3 Workplace Benefits In Industry

Join Isaiah as he explains the many benefits that industry has and why it’s different from your academic experience

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

• First, Isaiah shares why industry has more benefits than academia
• Next, Isaiah reveals how the collaborative work you will do in industry will make you successful in your career
• Finally, Isaiah explains the benefits of having explicit measures of success – something you will find in industry, but not academia

From This Week’s Show… 

Why Industry Has More Benefits Than Academia

Only 2% of the population ever attempts to get a PhD – that’s because pursuing a PhD is tough.

For most PhDs, it is the most challenging thing they’ll ever do.

While the pursuit of a PhD is hard enough on its own, many PhDs are burdened with a supervisor who overworks them – or even bullies them.

A recent survey conducted by Nature found that 24% of graduate students said they’ve experienced bullying, and of those, nearly half cited their supervisor as the most frequent perpetrator.

The survey also found that 57% of grad students who had been bullied didn’t feel like they could discuss their situation for fear of the consequences.

I’m sharing these grim stats because if you’re experiencing a situation like this, I want you to know you’re not alone.

Many PhDs leave grad school feeling overworked, abused, powerless, and hopeless. They want something better, but realize something better exists outside of academia.

You don’t have to let go of your dreams just because you had a bad experience in academia.

In industry, you can still do meaningful work, and you can do it while being respected and compensated fairly.

So today, I want to talk to you about the 3 major workplace benefits in industry.

The Benefits of Collaborative Work In Industry

The first benefit is that you have a structured and collaborative work environment.

While academia leaves many PhDs feeling isolated and lost, industry provides the support you need to do your best work.

You’ll no longer have to wonder where your supervisor is or feel like the fate of an entire project falls on your shoulders.

In industry, people work in teams; teams that have explicit reporting structures and where each person plays a clear role.

Projects also have concrete goals. You’ll never have to wonder why you’re doing a particular project.

That’s because industry is built to avoid waste on dead-end projects.

Industry Rewards Hard Work And There Are Clear Measures For Success

The second workplace benefit is that there are clear measures for success in industry.

As you likely know, career advancement in academia is minimal. There’s also very little feedback in terms of career milestones and you never know where you stand in terms of your own career progress.

The gauge for success also varies widely depending on the institution.

Industry, on the other hand, uses your progress towards pre-set goals as a measure of your career progress.

These goals, expectations, and priorities are often established through a Performance Development Plan, or PDP for short.

PDPs are most often created at the beginning of the year and are revisited during mid-year and end-of-year reviews.

These plans are then used to determine your salary, your bonuses, and your chances for promotion.

As a result, in industry, you know what your goals are and what you need to do to accomplish them, making your career trajectory more steadfast and more successful in the long run.

And these are just a few of the many benefits of industry.

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.