phd career advice

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 15 August 2023

How to make the leap into industry after a PhD

• Spoorthy Raman 0

Spoorthy Raman is a freelance science and environment journalist in St. John’s, Canada.

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Melanie Zeppel stepped off the academic path to become a data scientist in industry. Credit: Stephen Jackson

Plant physiologist Melanie Zeppel had heard that hard work, a good publication list and securing highly competitive postdoctoral research fellowships would guarantee a successful career in academia. Despite having it all, a faculty position eluded her for 12 years after her PhD.

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Nature 620 , 683-684 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02558-w

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Career Exploration and Planning Tools for PhDs and Postdocs

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Luckily, you’re no stranger to research. The following tools and resources will help you explore different PhD career paths.

MIT PhD Survey

Our annual “ Earned Doctoral Degree Survey ” tracks the plans of MIT doctorates after graduation in both industry and academia. Data includes how graduates found jobs, top industries and companies, employers by department, and salaries.

MyIDP: Career Planning for STEM PhDs

MyIDP (or  Individual Development Plan ) is a free tool for science PhDs to explore career possibilities and find the career path that fits you best. Work with a career advisor to review your results and develop a plan. Features include:

• Exercises to help you examine your skills, interests, and values
• A list of 20 scientific career paths and how your skills and interests match those of professionals in each path
• A tool for setting and keeping track of strategic goals to advance your career plan
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ImaginePhD: Career Planning for PhDs in Humanities and Social Sciences

ImaginePhD is a free tool for humanities and social sciences PhDs to explore career possibilities and find the career path that fits you best. Work with a career advisor to review your results and develop a plan. On ImaginePhD you will be able to:

• Assess your career-related skills, interests, and values
• Explore a variety of career paths
• Create self-defined goals and map out the next steps for your career
• View articles, sample documents and other resources

Developed by experts from over 50 universities, ImaginePhD offers a unique platform that teaches PhDs about popular job sectors, search strategies, and how to transfer skills across settings.

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What You Can Be With A Harvard PhD

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A hallmark of the PhD is creative problem solving, and PhDs are needed in every sector to address the world’s increasingly complex problems. This booklet offers a taste of the many career paths PhD students can pursue beyond academia. The Harvard Griffin GSAS team at the Mignone Center for Career Success can help you understand your skills, explore your options, and land a great job within or beyond academia.

After a PhD

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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?

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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.

Career Paths for PhD Graduates

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Biomedical scientists can use their knowledge of biomedical research in a wide variety of ways.

What can I be with a PhD?

Biomedical scientists may use their knowledge of biomedical research to:

• Direct a research lab and decide which scientific questions to investigate
• Be part of a team of scientists working together to solve problems of health and disease
• Manage and coordinate large scientific projects (across institutions and/or across the world)
• Teach others about biomedical science including how to do research and how to think about and understand scientific information
• Inform policy makers about scientific matters that impact health and science
• Communicate (by writing and speaking) and disseminate the latest information about scientific and medical discoveries
• Translate discoveries and inventions from the most fundamental level to every day usage

Where do biomedical scientists work?

Academic institutions (research and administration)

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• Small liberal arts colleges
• Medical centers and medical schools
• Dental, veterinary and optometry schools
• Research institutes
• Community colleges
• High schools

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies

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• NIH - National Institutes of Health
• FDA - Food and Drug Administration
• CDCP - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• NSF - National Science Foundation
• EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
• NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• USDA - Department of Agriculture
• VA - Veterans' Administration
• DOD - Department of Defense
• US Congress
• Executive Branch of the Federal Government
• State and county health departments

Mass communication organizations and businesses

• Newspapers and magazines
• Internet-based communications
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• Scientific journals and textbooks

Law firms (patent and intellectual property law)

Consulting firms

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• Financial - advising regarding investments in biotechnology, drug and medical device development
• Educational

Philanthropic and non-profit organizations

• NAS/IOM - National Academies of Science/Institute of Medicine
• Scientific societies and associations
• Private foundations

General information about careers in biomedical science

ScienceCareers.org  - Find a job in science - searchable by location including international, field, keyword, etc.

PhD Jobs  - Includes jobs from across the United States including Biological Science, Business, Education, Engineering, Health & Medicine, Information Science, Law, Science

ScienceCareers.org "Mastering Your Ph.D.: Preparing for Your Post-Ph.D. Career" - Survival and success in the doctoral years and beyond

National Postdoctoral Association  - Providing a national voice and seeking positive change for postdoctoral scholars

Choosing a Postdoctoral Position  - Advice on finding the best postdoc for you

PhDs.org: Science, Math, and Engineering Career Resources  - Information for scientists and would-be scientists at all levels, from high school students through Nobel laureates.

