PhD Transition Report Podcast

Join Isaiah as he reveals the right strategy to find target companies that are a good match and are ready to hire you right now Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah describes the wrong strategy that many PhDs use when looking to potential target companiesNext, Isaiah discloses how you should change that strategy to find companies that are a better fitFinally, Isaiah explains why you should not only consider but also favor small and midsize companies in your job search From This Week’s Show…  PhDs Use The Wrong Strategy To Search For Target Companies If you’re like me when I started my first industry job search, the extent of your online research for companies that would hire you was typing “top jobs” into a search window and pressing enter. Maybe you went one step further and typed “top jobs UK” or “top companies UK.” Or maybe you just typed in “job openings.” Whatever the specific case, this is a very poor job search strategy and a very poor research strategy in general. You can’t find unique opportunities specific to your situation by relying on short-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords are not specific; therefore, they’re likely to pull…

Join Isaiah as he discusses the importance of the industry resume and how you can set yourself up for success from the beginning of your application Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah does a quick review of the hiring funnelNext, Isaiah reveals how you can leverage the information you add to your resume to increase your chances of wowing employers down the lineFinally, Isaiah explains why the resume will never die and why you should always apply to any position with a targeted and convincing resume From This Week’s Show…  A Glance At The Hiring Funnel There are layers and layers of barriers between your resume and a hiring manager, recruiter, or any gatekeeper. Large companies can receive up to two thousand resumes per open position with the average sitting at 250 applications per open position. Only three or four of those candidates will be interviewed face-to-face, by video or in person. That’s a 98.4% drop-off rate. Importantly, your resume will follow you through the entire hiring process. It will be one of the first things an employer sees about you and the very last thing they pass around the hiring committee table after your site…

Join Isaiah as he discusses the importance of a cover letter and gives guidelines to write a cover letter that will convince employers to hire you Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains how a cover letter can make your job application strongerNext, Isaiah reviews the information you should include in your cover letterFinally, Isaiah presents the two main formats you can use for your cover letter From This Week’s Show…  Why Is A Cover Letter Important Including a cover letter in your job application will make you stand out from other job candidates. It’s also a great way to prepare your rationale for why you want the job in the first place and why you are the best candidate for the job. The most important thing to bear in mind when sending a cover letter is that you should address it to an actual person. You want to avoid using vague, general salutations like “To Whom It May Concern” because such introductions indicate laziness, disinterest, and disrespect. If you can’t even put forth the effort to find out who will be reading the cover letter, how will you ever convince them to hire you? Today,…

Join Isaiah as he discusses why timidity and uncertainty can destroy your career, especially during job interviews Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains how timidity can set your back in your job searchNext, Isaiah explores why showing certainty instead of timidity is especially important at the interview stageFinally, Isaiah discloses how you come across to employers when you show uncertainty at a job interview From This Week’s Show…  Why Timidity Can Destroy Your Career Timidity destroys careers. This isn’t just a cute saying. It’s reality. How timidly are you communicating your skills and results on your resume? How timidly are you reaching out to connections on LinkedIn? How timidly are you communicating your competency to employers during interviews? Your timidity is likely a way of protecting yourself. By not going all in on your job search, you think it will hurt less if you get rejected. You think you’ll protect yourself from tough questions about your skills and expertise. So, you pull back, or you posture. Job Interviews Are The Worse Place To Be Timid Why would you work so hard to finally talk to an employer only to pretend like you don’t really want…

Join Isaiah as he explains the law of relaxed productivity and gives the steps you should follow to implement it in your job search Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah presents the law of relaxed productivity and its two main components: efficiency and effectivenessNext, Isaiah gives an example that illustrates the importance of balancing efficiency and effectiveness to increase productivity Finally, Isaiah discusses how to combine effectiveness and efficacy to achive maximum productivity, thus getting the best of the law of relaxed productivity From This Week’s Show…  What Is The Law Of Relaxed Productivity Your job search doesn’t need to be stressful. Even if you need a job yesterday, you can still get hired by executing a relaxed, yet productive job search. The key is learning the law of relaxed productivity. The law of relaxed productivity states: The more effective your process is, the more productive you will be. The more efficient your process is, the more relaxed you will be. The key to being productive and relaxed at the same time is to be as effective and efficient as possible at the same time. Anyone can be either effective or efficient; few can do both…

