Has anyone left the federal government for academia?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many rules about what I can and can’t do outside of work. I’m thinking of trying to become a lecturer or something at a university.

Why do people do this??

Just bc you know a subject well and/or have experience doesn't make you a (great) teacher.


Do you know anything about lesson planning? Curriculum? Classroom magmt? How to deal with XYZ scenarios? Test design? Grading rubric?

Lol, The high school teacher who thinks their information is relevant has entered the chat…

+1 this is about college. Classroom mgmt?

Not PP but it is a thing, especially at the introductory level, when you have a lot of disengaged students. I wouldn't say it's a widespread thing though.

[Anonymous]

For tenure track jobs, that is the only academic job that would get you the type of job security that you have as a fed, it is extremely difficult to even get considered for a position unless you are fresh out of a Phd program, or coming from another university. It would be a really unusual case for them to consider a person looking for a career change, you would need to bring something desirable/unique to the role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many rules about what I can and can’t do outside of work. I’m thinking of trying to become a lecturer or something at a university.

Why do people do this??

Just bc you know a subject well and/or have experience doesn't make you a (great) teacher.


Do you know anything about lesson planning? Curriculum? Classroom magmt? How to deal with XYZ scenarios? Test design? Grading rubric?

Lol, The high school teacher who thinks their information is relevant has entered the chat…

+1 this is about college. Classroom mgmt?

Cute that Op thinks she can waltz in and automatically become a college professor...?
Her qualification: former fed.

It's like asking....hey I think being an astronaut is a fun job. I don't know how to do that, and have no training, but I think that's the job for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many rules about what I can and can’t do outside of work. I’m thinking of trying to become a lecturer or something at a university.

Why do people do this??

Just bc you know a subject well and/or have experience doesn't make you a (great) teacher.


Do you know anything about lesson planning? Curriculum? Classroom magmt? How to deal with XYZ scenarios? Test design? Grading rubric?

Lol, The high school teacher who thinks their information is relevant has entered the chat…

+1 this is about college. Classroom mgmt?

Cute that Op thinks she can waltz in and automatically become a college professor...?
Her qualification: former fed.

We don’t know what “former fed” means. I have a friend with an MD PhD who works as a scientist at EPA and has published a ton. Plenty of schools would want him. An SEC paralegal with a master’s in liberal arts? Lol, no.

But the MD PhD scientist knows that being a lecturer means zero pay or job stability.

OP, come back and tell us what education level you have, and what your degree is in.

[Anonymous]

OP, maybe go into teaching at the k-12 level? At least there the pay would be better.

[Anonymous]

The one person I know who did that ended up coming back to civil service after spending 3 years in academia. She definitely felt the university misled her when it hired her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only know people who have done the opposite, including myself. Are you independently wealthy?

+1. I know many people including myself who left academia for government.

+2. It's harder to go the opposite direction. Academia is also tough in specific ways federal work isn't (like constant grant applications, and much of the service and student support work you do not "counting" toward tenure).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many rules about what I can and can’t do outside of work. I’m thinking of trying to become a lecturer or something at a university.

Why do people do this??

Just bc you know a subject well and/or have experience doesn't make you a (great) teacher.


Do you know anything about lesson planning? Curriculum? Classroom magmt? How to deal with XYZ scenarios? Test design? Grading rubric?

Lol, The high school teacher who thinks their information is relevant has entered the chat…

+1 this is about college. Classroom mgmt?

Cute that Op thinks she can waltz in and automatically become a college professor...?
Her qualification: former fed.

My former Fed friend who made this transition had a PhD in history and had written several books. We haven’t stayed in touch well but based on her social media posts I don’t think she’s very happy at her university.

[Anonymous]

I know multiple people who went from legal divisions in Federal Reserve, US Treasury, and State Department to tenure-track positions in law schools. Usually they are bringing a personal recommendation from the General Counsel and have elite credentials (JD from an Ivy+ or even JD/PhD combo).

Even then, it was a crazy tough job market and only received 1-2 offers. The plus side of this is that they get to keep their prestigious government job while going on the academic job market.

[Anonymous]

I went back to academia from federal government for a few years. My federal job had allowed me to publish, so I had something to put on a CV. My academic job was overseas, so it paid better than a US lecturer job, but lower than US tenure track/ federal jobs. It was a great experience for a few years, but I couldn't afford to keep doing it AND send my kid to a US university.