life after my phd

Life After My Ph.D.

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I got my Ph.D. in neuroscience in Fall 2021, stayed on for a 4-month postdoc, and then left academia for a remote medical writing job. This blog is a collection of my thoughts on and advice from my transition to industry.

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Life after phd: what are your options, published by steve tippins on april 20, 2019 april 20, 2019.

Last Updated on: 3rd June 2022, 04:35 am

Congratulations, you completed your doctoral degree. It has been years in the making and now you are there. This is a time to relish what you have done and congratulate yourself. It’s also a time to consider what your next steps are.

While you may have started your PhD program with future goals in mind, chances are you forgot that life after PhD existed. But now you’re here, and it’s time to consider what to do. So what are your next steps? What comes after you get your PhD?

Personal Life After PhD

I deliberately put this section first. Mostly because, while pursuing a PhD, many people forget that they can have a personal life. Now that you’ve completed your PhD, it’s time to consider what you want your life to look like. Unless you want it to look the same as it did during your PhD program, I recommend taking some time to find yourself again as a whole person, separate from your PhD program. Here are my recommendations.

You did it. This goal has probably been on the horizon for years. Many people think about completing a doctorate well before they enter a program. Then there is coursework and a dissertation to write. You have sacrificed a great deal to get to this point. Take some time for you now to celebrate.  

Thank those who helped you get here . Take yourself and those who were part of the journey out for a celebratory meal. Perhaps there is a trip that you have been putting off until this moment? I have seen a lot of t-shirts lately that say “Phinished.” Let your pride show.

You have been hard at work on this degree for years. Once you have celebrated, it’s time to take stock of where you are and what you want to do. It may be much different than when you entered your program.

So, take a moment to breathe. Look around you (literally and figuratively) to see what things look like now. Learn to take time to do nothing. This can be very challenging for people who have been so dedicated to the accomplishment of a goal, but it is essential if you are to have space to figure out your next steps.

Find Yourself Again

Remember how you used to like to  _______ (insert your favorite activities here)? Now you can go back and find these things again and maybe get involved in new things. No need to feel guilty any longer for taking time for yourself.

Professional Life After PhD

After you have paused to congratulate yourself and breathe a little I encourage you to jump into the possibilities that await you. Not only have you accomplished a major milestone, you have used and developed many skills to get here. Use everything that you have learned to show the world what you can do. How do you do this? Here are some of your options.

You wrote a dissertation, let people know what you found. Make your document into at least one publication. Not only did your dissertation get you across the finish line, but it is also an asset. You worked hard to create a solid document. Make the most of it and add to your academic credibility by publishing in an academic journal.

Also, start pursuing some of the other research areas that interest you. While working on your degree you probably came across a number of interesting ideas that you had to put aside to reach your goal. Now that you have achieved your goal, you can explore. Dig into those topics that piqued your interest. Use those academic chops, flex your research muscles. Life after PhD doesn’t necessarily have to be any less academically rigorous if that’s what you enjoy.

Teaching can be a rewarding profession. If you feel this is your calling, consider the following questions: Do you want to teach full time or part time? Would you rather teach online or in a classroom? Are you committed to one geographic location or are you able to relocate? Each area offers various opportunities.

If this is the path you want to pursue, work on creating a CV (curriculum vitae) that fits the standards of your discipline. You will also usually submit documents covering your teaching philosophy, a list of references, research agenda, and copies of teaching reviews. If you get a campus visit interview, you will most likely need to prepare a presentation about your research and may be asked to teach a class. Tip: you can base your presentation on your dissertation defense.

Remember to ask for advice from those who have been there before. Get acquainted with norms. Your professors and advisors are an excellent resource to help you prepare for this, as are my career coaching services .

To find a teaching job, take a look at the Chronicle of Higher Education . The Chronicle posts academic jobs every day. You can also check out HigherEdJobs which has jobs that may not make it to the Chronicle.

If you’re interested in teaching online, take a look at my article about where to find online professor jobs , which includes a list of online universities that are currently hiring.

Jobs Outside of Academia

There may be alternatives to teaching or working in academia. Speaking at conferences, consulting, and getting a promotion or a new job all may be options you want to pursue. Having a PhD means you are part of a small and coveted group outside of academia–use this to your advantage.

If this is the path you want to take, you will need to have a resume and to be ready to answer all kinds of questions. Take the time to update your resume after finishing your PhD, adding relevant new accomplishments and experience besides the degree itself.

Remember to highlight the unique strengths and skills that completing your PhD program demonstrates you have. Remember that you are a member of a small group of people with an exceptionally useful skill set, and a degree to prove it. You have proven your capacity to innovate, learn, work with others, and work hard. Consider what lessons you learned from your PhD program that can apply to any professional setting, and highlight those.

Life After PhD: Summary

You have been through a lot. Late nights, a few tears, lots of work, and maybe even a few laughs. Now you have finished and have completed your doctorate. Congratulate yourself and thank those who helped you.

Take a little time to savor your accomplishment and then chart a path forward. During your journey you planted many seeds, now it is time to let all of them grow. Life after PhD may be even more rewarding than you imagined.