Join Isaiah as he explains why being a mysterious candidate will hurt your job search and how you should present yourself instead Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah tells the story of a PhD who transitioned by redefining her professional brandNext, Isaiah reveals why being a mysterious candidate will only hurt your chances of getting an industry position Finally, Isaiah explores what employers think of PhD candidate who fail to define a professional brand From This Week’s Show…  How Natalie Redefined Her Profesional Brand And Transitioned Into Industry After 17 Years In Academia I remember when I started working with Nathalie, a PhD and good friend who is now a Director at a major pharmaceutical company. She was in academia for over 17 years after getting her PhD, thirteen of which she spent as a professor. When Nathalie and I first talked, she was convinced she had spent too much time in academia to ever get into industry. She wondered how anyone would see her as more than an academic professor. But not only could we adjust her LinkedIn profile to showcase her as a credible industry professional using the language of industry but we could…

Join Isaiah as he reveals the three traits of unproductive people and how that affects their job search Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses the first bad trait of unproductive people: indecisivenessNext, Isaiah discusses the second bad trait of unproductive people: not keeping a consistent scheduleNext, Isaiah discusses the first bad trait of unproductive people: not knowing how to prioritize From This Week’s Show…  Unproductive People Are Indecisive There are three key traits that unproductive people have in common (other than not getting hired). First, unproductive people make up their minds slowly and change their minds often. Due to this inability to decide quickly and firmly, they end up being far less successful in life than decisive people. Unproductive People Can’t Keep A Consiste Schedule Unproductive people don’t keep a consistent schedule. The problem with never keeping a schedule or never sticking with a routine is that each time you vary from the routine, you have to make a decision on what to do next. These decisions reduce your mental energy stores. Remember, you only have so much willpower each day. You have a set number of willpower units you can use. Once your willpower…

Join Isaiah as he discusses why understanding how you come across to others will help you establish your professional brand and connect with employers Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah reveals how you can better understand your profesional brand by discerning what others think about youNext, Isaiah explains how you can use your understanding of your professional brand to ensure you connect with the right employersFinally, Isaiah illustrates why this is important from the employer’s point of view From This Week’s Show…  How Being Self-Aware Will Help You Develop Your Professional Brand Imagine giving everyone you know plus a handful of strangers post-it notes and asking them to write down three things they can always count on you for, as well as three things they can never count on you for. What are the people who know you best going to write down? What are the people who barely know you going to write down? The sum pattern of their answers is a strong indication of your professional brand—or how you will come off to employers prior to being hired and certainly after being hired. You could take the above exercise a step further—and I recommend…

Join Isaiah as he reveals why making to-do lists will decrease your productivity and what you should do if you want to keep your job search on track Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah tells the story of what used to happen to him when he relied on to-do lists to increase productivityNext, Isaiah reveals the scientific reasons of why to-do lists limit successFinally, Isaiah presents a strategy you can use to increase your productivity and keep your job search on track From This Week’s Show…  What Happens When You Rely On A To-do List In graduate school, I loved creating lists. I would write and rewrite lists of journal articles to read, experiments to do, people to network with, and workout routines to complete at night.  Every time I created a new list, I felt really productive, like I had just created something concrete, something that moved me one step closer to accomplishing my goals.  Of course, I never read any of the articles on the list; I only did the experiments I was told to do, and, once I showed up to the gym, did the same workout routine I had been doing for…

Join Isaiah as he discusses what a negative bias is and how you can use it to your advantage in your job search Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains that the brain has a negative bias and how that works in our everyday liveNext, Isaiah points out that you can use your negative bias to your advantage, but that won’t work if you just complain about the situations in your lifeFinally, Isaiah states that the best way to leverage your negative bias is by taking action From This Week’s Show…  How Your Negative Bias Works Your brain has a negative bias—it has a preference for negative information over positive information. This can help you in your job search.  Studies show that negative information is quickly routed through your amygdala and into your long-term memory banks while positive information has to be held in your awareness for more than 12 seconds to be stored in your long-term memory banks.  This is why you will remember the one negative comment your boss said to you during your performance review forever but will instantly forget the fifteen positive comments he made before and after. This is also why…

