From Historical Musicology PhD to Business Analyst

Name: Alison DeSimone (she/her)

PhD: Historical Musicology, University of Michigan, 2013

What was your main area of research?

My research focused on music in early eighteenth-century England. I published on topics such as musical miscellany, gender and music, trauma and music, and Handel's operas.

What is your current job?

I am a Senior Business Analyst at Intercontinental Exchange, and I work remotely.

I do a mixture of UX research (I am the lead for my business unit) and product work (writing stories, helping to prioritize the backlog, etc.).

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I love talking to users and helping them/making changes to our product that come from their pain points.

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

It's a toss up between teaching and presenting. I have to interface with so many different types of people who know different amounts about our product.

I learned context switching and making difficult topics accessible while teaching and presenting in higher education.

It also helps that I know how to give a succinct, targeted presentation appropriate for specific audiences.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

I took a Coursera course in Google project management before I got my job, which helped in terms of teaching me about Agile as a process and a philosophy. I also sat for my CAPM exam, so now I am a certified project manager for a few years, which has helped me progress in my work.

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

Networking. My friend knew I was looking to get out of higher education and ended up hiring me.

PhD graduate ➡️ adjunct (1 year) ➡️ Visiting Adjunct Professor (VAP) (1 year) ➡️ Tenure Track job (6 years) ➡️ Tenured Prof (2 years) ➡️ Business Analyst (entry level, 1.25 years) ➡️ Senior Business Analyst

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

Network with as many friends, family, and acquaintances who are not in academia/higher education. Talk to them about what they do. Tell them you're looking for a job outside of higher ed, and what your skills are.

Also, take cheap/free classes online to figure out what interests you the most.

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

I did pursue a career in academia. I enjoyed it for the most part until the pandemic, at which time my university's administration made it very clear they did not care about their employees or students. The environment in my department as well as the university was very toxic, and my priorities shifted to other things.

By that time, I had also accomplished all of my goals in higher ed: tenure, writing books and articles, teaching, having successful graduate students, etc. So I knew it was time to leave.

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

You can literally do anything with a Ph.D.

You are smart, you are driven, and you can adapt. It's hard to get your foot in the door but once you do you will thrive.