PS. Need some help figuring out life after PhD? I offer career coaching services for postdoctoral graduates.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Tress Academic

#43: Life after the PhD: It’s waiting for you!

March 3, 2020 by Tress Academic

Have you forgotten that there will be an end to the PhD? Have you ever thought about how you will feel after your graduation? Awesome! Your life will be all the better, so why not trying to end the hardship and complete your PhD? Let us help you to get there quicker and more easily. 

We know that PhD students often – in the midst of hard work – forget to see the end! You have so many struggles, so much on your plate, that you don’t realise anymore that one day this will all be over! There is a day in the future when you will be a PhD holder and your life will be significantly different! Yes, you’ll have your PhD degree and all the hardship will be an experience of the past! 

Realising this and reminding yourself of the bigger picture can have a great effect: It can make you realise that life after the PhD is something fabulous and worthwhile striving for. Keeping this in mind is motivating and can help you to endure the momentary struggles! But it can also make you want to get there sooner! So why not pushing on with your PhD a bit faster, or at least trying to finish on your planned completion date instead of going for an extension. 

In this post, we want to assist you in reaching your goal more easily. To do so, we

• remind you why it is so important to have the end in mind
• give you nice inspirations for your life after the PhD
• let you develop a vision for yourself so you get a taster of how life-after will feel, and
• give you hints, what you can do to get to the end quicker and more easily! 

1. Regain a sense of purpose

At the beginning of your PhD, it was very clear why you started all this – you wanted a PhD, and you wanted to do a research project. Some time into the PhD, this initial motivation fades, and sheer hard work is taking over. In the middle phase, PhD students often experience the most severe problems and the daily rut of work seems never ending. This is the hardest phase in the PhD because you cannot yet see the end, and you can’t be sure yet that you will succeed. 

In this period it can be very helpful if you from time to time look beyond what you do right now, leave the problems aside and imagine how it will feel when you have achieved what you are striving for. Just pausing a moment and thinking about how you will feel after the PhD is completed! 

Allowing this to sink into your brain, will bring instant relief of your struggle. It has two great effects. First, it is highly motivating and second, it can help you to re-gain this much needed sense of purpose. In the middle of seemingly pointless and tedious work, this will remind you of the bigger picture of why you are doing it and how this PhD will improve your life! 

So, allow yourself to develop a clearer idea of how you will feel after graduation (imagine the evening of graduation day or a few days after! Imagine how your life will be and create a vivid visualisation of this. And then, whenever you feel stuck with your PhD, one problem is piling up after the other, or you have a seemingly endless and tedious task ahead of you, do come back to this visualisation. Recall that situation and evoke that mental image of yourself after PhD completion! If you lack any idea of how much having the PhD degree can influence your life, below we give you some inspiration to start with! But then, we let you develop your own vision! 

Want to develop it right away: Get our free worksheet “My life after the PhD”

2. Imagine yourself after PhD graduation

Let us give you a few ideas about your life after graduation. We look at the professional and also on the private part of your life.

Career in science:

Professionally, if you enjoy research and stay in the academic world, you’ll likely work as a postdoc or junior researcher after graduation, and that opens a whole array of new and exciting opportunities. You can decide whether to work in the same field as for your PhD, or deliberately chose something else (new, more exciting!). You can seek your own funding and set up intriguing new projects. You can expand your professional contacts and join international initiatives or research programmes. You can sharpen and develop your own researcher identity, and you can have your own MSc/MA or PhD students, which allows you to have a higher throughput and work more independently. Over the years, I have seen many PhD graduates moving from a first postdoc to becoming an assistant professor or PI in just a few years time. It’s possible, it’s within your reach!

Non-academic career: 

If work in academia is not your first choice or you took the PhD with the aim to improve your career chances outside, there are a billion of great options waiting for you. If you have not made up your mind yet which career path exactly you want to pursue, you’ll probably spend some time researching your options and see what is be the best fit for you! This depends on your skills, your personality and preferences, e.g. what would make you truly happy in the long run. 

You can work in the private, public or voluntary sector. You can choose a career in a big global corporation or work for a regional charity, be one of several thousand employees, or contribute to a team of just ten! Either way, you’ll work in exciting new environments, and you can finally apply the knowledge and skills that you accumulated all those years at university, and you can make a real impact to the world!

Just a side note, because we know there are always a few among you who are afraid of being unemployed. You can calm your nerves because the chances are slim. Unemployment rates among PhD graduates continue to be lower than those of graduates of lower-level educations. In many countries across the globe, unemployment rates continue to be very low with 2% on average (varying between <1% and up to 4%), depending on the country or region where you work (see, OECD 2013, and ESF/Boman 2017).  

Your private life after PhD graduation:

The biggest immediate change for many PhD graduates comes from the fact that they finally get a decent payday. This is certainly true for all those, who were on a scholarship during their PhD, which often is barely enough to make a living. But even those with PhD positions will get a remarkably higher pay after graduation. You’ll be able to afford the things that make life a little bit easier and more enjoyable, and without any valuation, I guess everyone can find something they are longing for here. Whether you finally want to move out of your tiny overpriced apartment, make a travel you always dreamed of, spend more on your kids or their education, or donate to a charity, you’ll simply have more freedom to live the lifestyle that suits you. 

