PhD Transition Report Podcast

Join Isaiah as he discusses the importance of noticing red flags during the interview process and presents 6 red flags you should look for when interviewing Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you should never forget that the interview process is a two-way street or take a job you know is not a good fit. Next, Isaiah presents the three first red flags you should look forFinally, Isaiah presents the remaining red flags From This Week’s Show…  The Interview Process Is A Two-Way Street If you left an interview feeling like the company wasn’t a good fit, don’t ignore it. Many desperate PhDs make the mistake of accepting a job despite the fact that it’s not a good fit simply because they’re desperate. In fact, a recent study found that nearly two-thirds of job applicants reported taking a job despite knowing it’s not a good fit. Don’t make this mistake – it’s not only a waste of your time, but it’s a waste of the company’s time and could hurt your reputation. Stay sensitive to the red flags without being too sensitive or judgmental. Mistakes happen and no company is perfect, so give them…

Join Isaiah as he explains why you shouldn’t worry as much about your resume gap and gives you strategies to focus on your value instead Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discloses why a resume gap doesn’t automatically eliminates good candidates from the job poolNext, Isaiah presents the functional resume, a great tool to draw attention to your value instead of your resume gap Finally, Isaiah discusses why you should always be transparent about your resume gaps, as well as the strategy you should follow to avoid framing them in a negative way From This Week’s Show…  Why Your Resume Gaps Doesn’t Matter As Much As You Think Many PhDs think that having a gap in their work experience immediately eliminates them from the job pool. This may have been true once, but the “job hopping” mentality of today’s workforce paired with the great resignation of this post-pandemic era has employers more concerned about employee retention than a gap in your work experience, especially if you have a PhD. Maybe you defended your thesis during the pandemic and had difficulties finding a job afterwards… or perhaps you decided to take time off to focus on your…

Join Isaiah as he discusses the importance of the LinkedIn headline and what you need to add to it if you want to appear in searches Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you need to have an industry-oriented LinkedIn headline instead and how adding academic terms to your LinkedIn profile might hinder you chances of getting hiredNext, Isaiah discloses the terms that industry gatekeepers use when they search for job candidates to interviewFinally, Isaiah presents the questions your headline needs to answer so you appear on the right searches From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Have An Industry-Oriented LinkedIn Headline A lot of PhDs make the mistake of listing “postdoc” or “PhD student” in their headline. Don’t make this mistake. The headline is the first text that appears in your LinkedIn profile, and the keywords in this section factor heavily into LinkedIn’s search algorithm. Don’t waste that valuable space on academic words that will never appear in an employer’s search. Your headline needs to include the information that employers are actually searching on LinkedIn Recruiter, or LinkedIn Talent Insights, or the same LinkedIn that you’re using. What Industry Gatekeepers Are Looking For…

Join Isaiah as he discloses the strategies that you should follow right now to revamp your resume so you can transition into industry and save your career from the academic recession Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses why now is the perfect time to update and work on your resumeNext, Isaiah shows you how to get started writing your resume and what you should highlight when doing so Finally, Isaiah presents the structure that your resume should follow if you want to gain the attention of industry gate keepers From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Revamp Your Resume Right Now Keeping your resume current is essential to remaining relevant in the job market. This may seem obvious, but many PhDs think that creating a resume is a “one and done” process. You continuously update your status on social media, or you continually refresh your email inbox expecting for employers to contact you, so why do you neglect updating your resume? Staying relevant has always been important but it has become even more crucial in an uncertain economy. The job market has seen some pretty significant shifts. People are resigning from their jobs, and…

Join Isaiah as he explains what is reverse recruiting and how you can take advantage of it to get hired in no time Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses the importance of reactivating your network if you want to gain the attention of recruiters and other gate-keepers. Next, Isaiah presents the reverse recruiting process and why you need to use it to your advantageFinally, Isaiah gives you some advice on how to show recruiters you’re a sought after candidate and convince them to hire you faster From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Reactivate Your Network If You Want To Get Noticed By Recruiters Today, I want to give you some tips on how you can skip the hiring funnel and improve your chances of getting hired fast – this includes learning how to reverse recruit recruiters. First though, you need to reactivate your network. If you’re not actively networking on LinkedIn, recruiters and all employers will know it as they get to see your activity score on LinkedIn Recruiter. Employers want to see you’re active and they want to know you’re reaching out to people at their company to get referrals. Why? Because…

