Joe Stubenraunch is a user experience researcher in tech. He has been in this position for about six months, before that an instructional designer in the same company and prior to that, he was in academia for most of his career. He got his Ph.D. in History with a focus on late 18th and early 19th centuries British history. Then, he had a very traditional academic path from graduate school to tenure track to tenured, and then, he had a midlife crisis and decided to completely reinvent his life…tune in to find out how he navigates that and lands in tech.
If you're a Humanities Ph.D. interested in opportunities in industry, this episode is for you!
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Show Notes:
[01:09] Joe's background - History Prof to User Experience Researcher in Tech
[03:24] Why a Tenured Prof would decide to reinvent their career in tech
[08:52] Career options as you grow in seniority: Academia vs Industry
[13:26] How to explore post-academic career options and steps to get there
[18:21] Core skillset overlap between a Professor and roles in industry
[22:41] Background, skillsets, and experiences of an Instructional Designer
[25:36] Roles and opportunities for Humanities PhDs
[32:27] Total open roles in Tech vs Academia
[38:05] Ego, prestige, and how it affects the decision to re-start a career outside academia