Industry Careers

There is a crisis in academia. PhD salaries are stagnant. The economy is facing inflation, yet PhD salaries are dropping. One of the worst mistakes you can make in your professional career is staying in academia beyond your PhD. The sooner you realize this, the better it is for your career and your overall future. PhDs are exceedingly valuable in industry. During your time in graduate school, you acquired mastery over a field of study. You learned how to research, analyze, innovate, and present data. Furthermore, you  learned to innovate and push the boundaries of knowledge.   You amassed skills such…

I thought I had it all figured out when I started my industry job search from academia. I had several excuses. Before I even started, I told myself “There’s no rush Isaiah, you have plenty of time to get hired” and “You have a PhD and on top of this it’s a STEM PhD, you will be able to get a job in no time.” Then, of course, when I didn’t get any responses from the resumes that I uploaded online, I continued to tell myself lies like “There’s not jobs out there right now so I should just wait to…

When I started the road towards my doctorate, leaving academia was the last thing on my mind. Academia was my daily life for so long already. University positions seemed secure if I kept at it long enough. Plus, I enjoyed the research.  And if I decided to leave academia, I’d have industry roles clamoring to hire me, right? It wasn’t until I finally earned my PhD that I realized my life in academia had only started. Like so many other PhDs, I was in my late 30s, facing an indefinite $30k academia salary, and staring down more than I wanted…

We’ve seen dramatic changes in the job market since the start of 2020; the fundamentals are changing. From the first wave of lockdowns to the mid-year hiring boom and then the second wave of lockdowns, and now –  the vaccine rollout.  We’ve observed the highest month of PhD hiring ever since we started tracking PhD hiring nearly a decade ago.  The month was November, 2020.  But this boom was followed by an 81% drop in PhD hiring.  And now, with a lot of uncertainty around future corporate tax rates in many countries, we are seeing PhD hiring stagnate in this…

You were so excited to take charge of your future and transition out of academia.  You hired an expert to craft the perfect resume. You lined up interviews, and the hiring managers seemed impressed. You felt confident. Then came the question… “And why do you want to leave academia?” You figured the answer was obvious. Doesn’t everyone already know academia isn’t the most financially rewarding path—especially after the investment you made in a PhD? “But what is it about this job in particular that makes you want to take the leap? Are you just looking for a better salary?” That’s…

Staying in academia is one of the worst career curses in a PhD’s life. The sooner you realize that, the better it is for your career.  You need to get your PhD. Since this is an incredible way to learn not only how to master a field, but also how to push it forward. PhD is a training position where you learn how to do research and analysis, how to deal with uncertainty, how to face failure, how to think creatively and how to innovate. All these skills are of incredible value in industry.But after getting your PhD, your entire…

A repeated misconception that plagues PhDs when faced with career choices is that their doctorate could be a liability in the job market.  Career counselors are still telling doctoral students that a PhD will make companies view them as overqualified or too independent, instead of guiding them to the top PhD jobs available.  These advisors will tell you that cultivating strong professional relationships, attending networking events, and relying on your mentors are the best options to find a rewarding career post-graduation.  However, years spent doing research prepare you for almost any strategic role in modern industry. Another misconception that may…

Here is the funny thing that most PhDs don’t understand - your PhD is incredibly valuable and so are you, BUT you are not above the job search process. You and your PhD don’t give you a free pass to not have to learn to speak the language of industry, to not have to follow up, to not have to learn industry buzzwords and transferable skills; to not have to practice behavioral questions, on and on. Being smart, proven, or successful in one area does not make you any of those things in another area. Get over yourself. Otherwise, you…

Here is the funny thing that most PhDs don’t understand - your PhD is incredibly valuable and so are you, BUT you are not above the job search process. You and your PhD don’t give you a free pass to not have to learn to speak the language of industry, to not have to follow up, to not have to learn industry buzzwords and transferable skills; to not have to practice behavioral questions, on and on. Being smart, proven, or successful in one area does not make you any of those things in another area. Get over yourself. Otherwise, you…

Have you been told that after a PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences, you could find a job only in academia? This is far from the truth! For a majority of the social science PhDs, the path to a rewarding career lies outside of academe.  It may take some time to process this information. But it’s now clear that tenure-track jobs are getting harder to come by. By 2017, only 30% of PhDs in social sciences had a tenure-track position within faculties (National Science Foundation).  Industry careers for social science PhDs are an attractive alternative you should consider before making…

Here is the funny thing that most PhDs don’t understand - your PhD is incredibly valuable and so are you, BUT you are not above the job search process. You and your PhD don’t give you a free pass to not have to learn to speak the language of industry, to not have to follow up, to not have to learn industry buzzwords and transferable skills; to not have to practice behavioral questions, on and on. Being smart, proven, or successful in one area does not make you any of those things in another area. Get over yourself. Otherwise, you…

Think academia and industry are your only two options for a career? Think again. For PhDs, government careers can represent exciting and unusual ways to apply your expertise in meaningful ways. Imagine helping craft the policy that leads to cleaner air or lower emission vehicles.  Or, imagine identifying a troubling trend before it comes to a head—and helping agencies take the steps they need to mitigate a crisis. Government jobs are as specialized and as varied as PhD programs. They need smart and intelligent people who are trained to work with dedication and discipline. None better than PhDs to fill…