Interviewing

Most PhDs think that they can get hired overnight once they start uploading their resume.  Unfortunately, this is just not true.  As an example, Irene Minkina, PhD, a member of our Cheeky Scientist Association, was applying for 5 months before she made progress. Irene uploaded 25 total resumes, took 6 writing tests, and had 6 total interviews.   PhDs who do not have any career training often have to load more than 200 resumes before they get an interview.  This just shows that a bad resume can keep you from getting a job and a good resume is not enough to…

What is the difference between a Data Analyst and a Data Scientist? Well, salary, for one.  Data scientists get paid more.  Transferable skills for another.  Data Scientists have the ability to not only understand and communicate technical data, but business data as well.  In fact, they can translate technical data into business data. This ability to translate, to “speak nerd and normal person” as I like to say, is the differentiator for most of the top industry PhD careers available right now.  Finally, job candidates with Bachelor degrees and Master’s degrees only are often hired into Data Analyst roles, while…

If you think employers or job recruiters are going to read your resume word for word, you’re wrong. The people reviewing your resumé are skimming at best.  Eye tracking studies show that employers only spend 5-7 seconds on a resume (HRDive).  Those same studies show that resumes are read in a F-shape, whereby employers skim the top one-third or so of the resume (the first horizontal bar of the F-shape), which is known as the Visual Center, then skim down the left-hand side of the first page and, if you’re lucky, the second page (the vertical bar of the F-shape). …

Studies show that 525 resumes are received for every open position but only 1 person will get hired into this position. PhDs chase one lead at a time via the outdated process of uploading their resume to a job site, when the process does not move forward, having to start all over again. Most PhDs never make it out of academia for long because they do not have the stomach for a high level job search. But You can be different. By leaning into the challenging, or tortuous parts of your job search, instead of avoiding them, you can save…

Want to increase your eligibility for the top PhD jobs? Consider our Data Scientist Career Program. You’ll get everything you need to start your career. We have seen so many PhDs without industry experience and without data science experience getting hired into Data Scientist roles, while seeing many more fail to get hired into this career track simply for being invisible to employers, that we decided to create an Advanced Program dedicated to this career path. Our Data Scientist Advanced Program ensures that your resumé, LinkedIn profile, and interview answers appeal to top-paying industry employers. The Program will also ensure…

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…

My job search strategy felt inadequate, it was a painful experience. I was perplexed. My frustration knew no bounds, self pity and doubt shrouded me. I could not understand where I was going wrong. I spent days fixing my resume. Then, applied for one job at a time and waited to hear back from hiring managers and recruiters for 2 weeks before starting with the next job application. I applied for every single job that came my way. The wait was painful, it was excruciating to bear the silence from the other end.  Every moment I questioned myself; why would such…

My postdoc tenure was ending soon but with no possibility of an extension. As a result, the stakes were high and the mere anticipation of the unemployment situation gave me chills. To make matters worse, all I was able to hear from the people around me were unhelpful advice, while information and help were all that I needed.  It was frustrating enough to not have a prospective job, but not knowing my industry fit was even more disheartening. Upon scrolling down job postings, I saw that there were several job profiles that I was unaware of. I knew everything about…

The first time I had an interview it was a disaster. I answered all the questions wrong. I had never interviewed before, but for some reason I thought I was going to do great.  Right from the beginning it was bad. The first question they asked me: “How are you?” For which I gave my generic automatic answer Fine how are you. My interviewer also said fine and asked if I could tell him a little bit about myself. So, I proceeded to tell him that I was a PhD student.  I kept my answer rather succinct because I’d read how…

When I first decided to do an informational interview, I was nervous.  I’d sit down in front of my computer and look over my dozens of questions. When the time came I clicked on the zoom link and waited for my interviewee to come on. I was always early. I thought that would help me prepare and become less anxious.  However; the waiting always made me less confident. And when the informational interview started, I fumbled through my questions.  The conversation was rigid, forced and awkward silences made up the majority of the time. At the end of every informational…

Onboarding expert and contributing author Sarah Smith, PhD, shares her company onboarding experience. The day I had been waiting for was finally here. My first day in industry. I had been looking for a job for nearly a year, and this one seemed like a great fit for me. I couldn’t wait to get started…But when I showed up, no one was prepared for me to be there. I had no desk. One of my coworkers seemed very annoyed that they had to find a random table for me to sit at. I didn’t have a computer either. I was…

Let’s talk about frustration particularly during a recession.  I’m talking about the frustration of a rejection in your job search.  Many PhDs are experiencing this kind of frustration in their post-pandemic job search. It’s important for you to understand that Cheeky Scientist has been through this before.  Cheeky Scientist actually came out of the financial crash of 2008 when we were in a recession.  I can tell you firsthand that the mood of the public changes during a recession.  There are fewer jobs.  There’s a greater sense of urgency.  This causes people to get more rejections. And rejection leads to…