Articles Written By Aditya Sharma, PhD

As a PhD you can learn things incredibly fast and you have developed numerous transferable skills that translate well into industry. These are the skills that you need to make clear to employers and are the skills that will compensate for your lack of industry experience. According to Balance Careers, Business Insider, LinkedIn and many others employers are more interested in your ‘soft skills’ than your technical skills. LinkedIn reported that 57% of employers said soft skills are more important than technical skills. The World Economic Forum reported that the two most commonly desired core skills are complex problem solving,…

Business.com reported that 22% of staff turnover occurs within the first 45 days. Just 45 days, and almost a quarter of the employees leave. Additionally, the Harvard Business Review reported that 33% of new hires look for jobs in the first 6 months. Bad onboarding makes people want to leave. But, good onboarding not only encourages employees to stay it actually makes them more productive. The Society for Human Resource Management reported that Strong onboarding processes improve new-hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. Onboarding is incredibly important for finding success at a company. So, you need to…

On average, an industry research scientist will make $41,000 more per year than a postdoc. 41,000 extra dollars (Glassdoor). In industry, they value your time and contribution more than in academia. But, they also offer you even more ways to earn money. Many companies offer employees stock options. Approximately 9 million employees hold stock options (Society for Human Resource Management). These stock options can result in thousands of dollars of extra wealth for you. But, in order to make the most of the opportunity to invest in the company you work for, you need to have a basic understanding of…

The environment in many academic institutions is toxic. Up to 42% of academics have experienced some form of bullying in academia (Nature). This bullying is causing many PhDs to experience Imposter Syndrome. People who suffer from Imposter Syndrome are less satisfied with their jobs, have a negative impact on the company they work for, and earn a lower salary than those people without Imposter Syndrome (Frontiers In Psychology). To succeed outside academia, you must change your mindset. The Imposter Syndrome and mindset you learned in academia will not serve you in industry.

The biggest thing to remember is that if you have been invited for an onsite interview, then the company is seriously considering hiring you. So, you need to be seriously prepared for the interview. Only 2% of candidates are called in for an interview (Workopolis). By getting to the interview stage, you have already proven that you are a great candidate and the company has invested in you. So, in your site interview, you need to go above that — you need to impress them further so that investing in you seems like the right choice. Because, hiring is expensive.…

If you’ve been invited to a phone or video interview, you’ve already beat out most candidates because 98% of candidates are eliminated by the initial resume screen (Workopolis). If someone takes the time to get on a phone call with you, they are demonstrating that you are worth their time. So, you must take your preliminary or screening interview seriously, whether it’s with a hiring manager, a recruiter, or someone else at the company. You must prove that you are a candidate they want to learn more about. As soon as your screening interview begins, you must be ready to…

As a PhD, you are a leader. You are comfortable leading the way into the unknown — you did this every time you designed and executed a new experiment. The #1 in-demand soft skill, as reported by thousands of industry employers, is leadership (LinkedIn). As a PhD, you are qualified for a management-level position where you will lead. Industry needs leaders like you to take on management roles and move up the corporate ladder into C-suite positions. In North America, only 2% of CEOs have a PhD (Study.Eu). This is ridiculous. PhDs are experts, leaders, and innovators — they are…

75% of employers attend career fairs held at universities (Glassdoor). These career fairs provide an opportunity for job candidates and employers to get valuable face-to-face interactions that they might not have had otherwise. It can be difficult to connect with potential employers face-to-face outside of these events. But, this in-person contact is very valuable. A request made in person is 34 times more successful than one made via email (Harvard Business Review). 34 times more successful! The mere opportunity to speak face-to-face with your target company at a career fair improves your chances of getting hired. But, you have to…

Referrals are the number one source of hires and are routinely how companies bring in the highest quality employees. Industry companies know how valuable referrals are, and they reward employees who refer successful new hires. 65% of companies have built-in bonus programs for rewarding employees who refer a successful job candidate (World At Work). Companies want to hire job candidates who come with referrals because they know they are more likely to find high quality employees. And, having a referral will benefit you in the long term, too. Job candidates who were referred by a business contact can see up…

Your LinkedIn profile is the professional impression that you are giving to the more than 500 million people who use the LinkedIn platform. And, within those 500 million users, there are many recruiters and hiring managers. 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find job candidates (Jobvite). What do those recruiters want to see? Well, for starters, including a photo on your profile results in 36 times more message replies (LinkedIn). And, including your location on your LinkedIn profile will cause a 23-fold increase in your appearance in search results (Money). The more you understand about how LinkedIn works and what…

Most women won’t apply for a job until they meet 100% of the job requirements, while men don’t apply until they meet at least 60% of the job requirements (Hewlett Packard). Women are known to suffer from Imposter Syndrome at a higher rate than men, but everyone experiences this feeling. Especially PhDs. As a PhD, you were taught to be extremely critical of yourself and this can lead to a feeling of not being good enough. This is detrimental to your job search. Many PhDs feel unqualified for a job unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. This is…

Many PhDs may not think that going into a business career is an option for them. However, there is an increasing demand for PhDs, and their expertise, within the business world. Not only do PhDs have the research and analytical skills needed for these positions, they are highly self-motivated. You could transition into a management consulting role, a business development role, or become an entrepreneur and start your own business. PhDs know how to be resilient in the face of uncertainties. These skills make PhDs extremely well-equipped to succeed in business.