Articles Written By Sarah Rodrigues, PhD

Referrals are the number one choice for job hires but obtaining these referrals takes time, and requires networking and adding value to industry professionals. Don’t wait until after graduation to take this on. Make the investment in networking and building industry relationships early, and tend to them often. Offering value to your industry connections will help build meaningful connections and increase your chances of getting a referral. Here are 5 ways to add value during your networking interactions with industry professionals.

Job searching requires strategy, self-control and self-motivation in the face of discouragement, setbacks and self-criticism. It’s not an easy process. A recent After College Career Insight Survey found that only 13% of graduate students have a job lined up before graduation while 74% do not have a job lined up at graduation. A study conducted by the University of Minnesota followed and analyzed over 70 job seekers who had high levels of expertise in their fields and found that 51% of them couldn’t face repetitive rejection. Here’s how to manage frustration during your career search and stay motivated long enough…

PhDs face an incredible challenge when it comes to securing jobs. Academia cannot absorb all the graduates that are passing through. On top of this, many PhDs are either unable or unwilling to transition into an industry position. On the other hand, there is an inaccurate image of PhDs from industry. Many companies in industry believe that a PhD’s knowledge base is too specialized. They believe that PhDs have little ability to be multidisciplinary and are trained only for research-type positions. There is a mutual ignorance and mistrust. As a result, if you want a job in industry, you must…