Does this sound good? Well, it is! It is totally worth striving for! Now, imagine a few things that will come true for you after PhD graduation. 

3. Create a vision

There are many ways in which you can create a stimulating and compelling vision of your life past PhD graduation. To help you along the way, we have compiled a free worksheet “My life after the PhD” with some great exercises to get you started. 

Have you ever tried to imagine how you will feel a few days after your graduation? How relieved and happy you will be! How proud and confident you will be! Or, jot down a few things that you dread now and which would change after the PhD, and would be over once and forever. Or, picture yourself in a great professional environment, working for a great company, exploring new applications or leading a team, or meeting clients or patients, who rely on your expertise. Yes, all of this is within reach once you have completed your PhD. Feels good just thinking about it, right?

4. How and when will this come true?

Did you enjoy envisioning your life after PhD graduation and the good things that will come along with it? It’ll be awesome, right?

So why don’t you ask yourself the following:

• What can I do to get there as soon as possible?
• What can I do to get there more easily?

We suggest that instead of moving on with your PhD in slow motion and leave your graduation day in the distant future, you plan for timely completion. Instead of begging for an extension of your PhD time, see what you can do to complete as initially planned. Instead of having nightmares about running out of funding ask yourself what you can do to get the PhD in a more straight-forward and direct route. 

So ask yourself: What is your most direct path between now and PhD completion? What are the current obstacles that have to be overcome? What decisions have to be taken? What changes do you need to make to move ahead? Think about the following:

• Do you need a mindset shift? Do you need to move from “I do everything everyone asks me to do” to “I focus strictly on what is necessary now to complete”? Or from: “I do this later” to “I tackle this right now and move on”?
• Do you need to re-organise your workload? So you can finally spend more time analysing your data and publish those papers or write chapters in your dissertation?
• Do you need to recalibrate your PhD goal? Maybe you had it some months ago, but now you deviated from that idea and you have lost traction? So it is about regaining clarity and defining exactly what will constitute your thesis in the end?
• Do you need a better overview? Have you lost track of what you have completed and what is still missing? In need to define the most crucial steps until completion? Is it about planning the remaining months in your PhD in a way that you CAN finish on time?

5. We help PhDs who want to complete

Have you silently nodded to one, two or all of the above? Do you agree that something significant has to change in order to move the needle? Well, then let us help you, because teaching PhD students how to move ahead and complete is exactly what we do! 

As a member of our community , you have access to a lot of great material to get you started right now: highly recommended free resources are the SMART ACADEMICS blog post no# 2: So you want to finish your PhD on time and our Expert guide: 5 reasons why PhD students delay and how to avoid .

We are offering a free PhD Webinar to help you complete your PhD project – if you’re interested , sign up here.  

Related resources:

• Worksheet “My life after the PhD”
• Smart Academics Blog #2: So you want to finish your PhD on time
• Smart Academics Blog #46: What makes PhD students succeed?
• Smart Academics Blog #60: Are you delayed with your PhD ?
• Smart Academics Blog #73: What’s needed to finish your PhD?
• Smart Academics Blog #77: When should I start searching for my next job?
• Smart Academics Blog #100: PhD success stories that motivate!
• TRESS ACADEMIC Free Expert Guide: 5 reasons why PhD students delay and how to avoid.  
• Free PhD Webinar
• EuropeanScienceFoundation/Boman, J. 2017. Career Tracking Survey of Doctorate Holders. Project Report.  
• OECD/Auriol, L., Misu, M., Freeman, R.A. 2013. Careers of Doctorate Holders. Market and Mobility Indicators.

More information: 

Do you want to complete your PhD successfully? If so, please sign up to receive our free guides.  

© 2020 Tress Academic

#PhD, #Doctorate, #PhDGraduation, #Career, #PhDStudy, #PhDCompletion

After a PhD

Learn about life after a PhD, from employability statistics to career prospects. Find out the skills you’ll gain, how to apply these to a range of professions and how to continue enhancing your profile as a researcher.

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Postdocs: The Definitive Guide

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Transferable PhD Skills You Can Use in Any Career

From communication to time management, you will gain a large variety of transferable skills from completing a PhD. Learn what these are and how to use them in your CV.

Life After a PhD: What Can You Do?

Find out the most common career paths for doctorates both within and outside of the academic world.

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Thinking about becoming a University Lecturer? If so, you’re going to want to learn all about the teaching and researching life, including the salary you can expect!

The Journal Peer Review Process

The journal peer review process to publish a research paper can take several months to complete. Learn more about all the different steps involved here.

What You Can Expect as a New University Lecturer

Starting a career as a university lecturer can be one of the most rewarding highlights of your academic journey. Learn more about what to expect in this demanding role.

What Can You Do with A PhD in Public Health?

Studying public health is a wonderful choice for those who wish to dedicate their career to advancing healthcare delivery and improving the health and wellbeing of the public.

What Can You Do With A PhD In Sociology?

