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Trade Schools Home > Articles > Jobs for Philosophy Majors

Jobs for Philosophy Majors: 24 Great Careers for Deep Thinkers

By Publisher | Last Updated July 22, 2020

Jobs for philosophy majors are more common—and often better-paying—than you might think. It's true: Although "philosopher" may not be a very common job title, philosophy graduates are thriving in many career sectors. That's because the skills you can acquire by studying philosophy are highly valued and suitable for all kinds of fulfilling and meaningful careers.

So, in terms of practical concerns like earning money, what can you do with a philosophy degree? To arrive at the answer, you first need to consider the most fundamental goal of studying this subject: Philosophy students learn how to think, not what to think. That's essential, since thinking clearly and logically is one of the most important transferable skills of the 21st century.

After all, modern life is complicated. Organizations of every type regularly face tough decisions. That's why more and more managers now recognize the importance of hiring people who can consider multiple viewpoints and get to the heart of complex issues. They need sharp thinkers and concise communicators.

Still, you may run into people who have preconceived ideas that earning a philosophy degree won't make you very employable. Well-meaning friends and relatives may ask, "Why major in philosophy?" That's what this article is for. The information below will help you answer the doubters (and maybe settle a few questions of your own).

You'll explore a wide range of career options for philosophy majors, learn about the earning potential of philosophy grads, and discover the many transferable skills that a philosophy degree can help you acquire.

What can I do with a philosophy degree? 24 great jobs
Do philosophy grads make money? Surprising salary stats
Why take philosophy? The valuable skills you can learn

What Can I Do With a Philosophy Degree? 24 Great Jobs

The answer is yes. In fact, the study of philosophy is just as important now as it was in ancient times. And great careers for philosophy majors can be found in many industries, including some of today's most cutting-edge career sectors.

So, what kind of work can a philosophy degree prepare you for? Start by considering challenging questions that can help you better understand the potential job market for philosophy grads. For example:

How should data be handled if it can help a company make sales but will also expose consumers' private information?
Should people be allowed to buy organs for transplant and bypass waiting lists?
In an increasingly polarized political climate, how can advertisers reach specific segments of the population without alienating others? Should they even try?
How should a company respond if the most environmentally friendly option isn't the most profitable one?
Is physician-assisted suicide sometimes the best choice for a terminally ill patient?

Thinking about big questions like these is exactly what a philosopher does, even if "philosopher" isn't part of his or her job title. In fact, with a philosophy degree, you can get the types of jobs that require you to think logically and consider multiple perspectives—abilities that apply to many of the best jobs for the future .

This philosophy careers list includes many occupational examples that aren't necessarily traditional jobs for philosophers. A bachelor's degree in philosophy can provide an excellent foundation for each of them. However, some of these careers do require a graduate degree or additional, specialized training.

Median annual salaries are current as of July 15, 2020 and are based on data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program unless marked as being from (1) PayScale . All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

1. Financial Analyst: $82K

Believe it or not, studying philosophy can be excellent preparation for financial analyst jobs. For philosophy degree holders, transferable skills such as paying attention to details, spotting trends, and seeing issues from many perspectives are helpful when navigating complex financial markets. Certification is often necessary in this field, but many employers sponsor employees through the licensing process.

2. Computer Programmer: $87K

Studying philosophy, a subject that originated in ancient times, might seem like an unlikely way to prepare for a career in the rapidly changing world of technology. But if you're skeptical, ask yourself this: What does philosophy teach you? In a good philosophy program, you can learn how to question existing assumptions, examine cause and effect, and consider statements from all angles—exactly the types of skills used in programming.

However, you should learn how to code before applying for programming jobs. (With a philosophy degree, you may have developed the logical thought processes that will help you learn programming languages. But many employers will want you to already have some coding ability.) Still, a growing sentiment in the tech sector is that it's easier to hire people who know how to think and teach them how to code than it is to hire people who can code and teach them how to think.