Join Isaiah as he explains what the hiring funnel is and how not understanding this concept is causing you to make mistakes that show you’re an amateur Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah gives an example of a hiring funnel, something you need to understand if you want to be successful in industryNext, Isaiah presents the most common mistake PhDs make by not understanding the hiring funnel: spending too much time on their resumes Finally, Isaiah discusses two additional mistakes that show your lack of understanding of industry workings and how you can fix them From This Week’s Show…  How The Hiring Funnel Works Many PhDs fail to get hired because they don’t understand the inner workings of the industry hiring funnel – and as a result, they end up prioritizing the wrong things during their job search. The term hiring funnel refers to the process that companies use to narrow their job candidacy pool. In each phase, candidates are faced with more stringent criterion, resulting in most candidates getting funneled out. Let’s say a company receives 250 resumes for an open position. Of those, 20 to 30 will make it to the phone screen. Of…

Join Isaiah as he presents the components of your professional profile and gives you pointers on how to create each of them Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah talks about each of the components of a professional profile and the positions that require unique elementsNext, Isaiah dives deep into the first two components: the industry resume and LinkedIn profileFinally, Isaiah discusses the importance of your industry networking persona and why you always need to present yourself as an industry professional From This Week’s Show…  What Are The Components Of A Professional Profile The moment you start planning your transition into industry, you should take great care to portray yourself as a professional. The three main components of any profile are your industry resume, your LinkedIn profile, and your networking persona. A fourth component – a portfolio – may exist and will vary depending on the type of role you’re applying for. For instance, if you’re applying for medical writing positions, then part of your profile will be a writing portfolio. If you’re applying for data scientist positions, then you’ll probably need a GitHub profile. Industry Resume And LinkedIn Profile An effective resume is one that convinces…

Join Isaiah as he explains how to add quantified results to your industry resume and why this matters if you want to get hired Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses the importance of quantified results for industry employersNext, Isaiah discloses why PhDs have so much trouble coming up with and claiming the results they achieved. Finally, Isaiah presents the best way to add technical skills to your resume bullet points From This Week’s Show…  The Importance Of Quantified Results Every single bullet point on your resume needs to end in a qualified result. You can easily transition to this part of your bullet point using language like “resulting in…” “as demonstrated by…” or “as evidence by…”. It’s challenging to sit down and figure out your past results and then to quantify them? Yes. It’s certainly more challenging than just listing skills, duties and experiences in your resume, but is the only way to move past the resume stage to the phone screen stage. Studies have shown that employers’ eyes pause at length on numbers. But there’s a catch. The numbers have to be written numerically, as in the number “10”, not “ten”. Examples of qualified…

Join Isaiah as he discusses why PhDs should consider pursuing a career in user experience (UX) and what the role of a UX researcher entails Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why PhDs should consider different career paths instead of limiting themselves to what they knowNext, Isaiah presents the user experience researcher position and what it takes to succeed in itFinally, Isaiah gives you 4 reasons why you should consider pursuing a career in user experience From This Week’s Show…  Don’t Jeopardize Your Career By Limiting Your Options Industry jobs are limitless, yet most PhDs make the mistake of narrowing their search to only a few types of job titles. Don’t make this mistake- if you do, you’ll miss out on a lot of exciting opportunities. One such field is user experience, or UX for short. With an expected year-over-year growth of 11%, UX is considered one of the fastest growing jobs on the market. And opportunities are not just limited to STEM PhDs. We often think that user experience is something that only app developers and video game designers are concerned with, but in fact, user experience is part of just about everything we…

Join Isaiah as he talks about the importance of company culture in your career progression and how you can find out a company’s culture before getting hired Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah reminds you why company culture is such an important aspect to consider throughout your careerNext, Isaiah discusses how you can take advantage of your knowledge of company culture to climb the ladder Finally, Isaiah explains how you can find out a company’s culture before getting hired From This Week’s Show…  Never Underestimate The Importance Of Company Culture You could be the most productive person on your team, but if no one wants to interact with you (or vice versa), then eventually, you’ll get squeezed out of an organization. After all, even Steve Jobs was fired for not being able to work within his own company’s culture. Another reason to care about culture is that your ability to climb the corporate ladder is highly dependent on how well your work style aligns with that of the company. How To Skyrocket Your Career By Knowing The Company’s Unspoken Rules It should be no surprise that people well-integrated into a company’s culture are more likely to…

