#01. 3 mistakes PhDs make when leaving academia.
839 Words | 4 Minutes
In January 2022, I decided to quit my prestigious post-doctoral fellowship. I was desperate to leave - I was staring down another year (or more) on the academic job market, begging universities to hire me. The prospect filled me with anxiety.
I needed a non-academic job. ASAP.
Within a week, I made a LinkedIn profile, converted my long academic CV to a short non-academic resume, and directly applied to ~60 job ads. I received 1 offer. That’s only 1% success rate.
Over the past two years, I've learned so much about the non-academic job market. I've identified and fixed all the mistakes I made in my first job search. The result?
Two applications. Two offers. A 100% success rate.
When I mentor PhDs through their non-academic job searches, their stories sound identical to my first job search. We all make the same mistakes, and we struggle on the job market because of it. Here are the 3 biggest mistakes you'll make when leaving academia (and what to do instead):
Mistake 1: Applying to everything.
I knew that I wanted a career in research, so I applied to any role where I could leverage my research skills. This included User Experience (UX) Researcher, Market Researcher, Behavioral Scientist, Data Analyst, Social Scientist, Research Scientist, Grant Writer, Scientific Writer, and so on. On the surface, this seems like a good job search strategy.
However, more applications does not lead to more interviews.
Why? Because hiring is an enormous risk. Companies can't afford to hire someone who is going to struggle and require extensive training. Your job is to convince hiring managers that you will be successful - that you have the specific skills to successfully perform specific job responsibilities. The responsibilities of a Project Manger are very different than a Scientific Writer, which are very different than a Data Analyst and a Research Scientist.
When you apply to everything (and anything), you signal to hiring managers that you do not deeply understand the responsibilities of a specific job. This lack of understanding will come across in your resume and your LinkedIn profile. Unfortunately, hiring managers won't take the risk in hiring you - they will prioritize other candidates who clearly demonstrate their understanding.
The solution? Target one career field (ideally, a career field that is actively hiring). Learn everything you can about that career. Conduct informational interviews with professionals in that target career. To do that, you'll need to avoid mistake #2:
Mistake 2: Avoiding networking.
With a few job titles in mind, I created a non-academic resume and applied directly to job ads. I expected that hiring managers would read my resume, see my value as a potential employee, and interview me. After all, I had published 15 first-author papers, won multiple research awards, and had a PhD. Yes, I was changing careers, but wasn't it clear that I would be a good hire?
Unfortunately, most jobs are filled via referrals, and referrals require networking.
Why do you need a referral? Because hiring is an enormous risk. When you have a referral from someone (a current employee or a hiring manager), they are vouching for you and your skills - that kind of personal relationship greatly reduces the risk of hiring you.
In the back of my mind, I knew referrals were important, but I didn't really understand how to get one. I'm not alone - networking feels nebulous and scary. But, at its core, networking is building friendships with professionals in your target career field. Those friendships will open many professional doors for you.
The solution? Reach out to professionals in your target career field. Learn about the challenges they're facing. Join the discourse! To do that, you'll need to avoid mistake #3:
Mistake 3: Ignoring LinkedIn.
I (reluctantly) joined LinkedIn when I starting applying to non-academic jobs. I filled out my profile, but I never posted anything, and I never interacted with other people's posts - I was a lurker. I didn't understand how to use LinkedIn, and I didn't see any value to engaging here. Again, I thought my resume would be enough to demonstrate my skills.
But LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful extension of your resume.
Hiring mangers will look at your LinkedIn profile. Because, once again, hiring is an enormous risk. If you are engaged on LinkedIn, by posting or commenting on posts, you are demonstrating your skills and knowledge to hiring managers. This reduces the risk of hiring you.
Engaging on LinkedIn also fast-tracks your network building. If you put yourself out there, you will get noticed by hiring managers - you will discover career opportunities that you've never considered before. I actually met my manager on LinkedIn, who sent me a connection request after reading one of my LinkedIn posts.
A few months later, he approached me about a open role on his team. The rest is history.
Moral of the story? There is not a "right" or "wrong" way to leave academia, but there is an fast way. If you target one career field, network, and engage on LinkedIn, you can make this transition in weeks, not years.
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