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We help you to consider and prepare for career opportunities in academia and other employment sectors. Initially each year about 60% of LSE PhD graduates go on to work in education and 40% work in other fields such as government, NGOs, think tanks, consultancy, and commercial organisations. About 25% start work outside Europe and the other 75% in the UK and Europe.

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These last 40 minutes and are held in confidence; currently these are online. 

All job opportunities generated by the LSE Careers team are listed on our Career Hub vacancy list . Our Employer Engagement Team develop relationships with employers and are dedicated to advertising jobs and other part-time, full-time, European and international, internship and voluntary opportunities. You can search these by key word and follow your favourite employers to keep up to date with their recruitment activity. We list PhD jobsites for working in academia and working outside academia . 

Career events

One hour seminars on careers issues relevant to doctoral students run throughout the year. Find out when they are and how to book on our Events and courses page of Career Hub . You can also find presentations from all our PhD careers seminars at PhD careers seminar slides.

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We post regularly on the PhD careers blog to keep you informed about our services, events and many career opportunities. 

Books and other resources

LSE Careers holds resources to support the career development of PhD researchers. Our sector information is relevant to all our students thinking about opportunities outside academia.

Access to LSE Careers after you graduate

Opportunities and events listed on CareerHub are available to you for five years after you graduate. You can continue to use our one to one services after you graduate too. Further information on alumni access is here .

You also have access to all these services as a member of staff on a fixed term contract (for example, post doc, research assistant, Fellow)

If you have questions about career issues, please email our Careers Consultant for PhD students and staff, Catherine Reynolds . 

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Driving Without a License: Career Advice from a Non-PhD Scientist

• First Online: 10 May 2024

Cite this chapter

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Jason Williams, Assistant Director, Diversity and Research Readiness at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center gives career and advice and perspective on a career in science without a PhD.

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Williams, J.J. (2024). Driving Without a License: Career Advice from a Non-PhD Scientist. In: Markovac, J., Barrett, K.E., Garrison, H. (eds) Life Science Careers. Perspectives in Physiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50694-9_22

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Advice to spring 2024 grads: 'Spend your time creating new things'

Nearly 20,700 asu students honored in graduate, undergraduate ceremonies.

W. P. Carey School of Business executive MBA Chinese graduates toss their caps following ASU’s Graduate Commencement on Monday, May 6, at the Desert Financial Arena. Nearly 20,700 undergraduate and graduate students are earning their degrees this May — the largest graduating class in ASU history. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU News

The largest graduating class in the history of Arizona State University celebrated their new degrees with “Pomp and Circumstance” during spring 2024 commencement ceremonies on Monday.

Of the nearly 20,700 ASU students graduating this semester, about 13,800 are undergraduates and 6,900 are graduate students.

Video by EJ Hernandez/ASU News

ASU President Michael Crow addressed the crowd during Undergraduate Commencement Monday night at Mountain America Stadium. He said that ASU’s charter sets it apart from other universities.

A spotlight on outstanding May grads

We take a look some of the remarkable achievements of this spring's cohort 

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Departmental newsletter: april - may 2024, may 8, 2024.

On May 3rd and 4th, the Duke Philosophy Department hosted "Brandonfest: A Conference in Honor of Robert Brandon's Career." We brought back students from Robert's nearly 50-year career at Duke University to honor him, his work, and wish him a happy retirement. The speakers -- all of whom are either collaborators, students, or grand-students of Robert's -- included Caleb Hazelwood (Duke), Alex Rosenberg (Duke), Dan McShea (Duke), Brent Mishler (UC Berkeley), Sarah Sculco (Michigan), Fred Bouchard (Montreal), Chris Haufe (Case Western Reserve), Grant Ramsey (KU Leuven), Charles Pence (UC Louvain), Carlos Mariscal (Nevada, Reno), Philippe Huneman (Paris 1), and Rachell Powell (Boston University). Here are some highlights from the wonderful gathering:

Adrienne Duke was invited to speak to the Health & Wellness Hub at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) in Nacogdoches, TX (her hometown!). She gave a talk on the appropriateness of propranolol use for PTSD in soldiers to an audience of mental health clinicians, medical providers, and veterans resource staff.

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This summer, Nina Van Rooy will be presenting at the Society for Philosophy and Psychology in Purdue, and the European Society for Philosophy of Psychology in Grenoble, France, on her paper, 'Do Large Language Models have Theory of Mind?'. She will also present a poster at the Cognitive Science Society meeting in Rotterdam on joint empirical work on causal reasoning with Kevin and Kaylee from the IMC lab!

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Duke Philosophy recently hosted its annual End of the Year Party. Pictured below are some of the festivities. We said goodbye to several important members of our community -- all of whom we will miss very much. We wish them all the best in their next adventures!

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AgriLife Today

Texas A&M AgriLife's digital magazine and newsroom

At the intersection of science and mystery

Olivia henry '24 explores a career in the forensic sciences.

