PDFLINK |
Technical & Social Components of Getting a Job
We’ve helped hundreds of graduate students, postdocs, and graduate alumni launch and advance their careers outside of academia over the past five years at the Erdős Institute. Here are my top takeaways for both the technical and social aspects of getting a job.
Setting the Stage
You are extremely employable
Less than 2% of the world’s population holds a doctoral degree. You have a unique skill set that has been honed by going to graduate school and successfully completing a PhD. Some of your skills are:
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Identifying problems and proposing solutions
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Clearly communicating difficult/technical concepts
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Being responsible, organized, and able to manage big projects
However, having a PhD is not a golden ticket. Trying to get hired can be a full-time job on its own and requires plenty of preparation.
Have a broad network and communicate well
Getting a job you love and successfully advancing your career requires community and the support of your peers, mentors, and professional network at every stage. The more diverse your network is, the greater your set of opportunities will be. Furthermore, the business world values collaboration and teamwork. Your colleagues and superiors will judge you both on what you know and how well you work with others. Being a strong communicator and team player will give you a competitive edge.
Explore your options and don’t be afraid to create your own opportunities
What do you enjoy doing? What do you want to get out of a job? What do you want to get out of life? You can take your career in several different directions. The nonacademic career path is more fluid than the tenure track. Getting your first job is the hardest part. After that, if you keep your options open, new and exciting opportunities will regularly present themselves. Have you come across a small or medium size business that you think could be a perfect fit, but don’t see a job posting? Write to the CEO and founder(s). Also, keep in mind that entrepreneurship and creating your own job is always an option.
Faculty are usually not the subject matter experts on getting a job outside of academia
However, your peers and departmental PhD alumni working outside of academia are. They are the ones you should be turning to for help and guidance on nonacademic careers. Academic departments benefit tremendously when they understand the value of their alumni network and properly utilize their collective experience, knowledge, and resources.
There’s no one-size-fits-all perfect strategy
As you speak with others about their experiences and processes in getting a job, you will hear varying opinions on application strategies—like how many places you should apply to and whether you should always include a cover letter. Some applicants cold-applied with a blanket resume to hundreds of positions while others applied to only a dozen positions but spent days refining their resume and cover letter for each individual position. Eventually, after enough effort and help from their network, they all got a job. Choose an initial strategy that you feel most comfortable with. Then you can continue to refine your approach based on what is working for you.
Getting Started
Aligning with organizations, like the Erdős Institute, that support PhDs and connect them with a professional network, will give you access to career development resources and services that go beyond what is available to you in your department and university.
You need to know what jobs are out there
Find and attend career exploration seminars, panels, and events where your PhD alumni peers share their experiences and career paths. They may offer advice on what you could be doing now to be better prepared. Research their organization and follow up with the speakers if you are interested in learning more. Most are willing to have a conversation, if their schedule permits, and you clearly demonstrate that you have taken time in advance to learn more about them and their employer.
Put together a resume
Resumes are your marketing document. They succinctly say who you are, what kind of work you are looking for, and what qualifying skills you have for the job you are applying to. The more you tailor your resume to a specific job posting’s stated requirements and desired skills, the better. You need to pass the “eight-second glance test,” since some recruiters are reviewing hundreds of resumes. Have a clear summary section at the top and follow it up with your most relevant skills. Make it easy for the recruiter to quickly find what they’re looking for. This will encourage them to review your resume in more detail after the initial glance.
I see graduate student resumes as typically falling into four different categories depending on how many of the following conditions have been met:
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The PhD is nearing completion—this demonstrates resilience and the ability to take on and complete huge tasks.
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Portfolio projects outside of the dissertation research (and comprehensible to a broader audience) have been completed—this demonstrates interest in other topics and the ability to work on more “practical” problems.
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Having prior nonacademic work experience (like an internship)—this demonstrates that you are “employable” outside of academia. This could seem inconsequential, but it may just give you that competitive edge. Also, some recruiters who aren’t qualified to evaluate your technical skills feel more comfortable knowing that someone else has already evaluated you.
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Unique bonus experience—this demonstrates personality, leadership, and depth. Include positions and activities like being president of a student organization or professional society chapter. Established your university’s/state’s first-ever conference on “topic x” which brought together academics and non-academics? Even better. Varsity captain of your university’s soccer team in undergrad and led the team to a national championship two years in a row? Fantastic. These types of experiences show potential employers that you are both smart and a natural leader.
Now of course, there are certain industry sectors and research positions outside of academia where PhDs have been hired for decades and something closer to a traditional CV is more appropriate. Having both a resume and CV is valuable regardless of whether you are applying to academic positions.
Get ready to interview
Preparing for interviews takes time—like preparing for a qualifying or candidacy exam. Many alumni will tell you to set aside a few months to practice. You will need to be ready both for technical interviews and behavioral interviews. Practice paired coding and whiteboarding exercises, review case studies, and practice answering behavioral interview questions using the Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) method. At the Erdős Institute we have collected resources, developed interview content with our alumni, and have coaches on hand to help you with every type of interview.
Understand that interview procedures vary widely. Different companies have different hiring processes. Larger companies need to implement standardized processes to handle the volume of applications, while smaller companies have greater flexibility.
Accepting an Offer and Advancing Your Career
Eventually, the offers will start coming in and you will need to weigh your options and begin the negotiation process. Congratulations! Navigating all of this can be tricky and you should aim for only accepting competitive offers. Consider working with a career coach. Coaches can help build up your confidence, help you self-reflect, and help map out the steps you need to take for career success and advancement.
The nonacademic career path is more fluid than the tenure track. Getting your first job is the hardest part. After that, if you keep your options open and continue fostering your personal and professional networks, new and exciting opportunities will regularly present themselves to you!
Want more personalized help? Please feel free to reach out: roman@erdosinstitute.org.
The Erdős Institute is a multi-university collaboration focused on helping PhDs get jobs they love at every stage of their career. Founded in 2017, the Institute helps train and place a diverse pool of graduate students, postdocs, and graduate alumni.
Graduate students, postdocs, and graduate alumni from member institutions have free access to all of the programming and resources that the Institute provides. Examples include the “Invitation to Industry” seminar series, Data Science Bootcamps, Alumni-Led Mini-Courses, Interview Prep Workshops, and Career Coaching.
Credits
Photo of Roman Holowinsky is courtesy of Stephen Takacs (https://stephentakacs.com).