The Invisible Job Candidate

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 employers
• Next, Isaiah argues that you’re invisibile by choice and what you can do to change that
• Finally, 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 to them. Everything else you tell yourself about why you are being ignored is a waste of time and is a cover for your unorganized, inactive job search.

Why You’re Invisible By Choice

It’s so much easier to blame lack of success in your job search on the lack of some skill, certification, or degree when the hard truth is that you can’t get hired because you refuse to reach out to meet employers or employees.

It’s your refusal to have challenging conversations with people in industry that is keeping you from transitioning. Think of all the tools you have at your disposal today for getting an employer’s attention. You can find everything you need to know about an employer on their website. They might even have a careers page that gives you specific information about how to get in touch with them. You can find these employers on LinkedIn too, including every employee who works at these companies. You can email these employers or simply pick up the phone, call their office, and ask to speak to someone in the hiring department.

So, let’s not pretend like you can’t get an employer’s attention. Instead, let’s admit the truth: you’re invisible by choice.

How Academia Makes PhDs Prone To Isolation

As PhDs, we are trained for years and years to keep to ourselves, and, over time, we have become isolated in our ivory towers. In our isolation, we tell ourselves stories that fit our situation and shift blame off ourselves and onto imaginary forces.

We imagine that we’re not being contacted by industry employers because our PhD has made us overqualified. We imagine that our PhD background is too niche or that we lack some specific skill on a job posting.

In reality, we just don’t want to reach out to anyone because it’s too uncomfortable. Nobody in industry knows you, and nobody will know you if you keep doing what you’re doing.

There’s a cost to playing the attention game incorrectly. Many hiring managers and recruiters will never come back to a job candidate’s LinkedIn profile once they have decided that you lack industry credibility. Worse, many top employers have a mandatory six- to twelve-month waiting period before they will reconsider you for a position at their company once they have reviewed your resume and rejected your candidacy for a position.

Your industry job search is not a trial-and-error affair. This is not academia. If you’re performing a poor and sloppy job search, you’re burning bridges, and it’s time for you to stop.

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.