3. Business Consultant: $74K 1

Would you like to help companies become more efficient? A business or management consultant analyzes a company and proposes new, more efficient procedures. As a philosophy grad, your keen analytical skills could help you pinpoint inefficiencies and recommend new approaches.

Although a graduate degree isn't necessarily required, an MBA can help you get ahead. Plus, a bachelor's degree in philosophy is an excellent foundation for an MBA. In fact, philosophy majors have better scores , on average, than business and accounting majors on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).

4. Lobbyist: $75K 1

Do you have a cause that you're passionate about? You can use the rhetorical skills that you perfected in a philosophy program to help persuade government officials and policymakers to support your cause.

5. Market Research Analyst: $64K

Would you like to help companies make informed decisions about the best ways to sell their products? Market research analysts predict sales trends using information they gather. Then, they help direct companies on what to do. With a philosophy degree, you can develop the big-picture thinking necessary to interpret data from a wide range of sources and draw your own conclusions about sales strategies.

Ethical considerations also play a role in market research. For example, should consumers be told when a company is using their personal data to shape sales plans? Should that data be shared with other companies? A philosophy major is good for teaching you how to address challenging questions like these.

6. Writer: $63K

At its core, philosophy is all about language. Philosophy students quickly discover that every word counts in a philosophical text and that words must be carefully chosen for clear meaning. Concisely summarizing dense philosophical materials and developing your own arguments can help your own writing.

Plus, writing about philosophy doesn't just prepare you to work with serious subject matter. In fact, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and actor and writer Steve Martin both studied philosophy.

7. Human Resources (HR) Specialist: $62K

Solving problems, communicating clearly, and analyzing information are just a few of the essential skills that HR specialists use every day. As a philosophy graduate, your ability to see all sides of an issue can help you excel in this field. Just keep in mind that you may need additional training for management-level jobs if you only studied philosophy. Career specialties in human resources include recruitment, benefits administration, employee training and development, payroll processing, and much more.

8. Teacher (K-12): $57K to $62K

You can become a teacher with just one year of special training after earning a bachelor's in philosophy. Jobs in the public-school system don't usually center around teaching philosophy itself. However, all teachers need the strong communication skills, excellent problem-solving abilities, and genuine empathy that can be developed by studying philosophy.

9. Communications Specialist: $52K 1

Use your powers of persuasion and rhetorical skills to help organizations communicate with the public. You could craft press releases, respond to public inquiries, and create communications and advertising strategies. As a philosophy graduate, your understanding of multiple perspectives on political and social issues can help you create effective messages.

10. Paralegal: $52K

Are you interested in working in the legal field but not sure whether law school is the right choice for you? A career as a paralegal can provide opportunities to use the analytical, research, and organizational skills that you develop in a philosophy program. And if you have a bachelor's degree, some paralegal post-degree certificate programs can be completed in less than a year.

11. Real Estate Agent: $49K

What do real estate and philosophy have in common? Both fields require the ability to cut through rhetoric and get to the heart of a question. Negotiation is also a key component of real estate careers, so your ability to see both sides of an issue and develop sound arguments will help you succeed. In most states, you need to complete a real estate course and pass an exam in order to be licensed.

12. Mental Health Counselor: $46K

Can philosophy act as "therapy of the soul?" The Greek philosopher Epicurus thought so. And many philosophers since his time have focused on the ability of philosophical thought to ease human suffering. So philosophy students often develop a good foundation for helping others. They've considered important questions such as "Why do we suffer?"

If you'd like to use your understanding of philosophy to help those who need guidance, then research the requirements for mental health professionals in your region. (Requirements vary by state.) Your philosophy degree could be an excellent starting point for further training.

Also, consider philosophical counseling. In this specialty, counselors don't focus on treating or diagnosing mental health problems. Instead, they help clients deal with the everyday stressors that result from living in our flawed world, such as coping with the death of a pet or adjusting to retirement. Check out the National Philosophical Counseling Association for more information. (Note: You must have a master's degree in philosophy before training for a career in philosophical counseling.)

