From Tenured Professor to Consultant and Coach

Name: Caitlin Faas (she/her)

PhD: Human Development and Family Sciences, Virginia Tech, 2013

What was your main area of research?

I investigated how young adults feel after they drop out of college.

What is your current job?

I am self-employed as a consultant / coach for CFB Enterprises LLC, based in Columbus, Ohio.

My job entails coaching people, consultation calls, administrative tasks, and networking.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I love helping people - that has always been true!

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

Project management and relationship skills have been everything

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

I made it up!

PhD graduate ➡️ tenure track professor --> earned tenure and became department chair of psychology at a university ➡️ full-time life coach ➡️ self-employed coach and consultant

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Meet with coaches and consultants who aren't trying to sell you on what they are doing. There are lots of business coaches and coaches selling courses...it can become a pyramid very quickly.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

I was a tenured professor - I left academia. It was a difficult decision at the time, but I could see the writing on the wall that academia was going to go through a big crisis.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Get your project management certificates (e.g. PMP) and ones that corporations will recognize. Cross train in their languages.

Are there any components of your identity you would like to share, including how they have impacted your journey?

Make sure work isn't your only identity. Make sure work isn't your religion.

My fulfillment in life has not come from my work or external identities. The times I have believed, "I'll be happier when" that work situation changes - it wasn't true in the long-term. It was a false belief.