Industry Careers

If you are a PhD who wants to transition into a life science industry job, you have more choices and opportunities than you might realize. PhDs are not just limited to high visibility pharmaceutical companies anymore. Now, PhDs have an abundance of opportunity in life science clusters in key growth areas throughout the U.S. Targeting companies in these clusters is a fast and effective way to get hired into small to mid-level startups all the way through to larger pharmaceutical companies.

Every PhD has transferable skills that qualify them for jobs beyond what they think they would be hired for. Break down the skills you have acquired during your PhD and you’ll find specific examples of when you demonstrated qualities like communication skills, leadership, conflict resolution, strategic planning, and time management. When applying for a management job you can show how these skills can transfer into results that will benefit a company in an industry job and impress hiring managers and recruiters with just how qualified you are.

Innovation and development in the top life science clusters are growing at a rapid and exciting rate. PhDs must take advantage of this growth by highlighting their transferable skills in the right market areas. With trends supporting continued and steady growth in life science fields and specific clusters reporting impressive hiring numbers and incoming funding, targeting key companies in specific clusters maximizes your chances for an industry job. Here are the top 4 life science clusters in the U.S.

Transitioning into industry is not exclusive to PhDs who are extroverts. The number of career opportunities available that are suitable for the strengths that an introvert possesses are vast and growing. If you’re a PhD who hates people and thinks that means you have to stay hunched over in a lab, you’re wrong. By assessing your skills, both technical and transferable, you can find a job that aligns with your strengths and allows you to grow professionally. Here are the top 5 jobs for introverted PhDs in industry.

Research and development in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries is changing faster than ever before. Medical breakthroughs are happening more frequently and financial pressure and a highly competitive environment has forced major players in this sector to adapt in order to keep up. For PhDs wanting to transition out of academia, it is pivotal to know how these trends apply to the companies you are applying to and, more importantly, be able to discuss them with confidence and ease during networking events and interviews. By combining this knowledge of current industry trends with your already well-established technical skill set, you…

Doing a postdoc does not entitle you to a good job. Applying for an academic postdoc may seem like the obvious next step in your career, but it’s not. In fact, doing an academic postdoc could keep you from ever getting an industry job. The competition to get an industry job is intense. Staying in academia longer—becoming more and more removed from the real world—is only going to work against you. On-the-job training is much more valuable than a postdoc. The longer you stay in academia, the more likely you are to end up poor and unhappy. Here’s why.

Employers are often untrusting of lifetime academics. They are untrusting because they want to know why a PhD, such as yourself, has finally decided to transition into industry. Are you simply frustrated with your academic advisor? Are you simply experimenting? Or are you legitimately ready to add value to their company? It’s okay to want out of academia. In fact, wanting out can keep you motivated in your job search. But this is not enough to out-compete the job candidate sitting next to you in the waiting room before an interview. It’s not enough to beat out the candidate with…

Your job search strategy is measured by where you put your time. The more time you spend on a particular part of your job search, the more important that part of the job search is to you. The problem is most PhDs spend the majority of their time and energy on writing resumes and practicing scripted interview answers. Here’s the problem—it’s not 1985 anymore. High-level professionals don’t get jobs by sending in a resume and getting invited to an interview anymore. This workflow is obsolete. Every hour you spend crafting your resume and preparing for interviews before networking and creating…

Most PhD students don’t have a clue about what’s going on in industry. Do you? These PhDs do NOT understand the factors, innovations, and breakthroughs that are shaping the current markets in industry. Without knowledge of industry trends such as these, you can come across as naïve and inexperienced at job interviews. You can miss out on job opportunities that you are otherwise trained for. A survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters found that 67% of employers rated “Commercial Awareness” as the top skill shortage among graduates. Here are 3 industry trends PhDs like you should know.

PhDs don't need industry experience to get an industry job. Consider the new technical skills you mastered throughout the course of your graduate studies. Consider the endless papers you read to develop your hypotheses. Like all PhDs, you know how to find answers, learn new skills, and quickly adapt to changing environments. As such, you should be confident in your ability to transition into an industry career, even if you don’t have any industry experience. Here are 5 tips for transitioning into industry without industry experience.

I had no idea how to get a job my last year of graduate school. No idea. The entire process was like a black box to me. I remember asking my advisor for suggestions and getting turned down cold. He told me he didn’t have any business contacts. Which was true. He’d worked in academia his whole life. But then he told me that leaving academia meant I was a failure. This was NOT true. Still, it made me feel even more lost. It also made me feel insecure. As a result, I shrunk back and never asked for his…

Every PhD knows the importance of publishing in academia. Being a scientific editor allows you to facilitate the communication of scientific advances and while continuing to learn new concepts. According to the Max Planck Society, global scientific output doubles every nine years. A recent STM report shows that the publishing industry employs 110,000 people globally. Scientific curiosity is not diminishing. As a result, distributing scientific information will always be of great importance. Publishing may not be important in industry, but it is an industry in itself and scientific editors are the driving force behind this industry. However, there are some…