Hosted By

Isaiah Hankel
Isaiah Hankel
Chief Executive Officer Cheeky Scientist

Join Isaiah as he reveals what to expect from the PhD job market in 2021

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

  • First, Isaiah discusses the reasons behind the trend of year’s end hiring surge  
  • Next, he goes on to enlist what PhDs should do to get hired before the year’s end
  • Finally, Isaiah gives an overview of  the top careers of 2020, the PhD profile that fits these, and the 7 goals every PhD should attain

From This Week’s Show…

The Year’s End Hiring Surge Already Started

We are seeing the largest hiring boom of the entire year. Although the year 2020 has been uncertain, we have been able to stay ahead by watching financial markets, the hiring and spending freezes in academia, and hiring patterns within Global 500 partners. 

During the beginning of the year, companies want to focus on staff training, virtual recapping the previous year, financial forecasting, and laying out the plan for the upcoming year: not an ideal time to be hired. 

We are going to walk you through a couple of months. What you can do to make sure that you are in the best position to take advantage of all the extra budgets the companies have right now. 

The final thing I wanted to discuss is what does the job market look like in 2021? You know, the obstacles that are before you, but I want you to get very familiar with the indicators that are going to tell you where the go jobs are and when to feel a sense of urgency in terms of your job search and what could impact your job.

Get Hiring-Ready By Introducing Corporate Phrases In Your Profile And Hiring Process

It is important to note how PhDs can improvise to ensure that they get hired in early 2021 when the job search is at its most difficult point. 

We are seeing lockdowns in Europe, it is very likely that we may face similar consequences, possibly in phases. It means that you need to understand what employers are looking for now, the new normal. The best thing that you can do to get hired now is to really focus on changing your language for the current context.

What kind of language and qualities are the recruiters looking for? You need to use language that showcases your understanding of where we currently are in terms of the industry. You must strike to the employers as their safest bet.

It is imperative that PhDs showcase their understanding of corporate language and culture by using corporate jargon as workforce decentralization, working remotely, remote communication, virtual collaboration, and working autonomously in their resume, LinkedIn, and any other profile that would be shared with an employer.

Employers are looking for PhDs who can multitask. If they’re going to hire a PhD as an R&D scientist or engineer, the PhD should also know project management and scientific writing. Therefore, along with your skills and technical literacy— as your ability to do research, analyze it, synthesize it;  ability to edit, review and publish, to coordinate things remotely, and work autonomously—corporate phrases should also be listed. 

A lot of employers ask how you perform autonomously? What is your morning routine? How do you set priorities? Autonomous working is one of the most desirable attributes of a PhD in industry.

The Seven Cheeky Scientist Goals For PhDs

So, we have a list of the seven goals that every PhD must attain for success. 

I want to recap what our goals are as a cheeky scientist for all PhDs. What are we fighting for? How do we plan on succeeding? 

We want to standardize the graduation process for PhDs so that PhDs can invest time in applying for industry. 

We canvas for the mandatory overtime for postdocs as well as adjuncts or whatever other job titles they come up with that allow for universities to get away with very cheap labor.

PhDs should be exposed to standard practice and not a free internship. We want PhDs to be able to work for a company full time, just like MBAs or somebody who wants an MBA. Quit putting limits on yourself, and we want to stop you and other lifetime academics from putting limits on you as well.

It is important to know your value as a PhD.

** for the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

To get advanced access to the full length versions of these podcasts, as well as access to our live training webinars, exclusive training videos, case studies, industry insider documents, transition plan, and private online network, get on the waitlist for the Cheeky Scientist Association now.

Book a Transition Call
Get Free Job Search Content Weekly