Articles Written By Aditya Sharma, PhD

The world is your canvas and informational interviews are your paintbrush. What does that even mean? I was a PhD looking for an industry job, and that was the kind of advice I used to get. But this one I really struggled with: You’re a PhD – you can do anything. Hearing this sentiment over and over again was not empowering for me, but infuriating. Why? Because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Sure, I could do anything…  But that still left me very lost. The tide shifted when I discovered informational interviews. An informational interview is when…

Management consulting is not going anywhere. Ibis World reports an annual industry growth of 3.4% with consulting businesses currently numbering nearly 800K. Given that consulting is thriving, management consultant salaries tend to be on the higher end. Consulting giant McKinsey has raised the base salary of PhD-holding consultants to $165K. And the most exciting part is that this number seems to be growing for PhD hires. A business willing to pay salaries of this quality values its employees to a high degree. PhDs deserve pay that reflects their unusual and highly functional skill sets. And industry is willing to pay…

The main reason you should be looking for an industry job instead of staying in academia is simple: There are too many academic research scientists. Nature reported that in recent years, the number of academic research scientists jumped by 150% in the U.S. alone. Meanwhile, the number of tenured and other full-time faculty positions has plateaued and, in many places, even declined. Around 10% of all postdocs had been going on for more than 6 years. Imagine doing a postdoc for 6 or more years. A lot of PhDs don’t have to imagine that scenario – they are living it.…

Medical Science Liaison (MSL) roles are growing fast. These roles are actually one of the top 10 industry careers for PhDs right now. How do you like the thought of jet-setting across the country in your tailored suit, discussing science with high-level thought leaders, and earning a great salary? Does that sound like a nice change from working in a lab for peanuts? It did to me, that’s for sure. In 2019, the median salary of MSLs was more than $122,000. But the MSL position isn't right for everyone. MSLs undertake cutting-edge, scientific discussions on drug therapy and disease states.…

Are you submitting your resume to online job postings? You might be surprised to learn that your resume is never even seen by a human being. 98% of Fortune 500 companies use applicant tracking software, according to Jobscan. Large-size firms (those that employ more than 500 individuals) receive many thousands of resumes every week. The only way their hiring departments can be functional is by using tracking software to weed out unqualified candidates. This puts applicants in kind of a tough spot - optimize your resume to get through the tracking software or get used to rejection. Even highly qualified…

As in the case of Silvan Mueller, Business Development Manager of Bel Power Solutions & Protection, a background in STEM opens up a big door for PhDs. Even if they don’t realize it. After all, a huge concern of many PhDs is that they lack the business experience to enter into a business development role. But the business school of your university probably offers a series of courses aimed at business novices, so those can be a great resource. It’s possible your department would offer a tuition waiver for these, though you shouldn’t count on that. Some management departments even…

If you underestimate the power of networking, you’re going to make things really hard for yourself. Are you exclusively relying on applications and resumes? If you are, that’s called putting all your eggs in one basket. Don’t do that. Lou Adler, CEO of Performance-Based Hiring Learning Systems, reports that 85% of jobs are filled by networking. This isn’t surprising when you consider that networking is the only way to get referrals. According to Undercover Recruiter, only 7% of job applicants get referrals — but those who do get referrals account for 40% of those who get hired. By the time…

Hiring is up. The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been for 50 years and according to Execu-Search 55% of candidates were interviewing for more than one position at a time. This means that you, as a job seeker, have power to leverage in your job search. This is especially true because you are a PhD. You should be going on multiple interviews, getting multiple offers and then choosing the job that is the best fit for you. Data from Express Employment Professionals show that 42% of job applicants rejected a job offer because it was not the perfect…

In the current market, hiring is way up. The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been for 50 years and according to Execu-Search 55% of candidates were interviewing for more than one position at a time. It is a candidate driven market. But, those hiring managers are still making the choice about whether or not to hire you. Once you are at the interview it’s your chance to prove that you are a great person to work with. They know you are qualified, that’s why you are at the interview, what the don’t know is whether you will be…

No one is coming to knock on the door of your lab and offer you a job. Getting a job requires strategy. Large companies, like Google, Microsoft, Pfizer, etc get 1,000s of applications per job opening. If you are relying on luck to make you the 1:1,000 that gets hired, you are going to be waiting a long time. Instead, you should be strategic. Realize that, according to JobScan, 98% of Fortune 500 companies use applicant tracking software to screen resumes. And understand that employers care more about your soft skills than they do about your specific technical skills. Inside…

The advice that you should remove your PhD from your resume is antiquated and just generally bad advice. Your PhD gives you many advantages over other job candidates, and employers are hiring PhDs more than ever before. Science reported that for the first time ever, the number of PhDs employed in industry is on par with the number of PhDs employed at academic institutions, where each sector employs 42% and 43% of PhDs respectively. But if you dive into the data from the National Science Foundation that this Science article is based on, the numbers are even more compelling. NSF…

LinkedIn is the largest and most popular online professional networking platform. According to LinkedIn, there are more than 30 million companies represented on LinkedIn and more than 20 million job openings listed. There is so much opportunity for you on LinkedIn. To ignore this platform will put you at a major disadvantage in your job search. You need to have a LinkedIn profile so that employers can find you online. The Society For Human Resource Management reported that 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn when finding job candidates online. So recruiters are actively looking for job candidates. But you need to…