A PhD in sociology provides insight into social concepts and requires a strong understanding of statistics and data; learn more about career options afterwards.

Turn Your PhD Thesis Into a Paper

There may be opportunities to convert your thesis into a form ready for peer-review. Here’re a few tips to help you on your paper writing journey.

Gain valuable insight from our collection of exclusive interviews with both current and past PhD students. Learn from their best advice, personal challenges and career path after completing their doctorate.

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What Will My Life After PhD Look Like?

• December 23, 2022

Attaining a Doctorate in your field of study is a statement of your commitment to improving your profession and yourself. However, it also means that you’ve reached the top of the academic learning ladder. Hitting the ceiling in any responsibility can lead to some questions about what the next step is for you, which is why making a career plan after your PhD can guide you in attaining your goals.

A PhD is a worthy achievement, but if you don’t know why you should study for a postgraduate degree then this article was made to answer just that by telling you what your life after PhD could look like. Keep reading to learn more about your career options!

What Can I Do with My PhD?

Having an additional educational attainment under your belt can expand your career’s horizons. A person with a PhD is known to have dedicated years of their life in research to further their industry, making them a leader in their field of study. Statistics also show that only 0.9% of PhD holders are unemployed , this proves that doctorate holders are highly employable individuals.

Because of the expertise of PhD holders, they stand to gain an increase in monetary compensation. Aside from the increased earning potential, the skills they’ve learned in school can help them attain higher positions at work and unlock new opportunities for their career.

What to Do After Earning a PhD?

Setting a plan for what’s next after getting your PhD will help you set expectations for the road ahead. Whether you’d like to dedicate your life to molding young minds as part of the academe or you want to continue down the path of serving your country, the options available to you will be many.

Your professors and mentors during your PhD program will likely have PhDs backed with years of experience in the academe. Getting your doctorate can allow you to work in the academic field as a professor. Depending on your goals and the vacancies available in your institution, you can work either part-time or full-time.

Should you have the right amount of experience, credentials, and drive, you can even start charting your path to becoming a dean of the institution.

Of course, if you don’t want to pursue a career in teaching, you can still stay within the academic industry as a writer for their researchers. It’s not easy to translate technical knowledge into layman’s terms and as a writer for researchers, you can make use of your technical knowledge as well as your communication skills to effectively communicate the data to the masses. 

The government is always in need of talented professionals who can help them in their goals of bettering society. If you feel that your PhD can do some good for others and your research proves that you can apply for a job in a government department that can benefit from your expertise.

Working for the government isn’t just limited to working in its various departments, you can also work for a politician as part of their advising team.

Private Sector

Employment in your own industry is another option to consider. Employers are usually on the lookout for qualified candidates who can bring value to their company. With the technical industry knowledge you possess, and your refined skills in management, critical thinking, and communications you’ll be a top candidate at any firm you apply to.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

There are numerous NGOs that are looking for qualified candidates to help them in their mission to serve mankind. You can lend them your expertise and give insightful feedback on their performance.

You can look for an NGO that’s in line with what you believe in and see if you can offer your services to them. Depending on the PhD that you hold, you can be assigned to a department where you can do your best work.

Consultancy

If a full-time position in the private sector isn’t for you, you can come in as a consultant. Becoming a consultant will enable you to solve a business’s problems as an external contractor.

You can also join a management consulting firm to help you with your goal of becoming a consultant. Management consulting firms are always searching for top talents who they can add to their roster of experts. Consultancy firms value each person’s contribution because they know that to effectively solve a problem, they’ll need multiple minds to ensure that it’s foolproof.

For example, if you have an online PhD in Information Technology , you might be tasked with evaluating a company’s expenses and data management practices, then giving your recommendations for improvement.

Becoming a consultant will expose you to problems that will need you to tap into your different skill sets; it’ll also require you to be updated on your industry’s trends.

Entrepreneur

Earning a PhD degree means that you’re well acquainted with the intricacies of your field of study and know how to confront technical problems should they arise.

You don’t need an online PhD in Business Administration to establish a successful business. The soft skills you’ve acquired throughout your career and studies can be enough to pave the way for a successful business. However, if you can see that you’re weak in certain departments like finance or human resources, you can partner up with someone who can balance out your weaknesses.

Is Getting a PhD Worth It?

The question of whether a PhD degree is worth it or not will get varying answers, but at the end of the day, it’s your opinion that matters. If you feel that pursuing further studies can help you with your personal goals, then it’s a good investment. Forecasting your career’s trajectory and making a list of what you want to get out of your PhD will help you stay on track while you’re in school.

A doctorate can open a lot of doors for you, and it can even give you the opportunity to make a lasting impact on your field. You’ll be poised at the forefront of your industry as a subject matter expert and innovator.

Attending school will also give you a space to network with your colleagues from all over the country. The connections you’ve created can also alert you of new opportunities in the industry because they can refer you to openings that you’re qualified for.

In addition to the benefits above, you’ll also practice your people skills at school. Communication, leadership, creative thinking, and interpersonal skills can easily be adapted to any industry you decide to go into. Specialized industry knowledge can help you get inside the trade, but your soft skills are what will help you climb the ranks.

