Leaving academia for the private sector: Seven years later

Seven years ago, I was an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I had tenure, excellent students, and a solid research record. I loved to write and I loved teaching. But I started to feel that I’d regret it later if I didn’t make a major career move and try something different. So after a few years of preparation, I quit and took a job as a junior-level software engineer at a startup in Chicago.

At the time, my academic colleagues were split into two camps. The first camp was made up of people who privately told me that they wish they could do the same thing. The second, much more public group, told me in no uncertain terms that I was crazy. I had tenure, after all, and at a Research-I university, no less! And if I didn’t like certain things about the academic world, surely the private sector would be much worse.

It’s been seven years now, and I finally have the experience and perspective to reflect back on this decision and assess what was right and what was wrong about it. There have been a lot of surprises and challenges along the way — some good, some bad.

It was a tough cultural transition

I had no professional experience in software engineering before I made the leap to the private sector. So I knew that I’d have a lot to learn. I did not know how much, though.

I knew I had to learn a lot of new technical skills, and I was initially focused on…