‘The key is that you are not selling your subject knowledge, you’re selling your methodology.’ – Pierbruno Ricci, author of From Science to Consulting Whenever I talk to PhD researchers one-on-one about career options (which is, well, a LOT of the time…), I often ask them to tell me if they’ve looked at any optionsContinue reading “From PhD to Consulting: An Insider’s Guide”
Category Archives: Career options
What does ‘industry’ mean if you’re a humanities PhD?
‘Society needs more, not fewer, people […] who can read, critique, and synthesise complex and competing arguments.’ – Katina L. Rogers, Putting the Humanities PhD to Work When I was coming towards the end of my English Lit PhD in 2011, there was very little ‘academia to industry’ chat happening. Had there been, I envisionContinue reading “What does ‘industry’ mean if you’re a humanities PhD?”
Pitching Perfect: Leveraging your Research Communication, Public Engagement & Outreach Experience for a Rewarding Career
In my experience, I’ve only been able to reflect that I’ve got a certain skill once I’ve used it in a different environment.’ – Katrina Roberts SPERM BIOLOGY! Did that distract you?! Well, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about distractions… more specifically, about the things we might feel guilty about giving time to duringContinue reading “Pitching Perfect: Leveraging your Research Communication, Public Engagement & Outreach Experience for a Rewarding Career”
Exploring Career Options Beyond Academia: Essential LinkedIn ‘tricks’ for researchers
‘I ‘m on LinkedIn, but… I’m not sure what to do with it” – said by more PhD & Postdoc Researchers than I can count LinkedIn. It’s a single word, yet it provokes so many responses from researchers I work with who are exploring their next steps. Some of the most popular go like: TheContinue reading “Exploring Career Options Beyond Academia: Essential LinkedIn ‘tricks’ for researchers”
‘Academic-adjacent careers’: what are they, and how do I find them?
“It never sat very comfortably that during my PhD I became so specialised that only a handful of people really understood my work. I wanted to expand my mind, not focus it. So a research-adjacent career has fed my curiosity and my soul in a way I now see research never could.“ – Sarah McLusky,Continue reading “‘Academic-adjacent careers’: what are they, and how do I find them?”
I’ve done a PhD: Does that make me a ‘project manager?’
You’ve done a PhD… that means you’re already a project manager! I hear this A LOT. I *may* even have said it at some point. But the more I’ve heard it, the more I’ve started to doubt it… or at least critique it. For example, back in October I had the pleasure of working withContinue reading “I’ve done a PhD: Does that make me a ‘project manager?’”
‘“Expecting” an academic career’: things to consider if that sounds like you
Last month, I found one of my New Favourite Things On The Internet… An ‘expectations vs. reality’ meme generator. Apart from being yet another distraction when I should be doing productive things like taking out the recycling, this procrastination wormhole struck a chord over something I’ve thought a lot about recently. Over the past 18Continue reading “‘“Expecting” an academic career’: things to consider if that sounds like you”
How can you ‘use’ your PhD in your future work? Options for Arts & Humanities PhDs
Now, Bob Dorough and many people after him have tried to convince us that three is the magic number. For me, for some unknown reason, it seems to be six. Perhaps that comes from my innate tendency to make everything twice as complicated as it needs to be, but in my last post I lookedContinue reading “How can you ‘use’ your PhD in your future work? Options for Arts & Humanities PhDs”
How can you ‘use’ your PhD in your future work? Options for STEM PhDs
‘Science isn’t [just] WHAT you think, it’s HOW’ – Science Everywhere Before I go on, I just wanted to say… I hear you, humanities people, and an equivalent post is coming for you in a few weeks! Now we’ve got the disclaimer out of the way, let’s get down to business. Or industry. Or entrepreneurship.Continue reading “How can you ‘use’ your PhD in your future work? Options for STEM PhDs”
What jobs can I do after my PhD? How to ‘map’ your options, with real examples
‘The bad news is there’s no comprehensive list of jobs you can get after a PhD in X. That’s also the good news: you can move into a vast array of exciting, meaningful careers.’ – Jen Polk, PhD: Founder of From PhD to Life I have a (PhD careers) dream. My first TV memory asContinue reading “What jobs can I do after my PhD? How to ‘map’ your options, with real examples”