Ask HN: How should a professor market themself to transition to industry? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How should a professor market themself to transition to industry?

2 pointsazhenley5 comments

A friend of mine is looking to transition from being a tenure-track computer science professor at an R1 university to industry, probably in an engineering role. A lot of recruiters seem unsure of what to do with a professor. Since professors are a unique hybrid role consisting of fundraising, developing prototype software, and managing students, it can be hard to convey that to recruiters/HR.

Other than randomly applying for entry or mid-level dev positions, what should they do?

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There are three value props in B2B: increase revenue, decrease cost and mitigate risks. Pick one or more and find a way to demonstrate in plain language how they can help a company accomplish them. Be a startup of one: what is the one-liner, what's the 30 second pitch, how does it make me money/save me money/reduce my risk of losing my money? Why does it require the fancy knowledge?

A friend of mine is looking to transition from being a computer science professor to industry, probably in an engineering role. A lot of recruiters seem unsure of what to do with a professor. Since professors are a unique hybrid role consisting of fund raising, developing prototype software, and managing students, it can be hard to convey that to recruiters/HR.

Is the professor tenure-track or adjunct? It makes a big difference. Also, professor's jobs generally never have anything to do with fund-raising. A tenured professor will have 3 concerns: teaching, publishing and community service. An adjunct will only be required to teach. Anything else would be exceptional to the role.

Good point. I’ve updated my post: tenure-track at an R1 university.

In regards to fundraising, I am also a professor and I spend most of my time fundraising. It’s basically my main job...

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