Industry Careers

Humanities PhDs have no reason to believe that they lack exciting career opportunities in the future. A PhD is a doctorate in knowledge. As a PhD, you create new knowledge that did not exist before. While creating new knowledge, you gain critical transferable skills that you can leverage to build a career outside your own area of expertise. An excellent humanities education prepares an individual in creative and critical-thinking, and persuasion in areas outside of technology.

In academia, your supposed career path is fairly well defined. Get a PhD, do a postdoc(s), publish well, and try to get a professorship. Not so in industry. There are many career paths to choose from. In fact, industry is all-set to be the major employer of PhDs in future. According to the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) biennial Survey of Doctorate Recipients, for the first time in 2017, industry hiring of PhDs was on par with academia. Realize that as a PhD your skillset is incredibly diverse. You just need to adjust your perspective.

All of the major tech, biopharma, or medical companies need science communicators. All of the major news outlets need science communicators. All museums and education institutions need science communicators. There are many ways that you can use your STEM PhD and your passion for writing in an industry career. Here are 5 science communication careers for PhDs who enjoy talking and writing about science.

The biotech and biopharma industry is growing rapidly. ContractPharma reported that the biotechnology market was valued at $330 billion in 2015 and is expected to more than double by 2024 to $775 billion. With that incredibly rapid growth comes massive and fast change. New technologies and innovations create an atmosphere of constant change and industry needs employees who can thrive under these conditions. They need leaders.They need PhDs. According to a study published in PLOS One, a few of the most valuable transferable skills that PhDs have are the ability to gather and interpret information and the ability to learn…

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…

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.

In this Q&A Evguenia Alechine, PhD discusses what she does as a scientific editor and how this position is meaningful to her. She also discusses how transitioning into industry brought out her management skills and allowed her to develop her strengths even further.

To ace an industry interview, you must not only know what to do during an interview, but also what NOT to do. Any PhD can craft a successful industry resume. But not every PhD can show up to an interview, make a great first impression, and get a job offer. Too many PhDs blow their first interview by not taking it seriously. The worst thing you can do during a job search is work hard for months (not to mention the years it took to get your PhD) and then mess it all up in the first 90 seconds of…

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.

Medical Science Liaison, or MSL, positions are increasingly popular among PhDs for a reason. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical professions such as MSL roles are among the fastest growing industries between 2012 and 2022.These roles are also expected to be paid very well. Payscale estimates that MSLs will continue to earn a median salary of over $100,000 USD a year. The best news is that top companies currently hiring MSLs favor hiring PhDs over PharmDs (30.9% and 30.1%, respectively). The key to transitioning into your first MSL role will be networking and aligning your transferable skills…

As a STEM PhD, you are not limited to a career in academia. If medical writing is something you are interested in, go out and do it. Your STEM PhD experience has set you up with the skills to become a medical writer. And, if you listen to the tips laid out here, they will help you succeed in medical writing. Decide if you want to do freelance or staff medical writing, develop your aptitude for writing, know how to reach out to recruiters, add value to get and keep clients, and be forward-thinking so you are prepared for the…

PhDs who are interested in business, but want to maintain a connection with academia, should consider a role in technology transfer. Here, you will be able to facilitate connections between academics and industry professionals to help bring a new technology to market. As a PhD, you already have many of the transferable skills hiring managers are looking for in technology transfer professionals. These transferable skills include: relationship-building to create academia-industry partnerships, high-level commercial acumen and strategic planning to assess and protect new technologies, ability to promote new inventions, and an entrepreneurial mindset to develop successful spin-off companies.