Special Interest
A PhD In Leadership: 9 Academic Skills That Turn You Into A Boss
Contributing Author: Isaiah Hankel, PhD How many PhDs miss their calling as leaders because of academic failure? I remember my own academic education well. Like other PhDs, no one taught me how to develop my leadership skills. Leadership is a core part of real life, of industry. But it’s…
7 Ways To Keep Your Job Search Alive In A Recession
Contributing Author: Isaiah Hankel, PhD I've lost a job. I was offered a contract, and they pulled it back. Everybody is ignoring me on LinkedIn now. I was communicating with somebody about an upcoming interview, and now they're not replying to my emails. My postdoc is not going to be…
How These 3 Leadership Skills Can Protect Your Career During A Recession
Contributing Author: Sarah Smith, PhD The current crisis reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. I had an interview with a big company, and it was scheduled to take place on an upper floor of a tall building. I took the elevator, which turned out to be…
5 Ways To Limit PhD Anxiety And Protect Your Career
Contributing Author: Elliott Brecht, PhD You should have seen my academic CV. It was a total disaster. By academia’s standards, it was fine. But I had a real monster of a CV, over 5 pages long and full of academic jargon. And there was no cover letter either. Can you…
Secure PhD Jobs With The 15-Point Coronavirus Career Plan
Isaiah Hankel has your guide to navigating the world of PhD jobs during the coronavirus crisis and using this temporary downtime to your advantage. The financial markets have crashed worldwide. I can tell you from experience what’s going to happen next. I was a PhD student in 2008 during the…
5 Visa Processes International PhDs Master To Lock Down A Job
Visa Processes for PhDs can be complicated - luckily, contributing author Arunundoy Sur, PhD, can break it down for you. I started applying for jobs early. I was preparing to graduate, and I felt lucky to receive some positive responses right away. In a very short period of time, I…
Coronavirus Panic Proves The World Needs PhDs In These 9 Industry Roles
Isaiah Hankel, PhD, discusses the global reaction to the coronavirus and how it demonstrates that industry needs PhDs more than ever. The need for scientists is rising, and it’s rising fast. With the recent outbreak of the “coronavirus,” media have reported all kinds of information, not all of it true…
3 Strategies For Motivation And Accountability During A Job Search
Contributing Author: Sarah Smith, PhD Do you know anyone who actually enjoys the job-search process? Let me rephrase that: Do you know any PhDs who enjoy it? As difficult as a job search can be, your degree can turn it into something else – something worse... A nightmare. Getting my…
PhDs Are Entrepreneurs – 3 Ways To Start A Business And Quit Denying Your Leadership Skills
Contributing Author: Joydeep Pal, PhD I kissed academia goodbye, and I didn’t look back. In a sense, this was my very first move as an entrepreneur. I ventured into the unknown world of industry, where results--not theory--are king. But I didn’t jump straight into my role as a CEO. I…
Escaping Bad Academic Advisors – 7 Things You Can Do As A PhD
Contributing Author: Isaiah Hankel, Ph.D. I shoved my way into the single-person bathroom. Then I locked the door and shed a solitary tear. It was the first time my graduate advisor had yelled at me - in front of the entire lab, no less! I only cried a little, but…
3 Big Worries That Hold PhDs Back from Success
Contributing Author: Mitali Patil, Ph.D. I was feeling extremely anxious. As I conducted my PhD thesis research, life seemed overloaded with worries. Other PhDs know how much work goes into getting their degrees. One thing was for sure: I didn’t need more stress on top of such a heavy academic…
These 3 Winning Strategies Can Save You From The Two-Body Problem
Contributing Author: Mary Truscott, PhD The “two-body problem” means compromise — plain and simple. The name of this problem is a bit of an inside joke. Essentially, classical mechanics acknowledges a two-body problem when certain obstacles impede the prediction of motion for two massive objects. The career version is far…
5 Mistakes That Prevent PhDs from Getting Hired and How to Fix Them
Contributing Author: Elliott J. Brecht, PhD No one was reading my CV. I was just about to graduate, but I wasn’t pushing forward toward industry. Instead, I was focused on completing my dissertation. Don’t get me wrong - I was out there slinging applications left and right, and I lost…
Top 5 Hiring Trends Savvy PhDs Leverage To Get Hired In Industry
Written By: Surayya Taranum, Ph.D. I was about to finish my postdoc soon, my project was nearly complete. I had submitted my research manuscript for publication; it was accepted after some revisions. I was going to have a great closure to my academic career, something from which a lot of…
How I Got Hired Right After I Had A Baby – Tips For PhDs Job Search Strategy As A New Parent
Contributing Author: Mansi Khanna, Ph.D. The actual story of how I became a regulatory writer. I received my PhD in cell and developmental biology from Penn State. I graduated from a great lab. I had an excellent mentor and was treated like family. My aim was to start a lab…
My PhD Is Not A Liability – How I Got Hired Into A Management Level Position And How You Can Too
Contributing Author: Aditya Sharma, Ph.D. I had finally had enough. I could no longer justify the pay I was receiving as a postdoc, and it became very clear to me that I would never become a professor. The system had strung me along far enough. It was time for a…
What International PhDs Need To Know About Getting A Green Card – Answers To 5 Common Questions
Contributing Author: Karthik Pandalaneni, Ph.D. I recently transitioned into a food company as a Global Food Scientist in my area of expertise. I planned ahead and started my job hunt 4 months before my graduation. Throughout my job search I had many rejections. These rejections came as a result of…
Increase Your Hireability As a PhD By Knowing These 7 Industry Trends
Written By: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. When I finished my PhD I had no idea how things worked outside academia. As a PhD student, I always thought I would become a professor, so I had focused all my energy on learning everything about academia. But, when I realized that I wanted…