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Macanudo

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Hey everyone,
Long time lurker (for football reasons, obviously) but today I come to you with the real pickle I'm in.
I'm a 2x UT grad (MA and PhD) and lost my job suddenly last year (I was a professor at Trinity in San Antonio). Since then, I've been working odd jobs and freelancing, thinking I'd slip into the private sector somewhere quite easily since I have interesting experience (I'm an Asia specialist), high degrees, and am generally a smart and with-it person. However, I thought wrong. It's now been almost a year of mostly unemployment. This has caused serious strain as I've also now entered into divorce as well.
I don't live in Texas anymore (living with family to save) but thought there might be a small chance somewhere here could help me out. I know it's pathetic and desperate but I know some of you have legit good business connections. Not only am I having a hard time brainstorming _what_ to do next, everything I've _tried_ to do has failed (including starting my own business).
In any case, for a fellow UT grad, does anyone have any connections that might be able to help, or know of companies that are hiring directly? Yeah, I stupidly went into the Humanities but to be fair I was a professor at some top schools for 7 years. Just the new horizons in academia are not benefiting me and I've been pushed out.
Any help or advice would be much welcomed. I can provide more details in DMs or by email, of course.
Thanks!

What about some of the foundations that focus on Asian affairs, like the Mansfield Foundation?
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3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


What about some of the foundations that focus on Asian affairs, like the Mansfield Foundation?

Yeah, definitely a good idea. I have some think-tank connections I've also been trying to exploit the past year but to no avail. Many foundations only hire specialized grant writers or donor services type people, which is its own specialized industry that I cannot seem to break into. I have some connections, too, to various institutes but nothing that's led to any kind of job. I'm also trying to avoid living in Asia, since I've already done that for many years, and it has largely cost me any semblance of a real life and has partly been a factor in my divorce. Now, I'm kind of a bind because I need to try to take care of family stuff (another reason I've moved out of Texas).

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I think the advent of AI has really hurt people like me since a lot of "communications" or "writing" jobs are now easily outsourced either to AI directly or to internal comms people that just use AI. I've noticed that within the past year the number of freelance writing jobs are drying up really really quickly.

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7 hours ago, Da Fino said:

Are you looking for remote work? You never mentioned where you are looking. Also, how did you suddenly lose a job at Trinity? Are you going to be able to pass a background check? 

Remote work would be ideal given my family situation but willing to consider other options. I'm currently in Michigan. Trinity had me on year-to-year contracts and decided to outright replace my specialization with something else. And yes, I can pass background checks. No problems with my past.

  • Hook 'Em 1
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Posted (edited)

What about think tanks?  With an Asian locale background that might be something to look at.

Edit:  Oops, didn't read the last page before I posted.   Other places to look would be at places like S&P Global (yeah, Standard amd Poor's),  large banks with an overseas presence  and the like.

With your education they should see that as a plus.  

Edited by Macanudo
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On 4/13/2024 at 4:57 PM, Macanudo said:

What about think tanks?  With an Asian locale background that might be something to look at.

Edit:  Oops, didn't read the last page before I posted.   Other places to look would be at places like S&P Global (yeah, Standard amd Poor's),  large banks with an overseas presence  and the like.

With your education they should see that as a plus.  

Have never seen a position I could apply to at a place like that. But yes, I do hear about some PhDs making that kind of transition. I met with a friend of a friend who has the same degree/speciality as me and he got in with McKinsey. However, he had a brother or brother-in-law or something get him in. Always need some connection I fear.

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4 minutes ago, cb866 said:

Have never seen a position I could apply to at a place like that. But yes, I do hear about some PhDs making that kind of transition. I met with a friend of a friend who has the same degree/speciality as me and he got in with McKinsey. However, he had a brother or brother-in-law or something get him in. Always need some connection I fear.

Maybe, maybe not.   But get adventurous.

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