Special Interest

Making the transition from academia to industry requires you to gain some knowledge of how businesses work. It’s not enough to have technical skills. Industry employers don’t care about your technical skills. They care about a solid set of transferable skills combined with astute business acumen. If you’re applying for jobs, particularly in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, you need to add the patenting process to your knowledge base. Knowing that you understand the process and how important it is to businesses to protect their ideas shows you are a business-informed PhD with the company’s success in mind. Learn the…

No one said getting your PhD would be easy. But at one point, there was the idea that it would at least take you into a career that was fulfilling. For many, reaching the goal of their PhD was met with bleak future prospects for meaningful work in the academic halls they had invested so much of their time. So when it’s time to leave academia and fully commit to an industry transition, many PhDs don’t know the best way to do it. It can feel like taboo to talk to your advisor about your plans to leave academia. Read…

Many PhDs are miserable and needlessly suffering in a negative academic environment. If not managed effectively, these PhDs can end up sick and depressed. A successful industry transition requires a smart job search strategy and a strong mind. You can stop being a victim of academia and take control of your own wellbeing, and your future. When you decide to overcome the PhD issues that are making you miserable, you will place yourself into a great position to secure a job in industry. Here are 5 common issues that compromise PhDs health and wellbeing and how to beat them.

Your mindset is the catalyst for your job search and the determinant of your ultimate success in landing an industry job. Not just any industry job, but one that you really want that can provide you not only with job satisfaction and fulfillment, but also start your entire career trajectory. Finding the right position requires mental strength and strategic action. If you clearly define your why before you submit a job application and keep an eye on your long-term goal, the unavoidable obstacles that appear during your job hunt will not be as demoralizing. Getting out of academia and securing…

As a woman with a PhD, you have the ability to move into high industry leadership positions. To ensure your success in these male-dominated environments, you need a strong group of like-minded women in your network and as mentors, but you also need to become skilled in networking with men to capitalize on the opportunities available to you. Building your confidence and recognizing the value you bring to an industry job are your starting points. This article shows you 5 ways to advance your career as a woman PhD.

No one said your PhD would be easy. But no one said it could pose such a significant risk to your emotional and mental health, either. With growing rates of depression globally, PhDs are not immune to the impacts of academic stress. If academic stress has started a downward spiral into depression, you need to be able to recognize the symptoms early and ask for help. The right treatment plan can build the resilience you need for your successful PhD completion and industry transition.

Scientists are already well-equipped to thrive in industry, but it is up to you to extract the skills from academia and apply them to your roles in industry. There are key differences in industry that every PhD must be aware of. From your interviews, through your industry transition, recognizing these differences will help you excel in your new environment. Here are four key differences between academia and industry that every research scientist should know.

It is not uncommon to lose motivation at various points of the long haul of a PhD or postdoc. In fact, it would be abnormal if you didn’t see your motivation wane at some point. When all the self-pep talks you give yourself don’t work to bring back the passion you once had for your work, there are techniques that can help. Reject the comfort zone of the structure you’re currently operating in and try these seven techniques to help you regain your lost motivation and focus.

There are many exciting things around the corner for the life science industry, giving optimism to PhDs looking for a future in academia. PhDs need to leverage their technical and transferable skills in these key life science trending areas to prove they have the business acumen necessary to succeed in areas of high growth and high demand. Armed with critical knowledge about these 8 trending industry areas, PhDs can target their industry transition with confidence.

Have you ever considered what it’s like to transition into an industry job after spending a lifetime in academia? Have you ever wondered if you could transition into a non-academic career? If so, who better to ask than other PhDs who have transitioned successfully… 1. What is your name, your full job title, the full name of the company you work for, and how many months or years have you been with this company now? – Aaron Kellogg, Ph.D., Medical Science Liaison, Shire, 8 months. 2. Your biggest or most satisfying career goal you’ve reached since transitioning into industry? -…

The increasing popularity of online job boards and job sites means that the number of applicants per posting is increasing exponentially. Job descriptions posted for these jobs are a wishlist of traits the hiring manager is looking for, but doesn’t necessarily expect all the applicants to possess. Many PhDs make the mistake of assuming that they must have all of those traits to even apply — so they don’t. To avoid missing out on being considered for industry jobs that you’d be the right fit for, follow these guidelines.

Transitioning out of academia into industry can be an intimidating journey. As a PhD in academia, you already know the bleak future that staying in academia holds for you. You already have a sense that there must be something better out there. You know that there should be a way for you to do meaningful work and get paid well for it. The answer for many PhDs is transitioning into industry. This is because many industry jobs offer a chance to do real science while being supported within a corporate culture designed to foster progress, purpose, and job satisfaction. Here…