system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Leaving academia with no idea where to go?

I’m a TT professor at an R1 in the US, about halfway into my tenure clock. In brief, I kind of suck at research and am very unlikely to get tenure (I’ll probably pass mid tenure review, because to fail that here you need to have almost literally nothing to show for yourself).I’ve considered quitting but haven’t because I have no idea what I would transition *to*. I’m taking an accounting course this semester, which I’m really enjoying, and I could go back for that full-time (to be CPA eligible), but financially that doesn’t make a lot of sense, as I’m in my 30s and need to save for retirement. I’ve also considered just running out the tenure clock and trying to check off the requirements of a career change, but honestly even trying to half-ass this job is a 40-hour workweek at least.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
gpt
Do you like teaching enough where it's worth considering going to a "lower tier" university or college where teaching tends to be more important and research requirements much less?

You could start applying for those kinds of jobs.

Unless you don't like to teach.  Then maybe start leaning on some contacts from grad school who went non-academic?  Could you do research for government where publication isn't always the goal?

You can also see if your alumni association from your grad school has networking events and whatnot. A lot of that stuff has gone online in this COVID era.

Just some thoughts.