Join Isaiah as he explains why your technical skills are worthless in industry and why you need to start communicating your transferable skills right now Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah states why your technical skills won’t get you hired in industry and why you should focus on your transferable skills insteadNext, Isaiah reveals why PhDs overlook their transferable skills when creating their professional profiles, which makes them lose professional opportunitiesFinally, Isaiah discusses why you need to let go of your technical skills if your want to advance your career and get an industry job From This Week’s Show…  Your Technical Skills Won’t Get You Hired The idea that you will be hired because of your technical or specialty skills is a lie. That’s one of the last things employers truly care about. Sure, if you put buzz words on your resume that match the words in the job posting, you might get a callback, but those skills are not going to get you a job offer. There’s an immense amount of data showing that the number one reason employers hire PhDs is because of their transferable skills. Your transferable skills are the softer skills that…

Join Isaiah as he discloses what your most valuable asset is and how you can protect it to ensure success in your job search Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why mental energy is your most valuable assetNext, Isaiah discusses why it is so difficult to protect your mental energyFinally, Isaiah gives some advice to make the most out of your mental energy From This Week’s Show…  Mental Energy Is Your Most Valuable Asset Fatigue can ruin your career. Whether it’s burnout, exhaustion, stress, apathy or up and down energy levels, nothing has ruined more careers than mental fatigue. This is because nothing can save you from your fatigued mind. Not time—hours don’t matter when your brain is incapable of making good decisions. Not money—dollars won’t buy you clarity or stamina. Not relationships—how can you make others happy when you can’t do it for yourself?  If you’ve ever sat in front of the TV to watch something you’ve seen before because you’re tired, you know that time is not your most valuable resource. If you’ve ever bought anything beyond food, water, shelter, or your other basic needs, you know money is not your most valuable resource.  If you’ve…

Join Isaiah as he explains why being invisible is the number one reason you’re not getting an industry job and why you need to do to change that Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah presents the number one reason why you don’t have an industry job: you’re invisible to employersNext, Isaiah argues that you’re invisibile by choice and what you can do to change thatFinally, Isaiah discusses how academia tends to isolate PhDs and makes them prone to come up with excuses and why you need to stop this trend and take action From This Week’s Show…  The Number One Reason Why You’re Not Hired The number one reason employers are not hiring you in industry is because you’re invisible to them. We live in the attention economy, and as a PhD who has spent their entire life in academia, you’re attention-poor. Your resume is being ignored due to obscurity. Despite what they admit publicly, most industry companies care very little about your technical skills. They can teach you the technical skills you need to learn on the job. With attention to technical skills off the table, industry employers are not hiring you because you’re invisible…

Join Isaiah as he discusses why you should establish your desired professional lifestyle if you want to have a fulfilling career Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah explains why many PhDs end up stuck in a career they don’t fully enjoy because they focus on job titles instead of professional lifestyle Next, Isaiah uses academia as an example to illustrate why chasing job titles is a losing strategy Finally, Isaiah presents a list of questions you should answer to establish your desired professional lifestyle so you can get hired into a fulfilling career From This Week’s Show…  The Wrong Strategy Most PhDs Follow To Establish Their Desired Career Do you know which career is right for you? Most PhDs never set professional goals even though university studies show that just writing down your goals increases your odds of attaining them by 33.54 percent. Instead, most PhDs work on whatever is put in front of them. They fall into whatever position academia gives them permission to hold. The few PhDs who start searching for a job outside of academia and do the research necessary to start understanding the industry landscape, sectors, and job titles often get lured…

Join Isaiah as he explains what is the innovation and commercialization career spectrum and how you can use it to find your target position Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah presents the innovation and commercialization career spectrum and goes into details about the innovation side of the spectrumNext, Isaiah dives deep into the commercialization side of the spectrumFinally, Isaiah presents a list of PhD-level industry positions ranked on where they fall in the innovation and commercialization career spectrum From This Week’s Show…  What Is The Innovation And Commercialization Career Spectrum All industry job titles can be considered in terms of where they are on a spectrum of innovation and commercialization. This may be a new concept to you if you’ve been in academia your entire life where nearly two-thirds of all research is basic, so let’s break it down. The world of business has innovation on one side of a spectrum and commercialization on the other. The innovation side might start with a company’s intellectual property (IP), or perhaps the very beginning of an idea before it becomes a company’s IP. It includes ideation (brainstorming ideas), validation (validating the best ideas based on what a company’s…

