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What kinds of jobs should people who love to learn, write, and conduct research look for -- and where?
I work in the marketing department of a big company. You'd think marketing would be the best place to get your creative/intellectual juices flowing, but red tape, resistance to change, and the constant push to generate revenue is really name of the game in Corporate America. Besides, how intellectually-engrossing can marketing the same product(s) year after year be? After a while, it just gets boring.
So what are you left with when it comes to intellectually-stimulating jobs in the private sector? When I say intellectually-stimulating, I mean academic in nature.
I've only worked in the hotel industry since graduating from college. As a content writer/editor for two start-ups, I wrote hotel descriptions, landing pages, blog entries, etc. I had the flexibility to delve into the history of the properties, landmarks, etc., which made me view them as somewhat academic. I left for a higher-paying position in my current company, but the work centers on a different aspect of the industry, so I often find myself quite bored and stultified.
Other than that, all that comes to mind is working for places like The History Channel, Discovery, and academic publishing companies.
What non-teaching-yet-still-academic jobs can you get at a university? The only such positions I've found are those in instructional design. I know you can always work in Financial Aid or in the PR office, but I don't consider those academic in nature since they're all about promoting the university (nothing involving class content, academic material, etc.)
What non-teaching-yet-still-academic jobs can you get at a university?
Look at research universities, they have lots and lots of staff positions for direct research support.
From my own experience in an academic research environment I can tell you that there are no intellectually stimulating jobs over time. I have had a lot of variety in my job working on things which aren't even remotely related, but after a period of time it all becomes routine and the mind becomes bored.
Challenges aren't challenges when you are really good at solving them, then they are just tasks.
If you are truly of the kind who requires constant intellectual stimulation then you really should go through higher ed and get your Ph.D. at which point you can conduct your own research. Alternatively, and perhaps preferably, you can create your own company that provides a product or service which solves some sort of problem for people. Once the company becomes successful you sell it and create a new company to provide a different service/product.
There are dozens of different marketing roles with different levels of intellectual stimulation. You can search around in your own company.
If you have deep knowledge in an area, you might be qualified to be an analyst in an analyst firm.
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