When first considering leaving academia, it can be difficult to know where to even start looking. In previous blog posts, I’ve outlined steps to discover job opportunities based on your skills and interests:

The above steps require significant internal reflection. It’s important simultaneously to learn about career directions and job opportunities that you may have not even known exist.

I love the infographic below from the American Geoscience Institute. Although it’s specific to those with a geoscience background, it really does transcend fields to show the diversity of options available to you. Note that these jobs span sectors ranging across the nonprofit, academic, government, research, and industry worlds:

Additional resources, some field-specific (but many are still applicable across disciplines):

Books:

Lists of lists of resources:

Do you have other suggestions? Share as a comment below!

Special Note to Planetary Scientists

Here are some job titles of planetary scientists (both masters and Ph.D.) I know personally who are not faculty or soft money researchers. They work in government, industry, and the nonprofit sector.

Education and Outreach Scientist
NASA Mission Project Scientist
NASA HQ Program Manager
Space Instrument Scientist
Environmental Consultant
Small business founder and CEO
Data Scientist
Imaging Scientist
Nonprofit founder and CEO
Science Magazine Reporter
Science Museum Educator
Museum Curator
Space Architecture Engineer
Vice President, Business Development