In several ways, I was more fortunate than some of my peers. I had my choice of one-year teaching positions at prestigious colleges. Instead I accepted a job offer from Honeywell Loveland, a small division of Honeywell, the control-systems giant, located an hour away from my hometown in Colorado. I am grateful that I could choose to leave professional astronomy, rather than being forced out for lack of job opportunities. But it was a gut-wrenching decision.
Numerous books detail the mechanics of a job search.
But I feel there are more important issues in making a successful career transition. There is another side, a non-technical side, to an industry job search, and the astronomical community tends to skirt around these emotional issues. My emotional transition was the most critical step in leaving professional science. I have identified three issues that hit me the hardest. First, the grieving.