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[bertmacklemfbi]

I finished my dissertation in an MLA field about a year ago. Since then, I have been teaching part-time. I'm fortunate enough to be at an institution that treats its part-time faculty somewhat decently, and I have a spouse whose job provides things like health insurance. My lot's not nearly as bad as some. I make a decent wage for the work I put in (at least when I consider that the university is not, at this point, paying me to do any research and I guess it's only my own time now).

Still, I'm getting tired of it. It is the usual stuff. The job market's bad. I've applied at a few places, but I don't think an academic job is so amazing that it's worth applying for any job that happens to come up. I'm trying to publish. I have published, but nothing from the dissertation has yet been accepted, though there is some stuff under consideration. I won a respected fellowship when I was a grad student. My teaching evaluations are very positive. But, so are many others who are applying for the same job as me. I don't know what on my CV might distinguish me enough from any other candidates who are applying for the same job. For instance, the last search I applied for happened to be run by somebody I know well enough that he sent me a nice personal note after I got put in the rejection pile. My application was impressive, he said, but without the publications, et cetera, I didn't even crack the top 20. (A good friend of mine did; the only real difference between our applications was a well-placed article. He got a first-round interview, but didn't make it to the campus.) I'm also enough of a realist (or maybe a pessimist) to think that even if I do churn out a couple of article before next fall, so will all those other people who didn't make this cut, and we're going to be joined by a bunch of new fresh graduates. I see little hope here.

With that in mind, I am trying to formulate a plan B. Trouble is, I haven't done anything but go to school. I went straight through, high school to undergrad to grad school. I haven't had a non-academic job since I was an undergrad. I don't particularly have any clue what I want to do with my life at this point. I like doing research. I like writing. I'm "meh" on teaching, though, and I'd like a little more job security than contract teaching provides. All of my demonstrable skills are in research and writing. I'm good with a computer, but I don't code or anything technical like that. I'm planning to attend a few workshops my university provides for grad students thinking about moving out of academia but by the descriptions, they all seem to assume you know have some inkling of what you'd like to do instead. I sure don't. I've been focused on an academic career for ten years now.

So at long last, my question. For now, I am teaching and it looks good that I have more teaching coming in the future. But, I want to start looking at other options as well. What can I do in the meantime to prepare myself for a non-academic career, assuming I don't have any money lying around that I can put towards more education? I'm interested in editing and writing work, but so is every other English grad student with an eye on the door. I don't even have connections to fall back on—all of my contacts are in the academic world. So... help? I'm honestly a bit terrified.

[zharkov]

People I've known who did non academic research and writing were (a) journalists (who wrote magazine articles) and (b) researchers/writers for corporations.  Journalists seem to do better if they focus on a given area or set of mags (e.g. conservation/environment).  A corporate researcher/writer needs to be able to dive into an area based on research skills, not (just) on some existing background.

These were not 40 hour a week jobs, but paid based on the gig.

If you like working with computers, then either researching/writing in that area, or in a subset like education, comes to mind.  Maybe working on or even developing iPad based textbooks? 

[totoro]

There is lots of research and writing outside academia but I don't know how much of it is accessible to English PhDs. For example, I have friends who work in the parliamentary library research service here in Canberra. They research issues for members of parliament and then write briefs and position papers etc. for them. But these guys have backgrounds in economics. There are a lot of humanities PhDs doing non-academic jobs at our university. For example, head of the research office - works with academics writing proposals as part of the job. Or PhD academic skills adviser - helps PhD students with their writing etc. I've seen some of this in the US too.

[brixton]

You can do any number of things.  Many have been discussed in various threads on this fora.  You might want to start at your uni's career center to start with a career inventory.  Some things other ph.d's in the humanities have done include: teach(if in the public schools, for some states, a teaching certificate suffices.) Strong private schools, might take you with your current credentials and teaching experience.  Paralegal work calls for good writing skills and attention to detail.  Again, a certificate can get you in the door.  This can help you see if you're interested in law.  The CEO of a local hospital has a ph.d in English, with some nursing experience.   So really, what you have is a degree that says you're clever and able to communicate.  Where you go next really depends upon what interests you, the options in your region, and how well you can see your skills in the context of the jobs available, as well as your willingness to learn on the job, and, if need be, get the credentials to get in the door.