13. Entrepreneur: Salaries vary widely

To start successful businesses, entrepreneurs need to be good at thinking outside the box and examining the validity of new ideas. So, where can they learn those skills? In a philosophy program, of course. Former philosophy majors who have started extremely successful businesses include:

Stewart Butterfield: Slack and Flickr co-founder
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn co-founder
Peter Thiel: PayPal co-founder

14. Medical Doctor: $206K (for general practitioners)

What can physicians do if terminally ill patients request that their families not be told about their illnesses? Is it OK to exaggerate a patient's symptoms in order to ensure coverage by his or her insurance provider? A philosophy background can help doctors deal with tough ethical decisions like these.

Plus, it's possible to enter medical school after majoring in philosophy. That's because most medical schools don't restrict applicants to specific majors. (But you may need to complete some specific prerequisite science courses as an undergrad before applying to medical school.)

Also, did you know that philosophy graduates have higher medical school acceptance rates than biology graduates? It's true: Philosophy is consistently ranked as one of the top majors when it comes to medical school admittance. As well, humanities grads (a category that includes philosophy majors) have higher total Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) results , on average, than biological science grads.

And if you're worried that majoring in the humanities won't be good preparation for studying medicine, rest easy. Once they're in medical school, students who majored in the humanities for their first degree perform at an equal level with other students.

15. Lawyer: $123K

A bachelor's in philosophy can be an excellent first degree before starting your legal studies. In fact, philosophy majors have the highest acceptance rate to law school.

As well, philosophy courses provide a solid background for your studies once you begin law school. After all, philosophy courses center around:

Creating concise responses to complex problems
Formulating logical responses for or against proposals
Analyzing an argument and dissecting it for flaws
Defending your views when challenged
Examining evidence and drawing conclusions

All of those skills are essential for success in the legal world.

16. Augmented Reality Developer or Project Manager: $74K to $83K 1

Augmented reality (AR) poses many new philosophical questions. Think about it: Since ancient times, philosophers have debated the nature of reality and asked how we can know what's "real." With new virtual dimensions added to our conception of reality, these discussions have entered new territory and given rise to new questions: If something that only exists in augmented reality frightens you, is that fear real? Should augmented reality make it clear which part of an AR experience is fake?

A philosophy background can help you consider the "big picture" behind AR work. Within this sector, AR project managers help coordinate all aspects of an AR experience. For AR development or programming work, technical knowledge is essential.

17. Philosophy Professor: $75K

It takes four years to get a degree in philosophy at the bachelor's level, and many of the career paths on this list only require an undergraduate education and, in some cases, a little specialized training in a different area. But what if you want to keep studying philosophy in a graduate program? What can you do with a PhD in philosophy?

Among other things, someone with a Doctor of Philosophy often leads classes in this subject at a college or university. Philosophy professors teach, write, and research. However, academic jobs in philosophy can be competitive , with more applicants than job openings.

If a philosophy department experiences funding cuts (a relatively common occurrence in humanities education), a professor may be asked to teach more classes. So, combined with the need to conduct research and publish papers, many philosophy professors have a lot on their plates.

Nonetheless, it can be very satisfying to pursue your own scholarly activities and help others answer big questions, such as "What do philosophers do?" and "How can philosophy help me live a better life?" You can also enjoy financial rewards: Philosophy professors make over $88,000 a year, on average. And some earn more than $151,180.

18. Bioethicist: $64K (for those with a master's degree) 1

Advances in medicine and technology have led to complex ethical questions. For example, should parents be able to choose a baby's gender? When should a patient have the right to turn down a life-saving procedure? Bioethicists help explore all ethical angles of medical issues like these.

To work as a bioethicist, you typically need a certificate, master's degree, or PhD in bioethics after completing your undergraduate degree. So you can build a solid foundation for an education in this field with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree. Jobs can be found in research, community education, public policy analysis, and other areas.

19. Mediator: $64K

Are you interested in helping opposing sides find common ground? Mediators facilitate discussions to resolve disputes. They don't represent specific sides in a disagreement, but instead focus on remaining neutral as they help both parties come to a resolution. As a philosophy graduate, your ability to examine all sides of an issue, combined with excellent people skills, can help you succeed. Some states require mediators to be certified.