May 7, 2024 - by Susan Himes

A childhood love of the Nancy Drew book series helped lead Olivia Henry from a small town in Northern California to College Station to study forensics. Her passion for mysteries, puzzles and problem solving combined with having two parents working in STEM fields nurtured an early interest in the sciences.

During summer breaks from school, she spent “probably half of my time at a little science museum” near her home in Danville. In middle school, she had a science teacher who introduced the class to forensics.

“I thought, this is really cool and kind of a combination of science and problem solving and mysteries,” Henry recalled. “I knew it was perfect for me.”

Henry will graduate in May from the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Entomology as a forensic and investigative sciences, FIVS, major with a science emphasis and a minor in cybersecurity. She is a University, College and FIVS program honors student.

The first-generation Aggie made sure to make the most of her time at Texas A&M by not only learning to step outside her comfort zone and embracing Aggie traditions but also helping other students as a peer mentor for the Introduction to Academic Success in Forensic and Investigative Sciences and Continuing Academic Success in Forensic and Investigative Sciences classes and the Hullabaloo U Course .

She has also been a College of Agriculture and Life Science Ambassador for three years and has served on the executive cabinet for the Class of 2024 Student Council for the past two years. In addition, she serves on the College’s Student Council, is a Townsend Leadership Fellow , and is a Scholarship for Service recipient.

“There are always open doors in front of you, but you have to walk through them to give yourself the opportunity,” Henry said. “I try to take every opportunity.”

Henry reflected on her time and experiences at Texas A&M.

What initially brought you to Texas A&M?

I decided to come to Texas A&M because they had the No. 1-ranked forensic science program . I, like many students, was also attracted to the spirit of the students and the rich traditions of the school.

Coming from a little town more than 1,500 miles away and going to a state where I knew no one to attend such a huge university felt overwhelming at first. But, within two weeks, I had made so many friends. And although Texas A&M is huge, the College and departments seem smaller as you’ll see the same faces around your classes and building. Texas A&M is unique in that I feel like it really has something for everyone. I think all students can find a home here.

What opportunities has attending Texas A&M provided for you?

I’ve been very blessed with the opportunities. My first internship was working crime scenes, and that came about because a former Aggie from the program reached out hoping to have an Aggie intern. I spent the summer of 2022 interning with Jeremy Arnold ’18 with the Carrollton Police Department Crime Scene Unit.

It was also during that internship that I got to experience the digital side of evidence. I had grown up with a dad in information technology and had sworn up and down that I would never, ever, ever do anything with tech because I thought it was so boring. But when I was exposed to how it is involved in solving crimes, like using an Apple watch on a victim to determine the time of death or dumping phone data for evidence, I added a minor in cybersecurity.

What is one of your favorite memories of attending Texas A&M?

I worked as a student ambassador for the College and one Saturday I met with a prospective student and her mother on campus. The mother asked me question after question, and I was worried when I couldn’t answer all of them, but I spent a lot of time with them and shared my passion and enthusiasm for the College and my major.

Later that day, they came by again and the daughter told me she’d committed to A&M because, by answering their questions and really speaking with them, I’d convinced her and her mom that this was the right place for her to be. That was so exciting to know I had made such an impact on someone and their academic trajectory. I’ve also traveled around with other college students to visit high schools across Texas to talk about being an Aggie. Those will always be some of my favorite memories.

Was there a class or professor that really impacted or influenced your career path?

Dr. Ashleigh Faris is no longer here at Texas A&M, but she was one of those professors who really, really cared about her students and wanted them to succeed. I could call her at any time and she would be there for me. Having a professor like that was super meaningful in my degree because I always knew I had someone in my corner.

Once she left, it was Dr. Craig Coates who kept me on track and helped me finish my capstone. He was instrumental to my success and was always there for me. He also taught one of my favorite courses, Biotechnology and Forensics, which was discussion-based with no power point — which was unlike any class I’d had before.

What are your plans after graduation?

I was fortunate enough to receive an offer from a federal agency, so I will be moving to Washington, D.C., and working there when I graduate. Essentially I will be doing forensics and crime scene investigations at the federal level.

Advice to younger self

I would tell myself you are more capable than you think you are. I would also tell myself to stand firm in who I am and not to doubt myself.

For example, when the first round of applications to be an ambassador came out, I didn’t apply because I didn’t feel I was qualified enough. I thought, they’re not going to want me, I have no ag background. But I ended up getting the ambassador position when they opened the second round of applications – because I actually applied. There’s always an opportunity, but you can’t seize the opportunity if you don’t go out for it.

Advice to future students interested in studying forensics

The broad definition of forensic science to me is the application of scientific principles and methods to assist in criminal investigations and then in a court of law as well. It’s using science and technology – research and the scientific knowledge you have — and then applying that to problems or mysteries you have to figure out. It is really important that you have a complete understanding of all sciences because you never know when you’re going to need chemistry, biology, physics, etc. — all things that can come up at a crime scene.

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