Beyond academia: Improving employment prospects and versatility as a PhD
Non-academic careers: A PhD’s guide to standing out from the crowd
With a shortfall of entry-level positions in academia, many doctorate holders may choose to, or need to look elsewhere for employment after completing their studies. There is often a disparity seen between the amount of faculty career support given to making undergraduates ready for the wider job market versus their postgraduates counterparts. This leaves PhD’s asking — how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd for employment beyond the academy?
Whilst more recent data is needed, surveys examining career trajectories of doctorate holders indicate that a reasonable proportion of PhD’s go on to develop careers outside academia. In a US survey for earned doctorates [1], (conducted in 2015 by the National Science Foundation), just over half of all fifty-five thousand science and engineering doctorates asked had firm employment plans outside academia (51.5%). However, this varied significantly by discipline, for example 41% of psychology and social sciences doctorates took non-academic posts, whilst 86% of those in engineering did [2].
The impact of doctoral careers UK report [3], published by CFE research in 2014, surveyed the occupations and sectors of doctoral graduates seven to nine years after graduation. The higher education sector, (here defined as academic research, teaching and other related roles in academia), employed 50% of doctoral graduates completing the survey. In line with the US results, there were observable variances by doctoral discipline. Just 38% of doctorates in the physical sciences and engineering were based in academia, whilst 62% of those in the arts and humanities were.
In light of this evidence, how do you ensure that non-academic employers are aware of your versatility and potential after specialising as a PhD.?
You are probably more versatile than you think…
Working to complete your PhD., inherently involves a number of transferable skills that employers value. It’s important to take time to acknowledge and present these in context to an employer, in your application and at interview. The latter coupled with relevant work experience and extra-curricular activities, can help demonstrate sought-after qualities for non-academic roles.
Skills you gain during your doctorate:
Time-management and planning: Many PhD’s are funded over a set number of years. During this time, a body of work that answers the fundamental question laid out in your PhD title and is significant enough for a thesis, must be completed. This involves the completion of multiple projects, whether that’s conducting experiments, gathering information, collating relevant data, searching archives and writing reports to reach your goal. All of these activities demonstrate the ability to plan and manage your time.
“Working to complete your PhD., inherently involves a number of transferable skills that employers value.”
Presentation skills: Doctoral candidates regularly present their work to their peers at conferences, group meetings and faculty seminars. Doing so provides the opportunity to develop confidence in communicating ideas clearly. Also, the ability to defend your work and ideas when challenged.
Writing skills: Thesis writing, regular reports, abstracts, papers and research write-ups help hone your writing skills through your PhD. The ability to sift through large amounts of information and summarise them succinctly, in writing, is a valuable transferable skill.
Analytical skills and data handling: In the course of your PhD., you may create, test and analyse many different hypotheses. Dependent on your field, you will need to handle, collate and evaluate data. You may also use statistical analyses for validating the significance of results coupled with numerical expertise. These skills are highly valued in many employment sectors.
Problem solving: You have to troubleshoot several problems throughout your studies. You will most likely have several examples of when you have exercised this skill by collating all the relevant information and coming up with a range of solutions.
Training/Educational skills: You may have trained others in your research group on specific techniques or provided guidance over the course of a project. Many doctoral candidates teach and supervise undergraduates. This ability is desirable in many roles.
IT skills: Undertaking a doctorate often requires the development of up to date IT skills. Aside from being highly computer literate, you may have been required to use specialist packages for your field, or use generic ones, (like Microsoft Excel), for advanced purposes like data manipulation.
Self-motivation and independent working: PhD.’s require tenacity, resilience and self-direction in order to complete them. Some humanities doctorates in particular, require long periods of time working in isolation, where it is necessary to exercise self-motivation. Regardless of your field, you will have had to work effectively without direction or supervision at some stage.
Team-working: If you are part of a research group, (common if you’re completing a doctorate in science and engineering disciplines), you’ve had to work in a team environment. Liasing and coordinating with colleagues for equipment, discussing ideas and working on joint projects, all count. As does gaining the participation of individuals from different departments and organisations for collaborative work.
Making the most of relevant work experience
All prior work experience, including voluntary work, that aligns with the experience wanted from an employer should be mentioned in your application for a new post. Some examples include: a sandwich year placement during your undergraduate studies; work over a summer vacation; non-research related articles you have published; organising a conference and teaching or supervisory experience with undergraduates.
“Take time to acknowledge the transferable skills you have gained.”
If you are funded by a company or organisation that is in the same line of work as the employment you are seeking, make sure you present examples of the interaction and collaboration you had during your studies.
If you really lack any examples here that would apply for your chosen career path, consider a short intern, volunteering or taking up a part-time post during your PhD. The latter approach will demonstrate initiative and commitment. Seek out people in your network that may be in your preferred line of employment, speak to them to get guidance and insight for what could help. Another valuable source of information are career events and webinars that often detail the combination of skills and experience leading to an individual’s role transition.
Extra-curricular activities
Nothing beats direct work experience as a primary source for demonstrating your versatility and skills, but don’t be tempted to completely overlook extra-curricular activities. Perhaps you helped organise several social events at your faculty, where you publicised the event and managed a budget? Did you run a society or specific interest group, that required planning and organisation? Have you created or maintained a website for a social group using coding, design and IT skills? I am sure you’ll be able to think of many more examples.
A final point on non-academic careers…
As you near the finish line for completing your doctoral studies and consider your next move, take time to acknowledge the transferable skills you have gained. If they are clear in your mind, you’ll be able to convey them effectively to an employer. So called ‘alternative’ non-academic careers may not be so alternative at all, when you look at recent survey data. There are many ways you can diversify the experience you gained. Alongside specialist subject knowledge, remember a PhD can confer many transferable skills, helping you with long term career success.
We’ll be discussing the range of non-academic careers available in future articles.
How can a PhD graduate be more employable?
- You’re more versatile than may be obvious
- You learn valuable skills like time management, problem solving and team work
- Take time to do a rigourous self-assessment of your experience and training
References
- NSF: Survey for Earned Doctorates. 2015 https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17306/survey.cfm
- Survey for Earned Doctorates: Data Table 46. Employment sector of doctorate recipients with definite postgraduation commitments for employment in the United States, by broad field of study: Selected years, 1995–2015 https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17306/data/tab46.pdf
- CFE research*. The impact of doctoral careers: Final report. November 2014 http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/skills/timodcfullreport-pdf/
*The authors recognised that many survey respondents were recruited through alumni offices, so the results may over-represent those working in higher education.