Getting Started on Your Doctorate with OEd

We hope that we’ve answered your questions as to how a PhD can change your life. Pursuing a doctorate may be a hard undertaking, but the possibilities that open will be worth the effort.

If you’re ready to commit to further studies and diversify the opportunities available to you, you can count on OED PostGrad to help you reach your goals. OEd PostGrad provides a PhD Online learning platform for professionals seeking higher education with a flexible learning environment.

Reach out to us today and see how we can help you can broaden your horizons.

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What to Do After PhD? – Pros and Cons of Pursuing Postdoc

“Received my PhD. Where do I go from here? What to do after PhD?”—is one of the most common challenges for students who have recently graduated. So if you’re stuck at this point of deciding whether to go ahead with academia or switch to a non-academic career, you’re not alone! How do you plan on taking what you have learned in your PhD and capitalize on it? How do you start your new career or use your PhD to take the next step in your existing one?

What to Do After PhD?

After having spent endless hours conducting your research and passing up enjoyable opportunities to complete your dissertation, you have finally attained the coveted doctorate degree. It’s a remarkable feat! But one struggle that holds on to you is—what do you do now that you’ve finished your PhD?

Be it from your seniors at the university or just having heard it from scholars in your field, one thing you may have realized is that tenure-track positions in academia are hard to come by.  Despite the “default” propensity of PhD graduates pursuing academic research positions, they’re now moving beyond it. Additionally, an uncertain future in academia is a factor of concern amongst all. Here we shall discuss what to do after PhD?—and focus on the pros and cons of pursuing postdoc to make a calculated decision.

Should I Pursue Postdoc?

Navigating through the career waters after PhD can be quite treacherous. Moreover, with the job market in academia being intensely competitive, even students with excellent academic caliber aren’t assured of getting a position.

While the competition is persistent, doing a postdoc is becoming a prerequisite for a successful career. However, your zeal and confidence of wanting to stay in academia can take you a long way. The preliminary postdoc benefits to consider while applying for postdoc are:

• Additional time to expand your research through funding.
• Publish more research work to support or expand your research conducted during Phd.
• More opportunities for networking and collaboration.

Pros of Pursuing Postdoc

While the answer to “What to do after postdoc?” can vary for every researcher depending on their interests, the undeniable benefits of a postdoc position can’t be overseen.

1. Career Development Prospects:

Pursuing career as a postdoc fellow allows you an extended period to work on your research after your PhD. Furthermore, it offers you more flexible opportunities to leverage laboratory facilities than you could during your PhD. It allows you to travel freely for conferences, which lead to meeting scholars from your field and making newer professional connections. Additionally, a postdoc fellow gets opportunity to upskill themselves in their research field and allied domains.

2. Advanced Research Opportunities:

Given the immense value that a postdoc position poses, it opens doors to newer research opportunities. This is not just restricted to independent research but also to collaborative research. Consequently, due to lesser teaching and administrative responsibilities, it will provide you with time to publish more research work. Additionally, it allows you to revise your project cycle, begin a new project, and gain expertise in a given subject. Furthermore, it lets you collaborate with international researchers to work on similar projects. More importantly, as a postdoc your chances of receiving grants increases based on your success as a researcher during PhD.

 3. Technique Development Opportunities :

As a postdoc fellow, you have more time to acquire new technology and research skills. In addition, it lets you gain experience in allied fields that you work in with your colleagues. This leads to an excellent opportunity to perfect your distinctive set of skills and learn advanced techniques in growing times.

4. Intellectual Development:

A postdoc fellowship is a distinguished phase in your career to focus exclusively on your intellectual development. Moreover, it is an important and most influential part of your research training. Therefore, choosing a postdoc can bolster your ability to pursue an advanced and successful research career.

Cons of Pursuing Postdoc

Despite the impressive benefits, considering the flip side of pursuing a postdoc position is imperative before taking the big decision.

1. No Tenure-track Guarantee

The uncertain career prospects in academia does not guarantee a tenure-track position even after completing your postdoc. According to a survey, only 30% of postdocs in the United States, and 20% postdocs in the United Kingdom succeed in acquiring a long term academic position. Moreover, some even have to climb through a series of postdoc positions before reaching a stable academic position. This predicament often leads many postdocs to quit academia and move to an industrial career.

2. Lack of Support

As postdocs are expected to work as an independent researcher, they often receive little to no professional advice or training from experienced researchers at the university. On the contrary, some institutions take advantages of the postdoc fellow as a teaching or researching captive. Furthermore, you may also experience poor working conditions as a result of being neglected by your department and surviving postdoc position becomes difficult.

3. Monetary Challenges

One of the major disadvantages of pursuing a postdoc position is meager salaries. The financial situation of postdoc fellows is so critical that an assistant professor is paid more than them, although fractionally, but yes!

4. Over-qualification

After struggling to acquire a stable academic position, postdocs often try to switch to industrial jobs. In this process, it is found that postdocs are over-qualified for industrial jobs and have to begin from scratch in the new field.

