For most doctoral students, the reason to do a PhD is clear, but what happens after the PhD?

Vinaya: I wanted to become a researcher due to my childhood interest in getting rid of the common cold. Two years into my PhD, I realised that I liked communicating science more  than doing research in the lab. Now what should I do after finishing my degree?

Lotte: I have been interested in climate change and climate policy since I was a teenager, but doing a PhD in it never crossed my mind until my master’s thesis. What to do after my PhD was, and sometimes still is, something I don’t want to think too much about, since it can be somewhat stressful to not yet have a clear idea in mind.

We heard similar stories from other PhD students on how their passion for research stemmed from their interest in the topic. But what kind of career do they have in mind for the future?

Welcome back to the PhD series, where we share the experiences of 17 PhD students from the fields of medical, veterinary, life, ecological, and natural sciences (including us, the authors) on PhD life.  In this article, we, Vinaya and Lotte, dive into one of the burning questions on every PhD student’s mind – what career should I pursue after a PhD? So put on your thinking caps and reflect on some of the questions we asked them for yourself!

How do early-stage PhD students see their career after a PhD?

As you would expect, most early-stage PhD students came in with an academic career in mind – post-doctoral research being the obvious next step.

In the early stages of my PhD, I also wanted to go down the research rabbit hole and saw myself opening a research lab someday.

Some wanted to carry on research in their specific fields, but were not interested in staying in academia. Instead, they had thought of subtle variations, such as research at a company or government establishment. 

It was quite refreshing to see some people thinking of career paths that we did not think or even know of back when we first started. One of the interviewees stated, “I’m only doing a PhD because it is a requirement to apply for a hospital microbiologist position”. Neither of us had heard of hospital microbiologist positions before. Others told us their ideas of doing consultancy, marketing, sales, and entrepreneurship, which was quite fascinating to me, as my motivations were purely academic in my early stages.

While a few interviewees had a clear vision for their life after, most were not yet sure about what they would pursue later, which is something I can relate to. Do I want to stay in academia? Do I want to pursue a research-oriented career outside of academia, for example, at a research institute or a think tank?  Do I want to work in consultancy? The options seem endless…

Does the end of the degree bring more clarity?

In contrast to the indecisiveness of the PhD students in their early stages, those nearing the end had a much clearer idea of what they wanted to do after their degree.

For some students, their passion for research was as strong as ever, and they wanted to pursue this even after their PhD, but they no longer wanted to do it in academia. Throughout their PhD journey, they had learned that academia is not the only option, and they can do research in the industry, the government or even have their own research-based start-up!

A few early-stage students mentioned non-academic careers, like entrepreneurship, consultancy, marketing, and sales, but later-stage PhD students added even more options to the mix. One of the interviewees suggested a career in data analytics: “We already do data analysis in our PhD. We can do the same thing in a company and get paid better”. Another idea was to become a quality control or quality assurance specialist for specific products. One person really enjoyed teaching and contemplated a career as a schoolteacher.

My interest started to shift from lab work to science communication lately. Writing grants, teaching kids science and writing articles about science for a non-expert audience is something I now enjoy and wish to pursue a career in – possibly medical writing or science communication? I’m still figuring out my options.

What do we need to do for a smooth academia-to-industry career transition?

“Why do we have so few academic jobs when academics is such an important field?” That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Many want to continue in research, but with changes in the academic landscape, there is no guarantee of an academic career for all, which means many look for jobs outside academia and rightly so. A PhD is meant to make you an expert in a very niche field, but does it have any value for jobs outside academia? If yes, how do we show recruiters that we have the skills required for such jobs?

Most of us had mixed feelings on the value of a PhD, especially for a non-academic job, as we felt the value is greatly dependent on the requirements of the job. But those who had already decided on non-academic, specialised positions or other roles say that a PhD is valuable and gives them higher-paying positions.

During the interviews, we were able to reflect on the ubiquitously useful skills we picked up during our PhD. While most interviewees didn’t explicitly mention transferable skills, many did refer to skills they can leverage to apply for all kinds of jobs!  That’s why they are called ‘transferable skills’, isn’t it?

The most obvious and, of course, most often mentioned skill was the knowledge of methods learnt from their years in research. Though their research methods are quite niche, they could be applicable in research and development. But the less obvious transferable skills are arguably what make a PhD worth it, even for a non-research career.