Join Isaiah as he discusses what company culture is, why you should care, and how it fits into your overall job search strategy Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you need to set up a job search strategy before you actually need a jobNext, Isaiah reviews why you should aim for companies that are a good fit for youFinally, Isaiah discloses what company culture is and why every PhD should care about it From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Set Up A Job Search Strategy Before Reaching Desperation Mode To get hired in industry, you can’t start your job search in a state of desperation. Whether you’re a PhD candidate, a postdoc, or a TA, you should be planning your job search strategy well in advance of your transition into industry. When desperation drives your decision-making, it puts you at risk of accepting the first job offer you get – whether it’s the right fit or not. If, however, you have a well-thought-out plan in place, you’re more likely to land a position that isn’t just a temporary job, but a long and fulfilling career. How To Determine If A Company Is…

Join Isaiah as he discusses why you need to understand the power of transferable skills if you want to get hired in industry and which types of skills you should highlight Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why industry employers care about your transferable skills and not your technical skills Next, Isaiah presents the first two types of transferable skills you should highlight in your job application Finally, Isaiah reveals why you need to highlight your accomplishments if you want to wow industry employers From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Understand The Value Of Your Transferable Skills Right Now When I got hired at my first job in industry, I truly thought that I was hired for my technical skills. That is, until I toured the facility of a Fortune 500 company – there, labs the size of football fields filled with automated machines were producing unfathomable amounts of data. It was then that I realized that all my technical know-how could easily be carried out by a robot. The real reason I was hired – and the real reason any PhD is hired in industry – is because of transferable skills. Transferable…

Join Isaiah as he explains why you need to carefully craft your resume bullet points and what information you should include in each of them Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses why you need to do research before you write your resume bullet pointsNext, Isaiah reveals what industry employers care about the most when looking at your resumeFinally, Isaiah reviews the information you should include in a good bullet point and why it matters From This Week’s Show…  Why You Can’t Improvise Your Resume Bullet Points The most challenging part of putting your resume together is carefully crafting the bullet points that will go on it. Think about the last resume or academic CV you created. What did you write for the bullet points? Was any research involved? Here’s what I’m guessing you did: you either found a job posting you liked or merely thought about a job title you liked and started crafting bullet points that you assumed would sound impressive for that job based on your past experience. You focused on the complex technical skills you learned in academia and emphasized the number of years of experience you had in your PhD field…

Join Isaiah as he reviews some of the business terms employers expect you to master and how they might come up during the interview process Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you should expect business terms to come up during the interview process, using supply chain as an exampleNext, Isaiah highlights the importance of understanding project management as applied to the industry setting Finally, Isaiah discusses what you can do to showcase your knowledge of quantitative analysis and accounting during your interview From This Week’s Show…  Why You Should Expect Business Terms Like Supply Chain To Come Up During The Interview Process Do you know how our supply chain works? A PhD I talked to last week was asked this question during an interview before we started working together and bombed it. It was his 4th and final interview with the company and she didn’t get the offer. Companies care about you having a basic understanding of business terms like supply chains. I’m sure you have an idea of what a supply chain is but do you know how important it is for any business, or for all of business? Can you talk about…

Join Isaiah as he presents 4 Business Terms That Will Show Employers You’re Not Just An Academic PhD, But A Valuable Industry Candidate Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you need to learn the language of industry if you want to be taken seriously as a job candidateNext, Isaiah defines the first two powerful business terms: corporate strategy and industry hierarchyFinally, Isaiah defines the last two powerful business terms: organizational behavior and mergers and acquisitions From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Master Common Business Terms If You Want To Transition Successfully Every area of academic research has its own unique language – a language that includes nuanced jargon and technical terms that you, as a PhD, had to learn in order to gain recognition in your chosen field. Academia is not the only place where you’re required to learn a new language to succeed. To be successful in industry, you have to demonstrate that you understand not only the science, but also the business side of things. And just like in academia, you’ll gain more traction if you can speak the language. Showing employers that you’re capable of more than just basic…