It’s undoubtedly a great feat to have successfully defended your PhD dissertation. How do you decide? What to do after PhD? What do you choose? Let these pros and cons help you in taking a well thought out decision. Tell us how this article helped you in the comments section below! You can also visit our Q&A forum for frequently asked questions related to different aspects of research writing and publishing answered by our team that comprises subject-matter experts, eminent researchers, and publication experts.

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Q&A best bits: Life after a PhD

Martin paul eve, doctoral researcher and associate tutor, school of english, university of sussex.

Have realistic expectations: The number of PhDs vastly outnumber demand for postdocs and permanent contracts. The climate is harsh - publish or perish. Yet some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, for instance Ludwig Wittgenstein, published extremely infrequently. I have a separate skill set as a computer programmer. I intend, when I complete, to constantly apply for academic positions and to keep researching and publishing. That said, I will probably have to fall back on my other life to support myself financially while continuing this process.

Having a clear idea of why you want a PhD will motivate and help you decide on what to do after: It is important to ask yourself: "Do I need a PhD for a specific job?" and "Do I want to do a PhD because I love the subject?". If you answer yes to only one, you could be in for a difficult journey.

Take advantage of opportunities to network outside of your discipline: Disciplines are artificial constraints that are used to validate your work against existing standards. If you stick wholly within this area, it can become a bit of an echo chamber. Twitter is an invaluable tool for finding interesting people who are outside one's usual comfort zone.

Start applying for jobs as soon as you get your viva date: A head of department told me that he receives too many applications that say they are on the verge of completing, with no evidence. Having a date for a viva specified in the application is reassurance against this.

Create a blog to support your job application: It has also been suggested that blogs written with an academic tone, properly referenced, could be cited in support of a job application. You could also include metrics from, say, Google Analytics, indicating page views and unique visitors. I certainly cited my 16,000 page views a month on a recent application.

Tennie Videler, programme manager, Vitae , an organisation set up to support postgraduate researchers and research staff.

Network to get your first post-doc post: There are also other approaches to careers, such as ' creating luck ' which mainly involves a lot of networking. You will know people in your chosen field who may know where there are posts. Supervisors are an obvious first port of call, but it is a good idea to cast the net wider. If you want to network by increasing your online profile, Vitae are running a training day on 12 May.

Get career savvy: Researchers frequently undersell themselves so one good way of getting a feeling for the skills you have already mastered is to have a look at the ' researcher development framework ' which spells out attributes of researchers and may help you explain them to potential researchers. Check out the nine attributes of a career savvy researcher . Also, see this link for some ideas on how to tell employers about your skills.

Invent their own new subject if they want an academic position: Getting a lectureship is easier if your research focus is a new or newly academic subject. For example in ' what do researchers do? ' we found that a large proportion of nursing doctoral graduates went straight into lectureships, and in many cases had been appointed before finishing or even embarking on their doctorate.

The market needs highly-skilled graduates; you just have to convince employers that you have the skills they are looking for: There are more post-doc positions in the sciences than in the arts and humanities but as the Vitae report What do researchers do? shows many have found that the experience of doing a PhD is in itself useful. So I don't think the question really is "what industries are actively looking for Eng Lit/Arts PhD students?". To an extent it is up to you to convince employers that you have the skills (to a superior level) they are looking for.

Advice for arts and humanities PhDs: Check the ASHPIT project. They describe themselves as "a collaborative, cross-institutional and discipline-specific think tank which will enhance the ability of researcher developers to deliver innovative, discipline-appropriate training and support to researchers in the arts, social sciences and humanities."

Dr Fiona Denney, head of Graduate Development, King's College London

Do not underestimate the skills you develop while studying for a PhD: In order to write a thesis of around 80,000 words and defend it in a viva, you have to have a huge range of highly developed skills that are transferable to a range of different jobs. It's not just about knowing your subject area intimately but about being able to communicate that well to a variety of people who may not all be specialists (among many other things!). It's also about resilience, tenacity, networking, teamworking, dealing with difficult people, presentation skills and so on - all at a high level. Don't forget it's not just about your academic achievements.

Speak to your careers adviser: While it may seem natural to discuss your options after your PhD with your supervisor, they are often ill-equipped to have conversations about life outside of academia as their own experiences may be limited. I talk to supervisors a lot and they usually have an expression of mixed fear and panic on their faces when I suggest that PhD students might want to discuss other career options than academia.

Deciding when to apply for post-doc jobs depends on several factors: These are: what stage of your research you're at, what your personal circumstances are and how you are funded. Clearly some students have to find a job when their funding runs out but they might not yet have finished their PhD. The general advice is not to take a full-time job before you finish your PhD, but I did and still managed to complete. There is no doubt that it makes it very difficult though.

Daniel Colegate, managing director, LinkHigher, postgraduate careers portal

Always remember how many options you have: Life after a PhD can be whatever you make it - provided you are willing to learn how to articulate the skills your PhD helped you to develop. It is easy as a PhD student, surrounded by senior academics in the academic world, to forget how transferable PhD skills are. You could get a job outside of academia or start your own business . A great place to start is to join the LinkedIn group, PhD careers outside of academia, to find out what others have gone on to.