Join Isaiah as he explains what a pragmatic mindset is and why having one will positively impact all aspects of your life Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discloses what a pragmatic mindset is and how it’s different from other mindsetsNext, Isaiah presents data on the positive effects of having a pragmatic mindset Finally, Isaiah discusses why having the right mindset is the most important aspect to keep motivation high From This Week’s Show…  What Is A Pragmatic Mindset Your mindset defines your point of view, or the way you look at the world. If you’re always looking at things from a limited viewpoint—you don’t have enough time, you’re too old, you’re too busy—you’ll always have a limited attitude, and you’ll never make progress in your job search. You’ll never reach your full potential in your career either. Likewise, if you’re always taking on too much at once—inflating what is logically possible for you to achieve or succumbing to every desire that presents itself—you’ll always feel behind, overwhelmed, and out of control. As a result, you’ll always be in pain. The only way to relieve this pain is to transform your mindset. You must develop a…

Join Isaiah as he discusses why you should never start a job search with a trial and error mentality and what you should do instead Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah illustrates why you should never rely on trial and error during your search by telling the story of a PhD he recently talked to in a transition callNext, Isaiah gives an example of how using trial and error will significantly reduce your chances of getting hiredFinally, Isaiah gives some advice of the strategy you should follow if you want to see results in your job search fast From This Week’s Show…  Why You Should Never Rely On Trial And Error Experimentation is a horrible transition strategy. I recently talked to a PhD who had lost funding and was unemployed. They were completely desperate to get hired, which is something I hate seeing but, unfortunately, see too often. Like most PhDs, this person thought that getting hired would be pretty straight forward. They thought that once they really started trying in their job search, opportunities would come faster and faster. Only, they didn’t come faster. In fact, they came slower. That’s when this PhD sent me…

Join Isaiah as he gives some advice on why you should be aware of the negative people in your life and how to deal with them Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah talks about the importance of identifying and dealing with the negative people in your life to prevent them from holding you backNext, Isaiah discusses what you can do if you’re in an environment where you can’t just cut out the negative peopleFinally, Isaiah illustrates how you can channel negative energy into positive actions by telling the story of the Atlantic codfish From This Week’s Show…  Why You Need To Identify And Deal With The Negative People In Your Life The people you allow in your life will affect your emotions, your decisions, and your actions. Most importantly, they will affect your options. You’ll never reach your full potential if you keep giving your valuable time and energy to negative people. Stop letting everyone into your life. Start making room for your biggest dreams. Create space for new, positive people who will support you and like you just the way you are. If you’ve already let negative people into your life, cut them out. If…

Join Isaiah as he discusses the importance of self awareness when you interact with industry employers during the interview process Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah tells why PhDs often annoy industry employers using his own story as a referenceNext, Isaiah talks about the information you should have to make yourself presentable to employers and the importance of self awarenessFinally, Isaiah explains the most important aspect of a hiring process and how you should prepare for it From This Week’s Show…  Why PhDs Often Annoy Industry Employers What’s worse – being invisible to industry employers, or being seen but being seen as another annoying PhD? I know for a fact that I annoyed the first few industry employers I reached out to when I was starting my job search because I made it all about me. I need a job! Pay attention to me! Read my resume! Help! I’m desperate. It was an awful way to present myself. On top of this, I was experimenting in my job search. I was trying things out. I figured trial and error worked well in research so why not apply it to my job search. What I should have…

Join Isaiah as he explains how other people’s opinions can affect your life and why you should be careful about who you let in and ask for advice Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode… First, Isaiah discusses the effect that other people’s opinion can have on your emotions and behaviorsNext, Isaiah reveals why most people are better off trusting their instinct than asking for advice about their livesFinally, Isaiah illustrates how this can affect PhDs who are still in academia and what they should do if they want to avoid getting stuck From This Week’s Show…  How Other People’s Opinions Can Change Your Emotions And Behaviors Other people’s opinions about you and your career can be like viruses. They can infect you. No matter who you are or how strong you may be, other people affect your emotions and behavior. These feelings and actions circulate through social networks in patterns similar to that seen in epidemiological models of the flu virus. A scientific study published by the Proceedings of the Royal Society estimated that every positive person you let into your life increases your chances of being positive by 11 percent, but every negative person you let into…