It may seem as though simple skills like managing to complete a PhD in four years while being involved in multiple projects and managing people in those projects are just part of your degree. But the skills you gain from this work – time, resource, and project management – are quite valuable for any position above entry level. We are glad that students could see that.

Many students also mentioned terms like scientific thinking, problem-solving skills, data analysis and interpretation, all part of having research acumen – the ability to discern information from the data or situation you are presented with, process it, and communicate it in a way that others understand.

I liked that one of the participants mentioned “personality building”. I thought it was a quaint way of saying that we learn how to work well with others, how to adapt to uncertain situations, and develop resilience along the way. Despite having trouble acknowledging these skills, students do know what PhD life has taught them.

Putting together all the interviewees’ ideas in this article really made us see the dearth of experience and skills gained during a PhD. But it also makes us wonder: what’s the next step? We feel like the most natural one would be to look for jobs. But how do we do that? And how do we convince someone we are a good fit?

Preparing for life after a PhD

When asked about how they were looking for job opportunities, most said they did their own research and found out about opportunities from their network of family, friends, supervisors, colleagues or peers they met from scientific interactions. One person said they took part in mentoring sessions for guidance, and they found that experience super useful. It’s nice to see that people are finding their way by themselves.

However, if you are still lost on how to go about things, most universities should have a career guidance unit, and so does ours. Sadly, though, most interviewees were unaware of career guidance available for PhD students, and those who were aware either had not taken advantage of their services yet or found them lacking. While our career guidance unit has started giving classes on how to dissect our motivations, find possible career paths, and how to curate CVs for the job profile, our interviewees wanted more. They wished for more opportunities to visit companies and understand working culture, have more information on current market trends, field-specific job fairs and alumni meetups – they were looking for information that is not easily available through their own research.

How do you prepare for what’s coming next?

When asked about their plans for the future, the first thought for most interviewees was to do post-doctoral research. Many had not thought of what would happen beyond the postdoc, but wouldn’t it be good to know? There is limited information on academic career paths, but the University of Oulu provides descriptions of some good options – including docentship, tenure track positions and teaching positions.

The interviewees are also aware that a PhD does provide them with valuable skills – from laboratory or technical skills to transferable skills – which can be useful in their future jobs. While we discussed what skills we gained during our time in a PhD, we did not go into detail as to how to appeal to companies with our skill set. Cheeky Scientist and a lot of other PhDs-turned-coaches advocate for PhD students in the industry, so you can follow them for more skill marketing tips and career coaching.

Finally, we talked about how one goes about finding relevant opportunities. A huge part of it is networking – students talking to people around them to gain insights. We also agree that having interfaces for students to meet potential recruiters or University alumni, who can become potential contacts in their fields, would give a big boost to their job search. A lot of such career fairs are starting to come up, so now would be a good time to make use of this opportunity!

One thing that was not brought up by the participants was LinkedIn. In the PhD career course at our university, they talk about conducting information interviews with people whose jobs you find most interesting. I tried to reach out to people on LinkedIn and ask if they were willing to chat about their jobs. Surprisingly, people agreed to talk to me, and it has helped clear out some misconceptions, get to know how suitable their role is for me and what skills are needed for it. I also found it easier to connect with people on LinkedIn, especially when writing to them with admiration for their work and following them to understand more about what they do.

I also agree that LinkedIn is a great networking tool and suggest it be more widely used. It enables you to stay in contact with people you have met at (scientific) conferences and stay updated with the research they are doing. These contacts might also help you during your further academic career, e.g., finding postdoc positions at other universities. For some tips on how to make full use of LinkedIn, you can have a look at this guide from a LinkedIn top speaker.

Food for thought

Initially, these interviews were a way for me to figure out what I wanted to do after my PhD. While conducting these interviews, I realised that all of us had some thinking to do, and some of the questions I had were actually quite helpful for people to know about and helped them put on their own thinking caps!

There is no one-size-fits-all. Everyone had their own reasons for doing a PhD – for some, their aims changed along the way, and nearing the end of their PhD, they have not one, but many career options to choose from. Now, what career to choose is still a question, and that is something only you can decide.

Hopefully, this article gave you some inspiration on how to define your own career and helps you with your career search journey. Stay tuned for the last article of this PhD series, on tips to survive the PhD journey.