Where to find post-doctoral posts: In the UK you can go to jobs.ac.uk for academic jobs and for non-academic jobs you need to think about which companies you want to approach. We are finding a very high demand for the transferable skills PhDs bring so trying to bring together non-academic postgraduate focused companies on LinkHigher . If you are considering moving within Europe for a research post, Euraxess promote and support researchers moving within Europe.

Use digital media to raise your profile but beware - it's a double-edged sword: Using Twitter can be a great outlet and certainly raises your profile, but because of that you do have to bear in mind that people will see it when you are searching for a job. Here are some simple tips to get started.

If you are a PhD student and want an enterprising career, Enterprise Fellowships are a good start: These fellowships help doctoral students exploit their ideas that have commercial potential

Charlotte Frost, broadcaster, academic and founder of PhD2Published, a site providing academic book publishing advice for first timers

One way to remain in academia is to set up projects for yourself: If you have ideas, take them to the heads of departments you like to work with and have a discussion about what's feasible. Obviously money is nowhere to be seen right now but if it's a good idea, and the department head likes you, then something might well be possible. It's a ridiculously difficult route and obviously you have to find the means to support yourself, but I feel that if you want to do something they you should try at least to make it happen. But don't over-promise. Apparently the worst thing you can do is look like you'll remake the world because it's glaringly obvious to the selection panel that you can't or won't!

Think what career you want: Talk to friends and family about what you've always been good at because, simple as this sounds, sometimes things pop up that you'd put to the back of your mind. I find mind-mapping tools are a great way to splurge out lots of different strands of thoughts and then see how they collect together. Once you see a trend - it might take a few maps and discussions - talk to a careers adviser about how they might be mapped onto a job profile.

Owen Gower, senior fellow, Cumberland Lodge , educational charity and a unique conference centre

Understand the perception of a PhD outside academia: It is worthwhile to know what value non-academic organisations place on a PhD. In a podcast for the Cumberland Lodge, Douglas Board, founder of the careers advice business Maslow's Attic, offers advice to early career researchers on the perception of academic researchers outside academia.

A good way to retain academic affiliation if money is not a difficulty is to apply for non-stipendary fellowships and honorary research associateships.

Dr Sarah-Louise Quinnell, PhD graduate and managing editor of the site Phd2published.com , a site providing academic book publishing advice for first timers

Research communication is just as important as actually doing the work: While you are still undertaking your PhD, learn how to market yourself and your research. It will be vital afterwards and you can feed it back into the PhD training process.

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Great jobs for bright people

PhD and Masters Talent Trends report summary 2022/2023

December 11, 2023 by jobs.ac.uk careers

Many of the finest minds at British and Irish higher education institutions started their career journeys by applying for a Masters or PhD opportunity. It’s where future talent can hone their skills, showcase their research expertise and gain the knowledge and experience they need to help take on the world’s biggest challenges.

At jobs.ac.uk we’ve carried out an in-depth study to provide you with a greater insight into recruitment trends in this market. Our report takes a closer look at the 4,441 Masters and PhD opportunities placed on jobs.ac.uk from August 1st 2022 to July 31st 2023 by UK and Irish higher education institutions.

Key findings:

• 4,441 Masters and PhD opportunities were posted on jobs.ac.uk by UK and Irish higher education institutions from August 1st 2022 to July 31st 2023
• 99% of PhD’s overall are offered as fulltime positions
• PhD opportunities on average attract 936 views
• For Masters, 21% of opportunities offered funding up to £19,999 with 60% of opportunities not disclosing the funding

You can download the complete report here .

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Life after PhD

My life after obtaining a Ph.D. has been one that’s filled with change and opportunities.  Since I graduated from the Neuroscience Program at the University of Michigan last summer, I have launched campus organizations, led my own entrepreneurial team in exciting projects, became a postdoctoral fellow, and had a number of interview experiences in vastly different career fields.

Just this week, I am very happy to say that I’ve been offered my dream job as the Head of Marketing for an exciting startup company.  Throughout my journey to success, I have faced just as many, if not more setbacks and disappointments – each of which taught me important lessons.

I come from a family of scientists that goes back generations – academia has been an integral part of my life.  In the 26 years of my existence, I’ve spent the past 10 with a job in research labs.  One of my clear goals in life is to obtain a Ph.D.; but perhaps because I’ve been raised in academia, and lived vicariously through my family in experiencing the whole process from graduate student to tenure professor, I was uncertain as to whether I wanted to spend my entire life inside scholarly towers.  At the end of my 3rd year as a graduate student, I had the opportunity to attend an entrepreneurial business symposium.  Many of the speakers came from science backgrounds and are now the CEOs of their own companies.   What impacted me the most was that they all looked SO happy and were truly enjoying their lives and careers.  This prompted me to really find out what opportunities are out there for people with an advanced degree in life sciences.

For the next year, I conducted informational interviews, actively organized and hosted career panels and events on campus, and attended many of the Bio Careers job fairs and webinars to learn all I could about career paths open to biologists.  In the same year, I also launched and led an entrepreneurial project team, through which I realized that I really enjoy and am quite competent in business strategy and marketing.  After identifying a number of graduate students who were interested in a career in consulting, my case practice partner and I co-founded the Michigan Graduate Consulting Club, got in touch with the top management consulting firms and local consultants, and arranged for seminars and targeted recruiting events on campus.  What I learned most from the past year is that there is a potential for unlimited opportunities that you can make for yourself.