20. Data Analyst: $61K 1

We now have the ability to collect incredible amounts of data. But what should we do with it? Data analysts gather data and use it to draw logical conclusions that can guide organizations' decisions. Their analytical skills can help them spot trends and make predictions. But there's also plenty of room for creative thought in this field.

21. Editor: $61K

"Does this make sense? How can it be clearer?" Those are the kinds of questions that editors often ask during the editing process. Editors ensure that written texts are error-free and easily understood. Studying philosophy can not only teach you the value of clear communication, but also help you hone your attention to detail in the written word.

22. Policy Analyst: $59K 1

Policy analysts work with politicians and other government officials to develop or revise public policies. They do this by analyzing a problem and recommending solutions. Data analysis and clear communication are some of the essential skills for this career that you can acquire by studying philosophy. Jobs in policy analysis often require interpreting complex laws, regulations, and policies, and envisioning solutions to a variety of issues.

23. Tech Ethicist: Salaries vary widely

What should an app developer do if a new app turns out to have a negative impact on face-to-face human interaction? Should we be allowed to edit babies' genes? How should a driverless car react if it has a choice between injuring the car's passenger or a group of pedestrians?

Questions like these don't have easy answers. And sometimes tech creators are so caught up in the excitement of new discoveries that they overlook the long-term moral implications of their inventions. Technology ethicists help the creators of new technology consider the ethical issues that progress can raise.

24. Philosopher: Salary depends on the position

Is becoming a philosopher a realistic job goal? The short answer is yes; you can be a philosopher. But you might have to be a little creative in how you get there. That's because jobs for "philosophers" outside of academia are very rare.

But recent years have seen a trend toward the creation of positions for in-house philosophers. For example, Google has a resident philosopher to help the company answer vital questions such as those related to defining the role that technology plays in our lives and determining what constitutes "truth" in search results.

If you're interested in a position like this, your best bet might to be to establish yourself in another role within a company, then introduce a philosophical component to your other job duties. (In other words, you likely won't find a job posting for a resident philosopher, so you may have to create your own position.)

Do Philosophy Grads Make Money? Surprising Salary Stats

Young professional woman wearing glasses

That might contradict the stereotype of philosophy majors being unconcerned with worldly things like paychecks. So if you're skeptical that jobs for philosophy graduates can actually provide a decent salary, check out these facts:

In 2016, philosophy was the highest-paying humanities major , with an average starting salary of $49,000.
When it comes to comparing starting salaries to mid-career salaries, philosophy grads have a bigger increase in earnings than almost any other major. (They're tied with math graduates for the top position.)
Philosophy ranks higher than majors like engineering and life sciences in terms of its return on investment (i.e., how much graduates earn compared to how much their schools spent educating them).

It's important to realize that these facts are based on people who majored in philosophy, not people who entered a specific occupation. As you now know, jobs for philosophy degree holders can be found in many career sectors. So, ultimately, as a philosophy major, your salary depends on which career you pursue. Nonetheless, if you have a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy, jobs can be found that pay better than you might think.

Why Take Philosophy? The Valuable Skills You Can Learn

Consider the following highly sought-after skills that you can acquire while earning a philosophy degree:

Analyzing complex concepts and ideas
Examining all sides of an argument or problem and coming up with logical solutions
Writing and speaking clearly and concisely
Generating ideas for new ways to do things
Interpreting abstract theories and ideas
Accepting that there is often more than one solution to a problem and that a "right" answer may not exist
Defending your own views without resorting to illogical arguments or personal attacks
Applying frameworks to problems in creative ways
Questioning commonly held beliefs

Those are powerful skills. However, let's face it: You may need to become good at self-promotion in order to sell them. That's because hiring managers don't always recognize the true value of an education in philosophy. They may wonder, "What can you do with a degree in philosophy that will actually help us make money?" Without a clear answer, they might quickly move past your resume.

