Thread by @KwekuOA

Academia to industry in 5 steps:
1. LinkedIn profile with research methods+software keywords
2. Search for your universities
3. Add alums/folks in firms
4. DM, start conversations
5. Find a job ad for their workplace and ask for referral
#altac

1. Find (e.g) tech research scientists with backgrounds similar to yours and make your profile mimic theirs. Keywords: Stata, R, programming, data science, AI, teaching, economics, etc.

2. Search for universities you’ve worked in as faculty as well as your PhD, MA, predoc and BA universities as well as cities you might want to live in.

E.g a search for:

“University of Wisconsin-Madison Google”

You should see alums from the university that work or have worked at the firm.

3. Add as many people as possible but have a spreadsheet to help you keep track of conversations. Also add tech recruiters (these don’t need to be fellow alums) and put their keywords in DMs you send them.

4. Express an interest in what they do and a desire to learn more. If they’re former academics they will know where you’re coming from and the transition isn’t novel. Ask what they wish they’d known before.

5. Built a rapport with some yet? Find a job ad from their firm online. DM it to them and see if they agree it’s a great fit, and if so, whether they’d like to be a referral.

It’s a yes/no question. They don’t need to know you personally to do this for you. It’s common in tech.

For a recruiter, just ask if they have an opening that overlaps with your interests.

You don’t necessarily need a recruiter per se in many cases.

Today, this transition is not nearly as novel as it sounds. Some firms (like Amazon) have an economics department larger than any university’s and with much of the cultural parts of economics.

Every place and every candidate is unique. It’s about what works for you and you alone—and whoever is on the demand side. All best!