Special Interest

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…

Negotiation is one of the most challenging parts of a job search. This is because PhDs are never trained on how to negotiate. In fact most think they put their offer at risk if they do. The truth is that you have a higher chance of putting the prospects of your future employment at risk by not negotiating because salary negotiation is a social norm in industry. PhDs can and should negotiate successfully. Most importantly, they should never let their academic stipend or fellowship, which is not a true salary, be used against them. For example, A PhD in the…

We finally have a COVID-19 vaccine.  “Finally” is relative.  It feels like it’s taken forever because 2020 dragged on and we faced one bad situation after another.  However, when you consider the time it takes to research a new disease, create a vaccine (through a lot of trial and error), test it, and start distributing it, things have progressed relatively quickly.  According to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, a typical vaccine timeline can last somewhere between 5-10 years. In some cases, it can take even longer.  PhDs’ role in the vaccine process is an important one and may be the…

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…

The academic PhD career track is dead. The academic system is completely broken.  Not too long ago, you could become a tenured professor right after graduate school.  Then, you needed one year of postdoctoral experience to become a tenured professor.  Now, you need 6-10 years of postdoc experience just to get into a part-time, contract or adjunct professorship. Here’s the good news… In industry, PhDs are highly valued, respected, and paid.  This is the mission of Cheeky Scientist – to get as many PhDs hired into top industry positions as possible.  Specifically, we want to get more PhDs into the…

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…