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[donincognito]

First off:  Forgive me, forumites, for establishing a new ID solely for the purpose of posing this question, but such is my shame at the prospect of being unemployed.  (And it offered me a nice opportunity to pay tribute to Homer S., besides.)

I am just starting my second year as a VAP at a well-regarded SLAC.  I was originally only hired for one year, but was delighted to be offered a second year here, especially after the job market imploded last fall.  This is my first academic job; after grad school, I went out and worked in the non-academic world for more than a decade, garnering other experience and (forgive me) impressive credentials that make me (at least according to my colleagues) much more desirable in my humanities field than someone who has spent hus entire career in academe.  This VAP has given me the teaching experience I lacked beforehand, thus (at least, according to these same colleagues) removing the last impediment to my being qualified for any good job out there.  I should note that these same colleagues have also written me (what I assume to be) some very nice letters of recommendation, as well.  So that's all good.

Unfortunately, I have just been informed that, due to budget constriction, they will not be able to keep me on for a third year.  (If they had been able to do so, that third year would, because of school policy, necessarily been my last there, anyway.)  As you may have heard, the job market this year looks to be even worse than last year's.  I suppose, due to my previous career, that I am in better shape than many others; I can always go back to doing what I did before I became a VAP, and while the economy has hurt that job market, too, I probably won't starve.  But I really like teaching, and academia in general, and I intend to stay in it.  I will try very hard to land a good job from this year's very shallow pool.  But I recognize that the numbers aren't good.

My question is:  If I am unable to get another academic job for next year, or the year after that, and have to return to my old profession (which I also enjoy very much), will this hurt me?  Will SC's look askance at my application in October 2011 (or 2012!) when they see that I haven't taught since May 2010?  If you leave academia for a year or two or three out of necessity, does that make it infinitely harder to return?  Are you stigmatized?  Or are SC's generally more understanding than that?         

[zenith]

I wish I knew the answer to this one, since I'll be facing the same situation in a year -- or maybe less, if our budget woes continue.  (And I don't have a previous career to fall back on.  What do people like me do?  Teach high school?)  I hope some more experienced folk out there will chime in.

[carebearstare]

Is there any chance you  might go back to your previous career while you adjunct on the side? Even a class a year or a few during the summer sessions would help keep your application fresh. I'd also be sure to publish and stay in the circuit if I could, to keep your name out there.

[mignon]

The answer is yes:  taking time out from academia will hurt you, in most fields. 

It's stupid, and it ought to change.  But for now, yes.

[systeme_d_]

I think a year away from academia, in this economy, may raise fewer eyebrows than usual, but I think that two years away might bring all eyebrows back to raised positions.

However, in my opinion, much will depend on how connected you remain to academia while away (continuing to publish, for example), and how you "spin" that time away (particularly in the cover letter).  If your employment outside the academy can somehow be connected to your academic field, and especially to your research, then things are looking better already.

[glowdart]

I suppose this also depends on your field.  There are some fields that regularly hire people who have worked in their industry for 10-20 years, but that is because they often get hired into departments with a pre-professional focus.  Those years of industry experience make them invaluable as faculty members. 

Conversely, a good friend of mine took off too long (less than 5 years) between an MA and a PhD in some obscure branch of the sciences and essentially had to redo another MA because the technology had changed so much and the job she had in the interim was in the branch, but not keeping her up-to-date enough.  She remarked to me that if that time gap were between the PhD and a faculty job, then she'd have no hope of getting back into academia.

[wryter]

I have two friends who are in the exact same spot as the OP right now, and I will be next year, unless my school's budget keeps shrinking -- which is looking more and more to be the case -- in which case this'll be my last year here.  My friends and I are all well-published writers, and we all spent many years "just writing" before we entered academe.  I wonder if a couple more years of "just writing" (and, of course, publishing -- you don't get paid for it otherwise) for lack of academic jobs will hurt us when the jobs do come back.  Anyone care to speculate?

[wryter]

I'd also be really interested to hear about people who, unlike me and the OP, don't have a "first career" to fall back on when the VAP runs out and there's nothing new to replace it.  What do they do?

[msparticularity]

Calling upon my prior profession, I wonder if this isn't a marketing problem. What I mean is, your CV and cover letter would, I think, need to support the picture of you as "an educator/researcher with substantial industry experience" rather than as "an industry person who occasionally dabbles in education/research."

[edumacator]

"Oh my God!  That man is my exact double!"

As a couple of other posters have noted, it depends on the field.  In mine, education, finding TT employment at most places is all but impossible unless you've first been a classroom teacher for a few years.  So if you're in a professional field, it should be fairly to spin your time away from academe as something that will benefit both your students and your prospective overlords... assuming, of course, that your time away is spent working in that field.

If you're in the humanities... all I can say is, good luck.

[larryc]

Does your old career have a relation to your academic field. Can you spin it as a plus?

[cranefly]

Since you're completely anonymous (new moniker, etc.), why not just tell us your field and background??
then we might have more to say.

[prof_tournesol]

Given that you apparently worked outside academia for ten years post-grad school and then got a job within academia, it seems that you should be able to move back out and then in again

[porcupine]

I think the OP's situation puts them in a stronger position than most. If you do go back to your nonacademic work, the advice to adjunct (e.g. one course at night) is a good one, as it shows you have an active interest in teaching and in remaining part of the academy. You also can make sure you're continuing to publish, and perhaps seek to play an active role in an academic society in your discipline, or seek to find a role in grant administration.

I know several people who move in and out of academia, and whose academic credentials are considered impeccable by the most ivory-tower-bound scholars. The key to their success is that they present their profiles as bringing significant advantages to prospective departments, and no disadvantages.

As you've been able to make the move before, there's no reason why you can't do so again. Good luck!

[runwithscissors]

One slight problem with the "continue to publish" strategy once outside of academia, is that it's extremely hard to do for some disciplines. Again this is field dependent, but for those in empirical disciplines you can't just 'write a paper' (though this may be easier in some of the humanities). Similarly, without institutional access to online journals etc. it's a pain in the proverbial to keep up to date with developments in your field and contribute publishable material. Of course if you adjunct for a uni, you may get access to these things as a staff member.

Also don't overestimate your capacity to come home from a hard day at the office and sit at the computer to write a journal article motivated solely by the elusive promise of an academic job that probably doesn't even exist. Just a thought.