3 Flavors Of Transferable Skills

Join Isaiah as he explains the 3 flavors of transferable skills that PhDs must communicate to get hired in high-paying industry  roles

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

• First, Isaiah discusses why it is important for PhDs to set specific target 
• Next, Isaiah reveals what are some system-oriented skills
• Finally, Isaiah explains what are people-oriented skills that PhDs can leverage 

From This Week’s Show… 

Why PhDs Must Know The 3 Flavors Of  Transferable Skills

There are 3 main flavors of transferable skills. Systems-oriented, people-oriented, or self-oriented skills. PhDs must communicate two to three skills from each of these categories. List them on your resume and LinkedIn profile. Be ready to discuss them during the interview process. Connect these skills with experience. Communicate how these transferable skills have helped you achieve relevant results in the past. And how they will help you perform better than other candidates at the job at hand. Your previous academic experience and even life experience is proof that you are an expert in at least one subject or discipline. 

The key is phrasing the skills in a universal way.  If you helped manage your lab’s budget. List “financial acumen” as one of your job skills. Ensured that certain antibodies or other reagents were always in stock in the lab? This is important so that everyone can continue executing their experiments. List “risk mitigation” or “risk management.” 

Do not underestimate the importance of systems in business.

System-oriented Skills And Their Importance

You have systems-oriented skills associated with the expertise. Most likely already listed on your past resumes. Systems are responsible for allowing a business to scale. Systems are imperative. As a PhD, you have lived and breathed systems. The only difference is you have called these systems by different names in academia.

Protocols, procedures, methodologies and lesson plans are system-related skills in academia. As a PhD you have handled those. A PhD-level job candidate understands systems and communicates in today’s job market. Take time to carefully brainstorm. Understand, and communicate the process-based skills that you have during your industry transition. The other potential options include documentation, record keeping, writing standard operating procedures. Others are regulatory acumen, production, quality control, quality assurance, creating return on investments, or simply “systemization”.

What Are People-oriented Skills That PhDs Can Leverage For Industry Transition 

People facing skills are important for PhDs. PhDs with people-oriented skills can adapt to sudden changes in circumstances. They can effectively communicate with team members who may or may not be in the same office. Flexible, versatile and well-adjusted even to remote work and decentralized workforce. So, PhDs flexible to work with other personality types in an office. Able to mentor, train and work with people who have less technical expertise than you. Can you work cross-departmentally to accomplish goals that will affect the entire organization? Or handle digital cross-functional collaboration? But, do you know what “organizational behavior” is? People-oriented transferable skills are performance management, change management, personnel development. Others are virtual training, project management, task delegation and chain of communication. 

Employers appreciate people-oriented relevant transferable skills. Indicates to them that you would be a good leader and collaborator. Hard work, initiative and learning quickly are important skills. Some other self-oriented skills include completeness, stress management, innovation, research, technical literacy and autonomy. 

Industry employers need to know if you can collaborate with others and not constantly annoy those around you. And whom other people can respect based on your competency. Self-directed ability to bring your own ideas to the table is important. Strategic thinking and creativity to solve existing problems. are the self-oriented transferable skills that will make you an asset to any organization.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.