I'm hoping to get some advice on transitioning out of academia. I am coming to the end of my first postdoc, having completed my PhD in 2016. The competitiveness and instability of postdoc life, as well as the increasing demands to teach have led me to the decision that I no longer want to be in academia. Having made that decision I need to figure out what I do want to do. Up until now my research as been what has driven me career-wise. I now just crave financial stability. Whilst I don't feel particularly confident in my abilities, from an objective point of view I know that I have a lot of valuable skills that can be transferred to other jobs and after nine years of studying my ass off and scraping by on a student budget I want some financial reward!

One avenue I'm interested in is data analysis. There seem to be plenty of these positions around. Although on paper I meet most of the requirements (I have experience handling large datasets, conducting statistical analysis, reporting results to different audiences using R, SPSS and STATA) I wouldn't say I feel particularly confident in these skills. I still go running to my Andy Fields book every time it comes to analysis and I only used R for a small part of my PhD so am probably only at a beginner level.

So my two questions are:
1) Does anyone have any suggestions as to options I can go for outside of academia?
2) Based on what I've told you of my experience, is it worth applying for data analyst positions?

For over 6 years I have wanted to develop a career in academia, I got a 2:1 in a BSc Psychology and I am now studying for an MSc in Animal Behaviour. I have always struggled with articulation, critical thinking and discussions - I find it incredibly difficult to produce constructive thoughts on research studies and topics and an even harder time trying to explain myself when I do.

This was not a huge problem in my undergrad degree, however since starting my MSc I have seen what a huge part of both the course and progressing as a researcher this is. One of our modules requires us to give intelligent input in a class discussion and to write thought papers on presentations of various studies that have recently been conducted. I read the relevant papers before the class discussion but find it extremely difficult to think of things to say and what I do come up with, my module convenor never seems very impressed. A few days ago we received our marks for two of our thought papers - I failed one (42%) and barely passed the other (52%).

In other aspects I feel that I am adequate and can handle the course and research as a whole - for example I got 65% for a presentation I gave and have an average of 67% for statistics assignments. However I feel that my lack of skills when it comes to critical thinking, constructing arguments and articulating my thoughts is a major problem that is too big to advance in academia.

I will of course finish my MSc, whether I pass or fail but I am seriously considering if I am able to carry on in the research field. Does anyone have any advice they can give me? Please be brutally honest - if this isn't the career for me, tell me.

Thanks,

Chantelle