In the future, I hope to share my insights and experiences in:

– Finding the career that’s right for you.

– Creating your own job experience opportunities.

– Interviewing at the top management consulting firms.

– Advice on landing your dream job.

– Some insights on careers in patent law, science writing, teaching, or industry.

– Anything else you want to ask that I might know something about.

Whether you are an active job seeker or just want to learn more about available career options, please subscribe and comment to my posts.

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• 12 March 2024

Bring PhD assessment into the twenty-first century

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Innovation in PhD education has not reached how doctoral degrees are assessed. Credit: Dan Dunkley/Science Photo Library

Research and teaching in today’s universities are unrecognizable compared with what they were in the early nineteenth century, when Germany and later France gave the world the modern research doctorate. And yet significant aspects of the process of acquiring and assessing a doctorate have remained remarkably constant. A minimum of three years of independent study mentored by a single individual culminates in the production of the doctoral thesis — often a magisterial, book-length piece of work that is assessed in an oral examination by a few senior academic researchers. In an age in which there is much research-informed innovation in teaching and learning, the assessment of the doctoral thesis represents a curious throwback that is seemingly impervious to meaningful reform.

But reform is needed. Some doctoral candidates perceive the current assessment system to lack transparency, and examiners report concerns of falling standards ( G. Houston A Study of the PhD Examination: Process, Attributes and Outcomes . PhD thesis, Oxford Univ.; 2018 ). Making the qualification more structured would help — and, equally importantly, would bring the assessment of PhD education in line with education across the board. PhD candidates with experience of modern assessment methods will become better researchers, wherever they work. Indeed, most will not be working in universities: the majority of PhD holders find employment outside academia.

Collection: Career resources for PhD students

It’s not that PhD training is completely stuck in the nineteenth century. Today’s doctoral candidates can choose from a range of pathways. Professional doctorates, often used in engineering, are jointly supervised by an employer and an academic, and are aimed at solving industry-based problems. Another innovation is PhD by publication, in which, instead of a final thesis on one or more research questions, the criterion for an award is a minimum number of papers published or accepted for publication. In some countries, doctoral students are increasingly being trained in cohorts, with the aim of providing a less isolating experience than that offered by the conventional supervisor–student relationship. PhD candidates are also encouraged to acquire transferable skills — for example, in data analysis, public engagement, project management or business, economics and finance. The value of such training would be even greater if these skills were to be formally assessed alongside a dissertation rather than seen as optional.

And yet, most PhDs are still assessed after the production of a final dissertation, according to a format that, at its core, has not changed for at least half a century, as speakers and delegates noted at an event in London last month on PhD assessment, organized by the Society for Research in Higher Educatio n. Innovations in assessment that are common at other levels of education are struggling to find their way into the conventional doctoral programme.

Take the concept of learning objectives. Intended to aid consistency, fairness and transparency, learning objectives are a summary of what a student is expected to know and how they will be assessed, and are given at the start of a course of study. Part of the ambition is also to help tutors to keep track of their students’ learning and take remedial action before it is too late.

PhD training is no longer fit for purpose — it needs reform now

Formative assessment is another practice that has yet to find its way into PhD assessment consistently. Here, a tutor evaluates a student’s progress at the mid-point of a course and gives feedback or guidance on what students need to do to improve ahead of their final, or summative, assessment. It is not that these methods are absent from modern PhDs; a conscientious supervisor will not leave candidates to sink or swim until the last day. But at many institutions, such approaches are not required of PhD supervisors.

Part of the difficulty is that PhD training is carried out in research departments by people who do not need to have teaching qualifications or awareness of innovations based on education research. Supervisors shouldn’t just be experts in their field, they should also know how best to convey that subject knowledge — along with knowledge of research methods — to their students.

It is probably not possible for universities to require all doctoral supervisors to have teaching qualifications. But there are smaller changes that can be made. At a minimum, doctoral supervisors should take the time to engage with the research that exists in the field of PhD education, and how it can apply to their interactions with students.

There can be no one-size-fits-all solution to improving how a PhD is assessed, because different subjects often have bespoke needs and practices ( P. Denicolo Qual. Assur. Educ. 11 , 84–91; 2003 ). But supervisors and representatives of individual subject communities must continue to discuss what is most appropriate for their disciplines.

All things considered, there is benefit to adopting a more structured approach to PhD assessment. It is high time that PhD education caught up with changes that are now mainstream at most other levels of education. That must start with a closer partnership between education researchers, PhD supervisors and organizers of doctoral-training programmes in universities. This partnership will benefit everyone — PhD supervisors and doctoral students coming into the research workforce, whether in universities or elsewhere.

Education and training in research has entered many secondary schools, along with undergraduate teaching, which is a good thing. In the spirit of mutual learning, research doctoral supervisors, too, will benefit by going back to school.

Nature 627 , 244 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00718-0

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