Talk the talk
Our language shapes how we see the world. In academia, we see ourselves as ‘tutors’ (who are able to hold our own in the classroom), ‘researchers’ (who have the skillsets to write well-argued pieces of scholarship), and ‘conference organisers’ (who were ‘volun-told’ to do so by a senior colleague or supervisor.
But in the outside world, these same jobs could be described in different, more industry-relevant ways. People who hold their own in front of others are ‘leaders’, ‘trainers’, ‘facilitators’. People who write and argue well are ‘analysts’, ‘marketeers’, ‘sales persons’. And those who simply do their job are ‘collaborative’, ‘competent’, ‘ready to learn’.
Spend time thinking about what you do all day as a postgrad, and then translate those activities into industry speech. The exact terminology will depend on the sector you’re interested in. And if you find that some of your activities don’t match industry expectations (Latin translation won’t translate into immediate competency in STATA, I’m afraid), then think about upskilling — our next topic to address below.
3. Learn new skills and areas of knowledge
Many postgrads feel time poor. Between essay submissions, classroom assignments, and exams, there seems to be little time to take on new endeavours.
Every situation is different, but I would encourage you to prioritise learning skills and areas of knowledge that lie outside of your current degree. Do this prudently, of course. If you need 40 hours a week for your degree, then don’t sacrifice those hours to learn coding for a free online certificate. Prioritising involves honouring your current commitments.
That said, prioritising can also involve preparing for, or building up, your future self. Instead of 30 hours to coding now, try 3 hours twice a week, over half a year.
Identify a set of skills, or areas of knowledge, that will be useful for a future career in X. Identify the exact type of jobs that use those skills (download job descriptions from job boards, LinkedIn, etc. to guide you), then work backwards from there. Think about how you might go about learning those skills, and identify the milestones you’d like to reach on the way to proficiency.
I highly recommend free online learning via Coursera and similar platforms. The quality of teaching on these platforms can be quite high. And the risk to you as a curious learner are quite low. A little investment here can have a good ROI.
Well, that’s all the advice for now. I have much more to say by way of top tips. If you found any of this helpful, please let me know, and I’ll aim to write more before long.
— EAD
Image source: DALL-E. Prompt: ‘Make a feature image for a WordPress post entitled ‘beyond the academy: career advice for postgrads in theology and religion’. The image should not look cartoonish. It should be professional, but a little fun.’
Edward A. David 
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