Join Isaiah as he discloses the strategies that PhDs should follow to stay relaxed during salary negotiations and secure a salary that matches their worth Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses the importance of being polite and professional throughout the negotiation processNext, Isaiah explains why you should always show enthusiasm for the job, no matter how long it takes to negotiate your salary Finally, Isaiah presents some advanced negotiations techniques that will considerably increase your chances of getting a higher salary From This Week’s Show…  Why You Should Be Extremely Polite During Salary Negotiations During salary negotiations it’s important to be extremely polite and enthusiastic. As uncomfortable as negotiations are, they should never be tense. Many PhDs make the mistake of thinking that having self-worth means being defensive during negotiations. But being stubborn, condescending, or uncooperative will only get you more push-back from the employer. So, go above and beyond with politeness. You can’t be too polite during this process. How Your Enthusiasm Will Ensure That You Get A Higher Salary If the employers sees your enthusiasm waning towards the finish line, they may second guess their decision. In fact, a UC Berkely study found…

Join Isaiah as he presents the steps you need to follow to ensure you’re successful in your negotiations and secure a higher salary Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why having an academic mindset prevents PhDs from getting higher salaries. Next, Isaiah discusses the importance of understanding the psychology behind salary negotiations and how you can use it to your advantageFinally, Isaiah highlights some industry etiquette you should always follow during salary negotiation to ensure you’re paid your worth From This Week’s Show…  Why You’ll Never Get The Salary You Deserve If You Have An Academic Mentality If you’re in academia, chances are you were offered a salary or stipend when you first started and that was it. No negotiations. No, “we’ll see what we can do.” And I bet  that you’re still making close to that amount, even after years of hard work. The problem is, if you carry this “I’ll take whatever I can get” mentally into industry, you’re going to ruin your chances of getting paid what you deserve. How PhDs Can Use Psychology To Get Higher Salaries When it comes time to negotiating your salary, keep in mind that the psychological…

Join Isaiah as he discusses the importance of building a professional brand and how that affects your chances of getting an industry job Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you should work on your likability if you want to get an industry job. Next, Isaiah gives you pointers on how to identify your professional brand and use it to get hired Finally, Isaiah discloses how your professional brand impacts the way employers perceive you as a job candidate From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Increase Your Likability Right Now If invisibility, or obscurity, is the number one reason employers aren’t hiring you. Your ignorance of likability, personality, and your own professional brand is the number second reason. When I say likability, I don’t mean winning a popularity contest. I don’t mean trying to be nicer, funnier, or more agreeable. The truth is that some people hate all of those qualities, while others value them. That’s the problem with likability – everybody likes something different. When I say personality, I don’t mean you have to change your personality but I do mean you have to put the best qualities of your personality forward…

Join Isaiah as he presents the steps you need to follow to set up an online networking strategy that will get you a referral Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why you should identify your target companies before setting up an online networking strategyNext, Isaiah discloses the good practices every PhD must follow when creating and nurturing their online network Finally, Isaiah reveals how you should time your efforts to ensure you get a referral From This Week’s Show…  How To Get Started With Your Networking Strategy If you want to get a job in industry, you need to have an effective online networking strategy. And a good strategy starts by identifying the companies that you want to work for. To do this, avoid basic Google searches. Googling keywords, like “top” or “best”, you’ll only going find the same 10 biggest companies that you already know and that everyone else already knows. To find more company targets, start using longtail keywords. For example, search “mid-size biotechs in Boston”. You’ll find hundreds and likely thousands of strong, fast growing companies that you’ve never heard of but are looking to hire candidates and have plenty of cashflow…

Join Isaiah as he explains what a 30-60-90-day plan is and what you should include in yours if you want to convince employers to hire you Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses why you should always prepare extensively for a job interview, especially if you make it to the final roundsNext, Isaiah discloses what a 30-60-90-day plan is and what you should consider before you start creating one Finally, Isaiah gives you pointers on how to create a 30-60-90-day plan that will wow employers From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Prepare For Every Interview, Especially In The Last Rounds If you’ve ever made it to the final round of interviews for an industry job, you know that the competition is stiff. As such, it’s imperative that you show up prepared. This means that you should research the company and the interviewers; do numerous mock interviews; and come up with a list of questions to ask during the interview. The number one reason employers decide not to extend an offer to a candidate is because they’re uncertain about whether or not they’re serious about the role. To show interviewers that you’re serious about the…