So it's up to you to prove that you can do more than discuss Aristotle. For instance, when applying for jobs with "philosophy degree" on your resume, be sure to emphasize your strengths and transferable skills. (In a study sponsored by the Association of American Colleges & Universities , 93 percent of surveyed corporate leaders said that the ability to solve problems, think critically, and communicate effectively is more important than a job applicant's major. That means it's often more important to explain what you learned while pursuing your degree than to talk about the degree itself.)

Take Control of Your Future

Now you have some answers ready for those times when people ask, "What jobs can you get with a philosophy degree?" So start making plans to turn your dreams into reality. Short, career-oriented programs are often a good fit for students with a foundation in philosophy. They provide practical opportunities for learning how to put your skills to use in specific fields. Find convenient training near you by entering your zip code into the school finder at the top of the page!

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Careers for People Who Want to Work Alone

wonderphilosophy

What can you do with a philosophy phd, the glorious path.

The “expected” career choice for philosophy, as it is for many humanities fields, is still the professorship. Professorship comes in different degrees of prestige, too. At the top of the ladder is someone who has job security (“tenure”, which is a status that makes it extremely difficult for a university to fire you) who works at a research-focused university (colloquially called an “R1”). More concretely, an R1 university for a philosopher is one where its philosophy department trains PhD students. There are also departments that only train master’s students. They may be at schools with comparably less research (sometimes referred to as “R2″s), but can also be at a large R1 who happens to have a small philosophy department.

Other than these, there are also universities that do no have graduate programs. They tend to be liberal arts colleges, or LACs (sometimes SLACs for small LACs or selective LACs). Another term you might encounter is PUIs, or primarily undergraduate institutions, which include both LACs and regional universities that grant 4-year degrees but do not have graduate students. One can also hold a tenured position at a community college (CC).

In general, professors at R1/R2s are expected to spend most of their time researching — publishing papers and attending conferences — and secondarily on supervising graduate students and doing administrative work. Most of them are not rewarded for undergraduate teaching. If you have had bad professors as an undergrad in a big research university, this might be why. In contrast, PUIs and CCs place a lot more emphasis on teaching.

Traditionally, the highest-regarded job is the tenured R1 professorship. Many graduate programs (especially prestigious ones) still assume that R1 is the obvious goal of their graduate students. Some academics still believe that choosing a teaching job (PUI or CC) over an R1 when one has the ability to pursue R1 is a waste of talent. Graduate students who find themselves enjoying teaching more than research often feel the need to hide this from others.

It is my impression that more programs are starting to recognize and respect the desire of philosophically talented students to pursue teaching careers. However, teaching jobs are very different from research jobs and, by definition, professors at graduate programs hold research jobs. Consequently, not all programs go out of their ways to provide students with adequate teaching training. If teaching is something you are seriously considering, it is worth some effort assessing the degree of openness and support a department has on this front.

The shadowy isles

Not all teaching staff has tenure. In fact, if you come from a big research university, chances are that some lower-level classes you took were taught by “adjuncts”. Adjuncts are teaching personnel who work on a contract basis. They hold PhDs just like tenured professors, but are often paid less than a fraction in salary, sometimes putting them below the poverty line. In fact, the “adjunctification of higher education” (the increased use of adjunct staff over full-time staff) is a huge social justice problem right now. If you are interested, just google “adjunct crisis”.

The problem (one of the many problems) adjuncts face is that, while most people take on adjunctship as a temporary financial solution in the search of the tenure track, many end up being stuck as adjuncts. This is because adjuncts often have to work extreme hours to keep financially afloat, leaving no time to build a competitive research profile.

Another form of temporary employment is the post doctoral fellowship (or “post-doc”). Post-docs differ vastly, with some offering great salary with no teaching duty and others being essentially the same as adjuncts.

According to the 2017 report by the Academic Placement Data and Analysis of “graduates between 2012 and 2016 … 36% are in permanent academic positions, 40% are in temporary academic positions”. In other words, being a professor in the way that your undergraduate professors are is far from guaranteed by a PhD from even the best programs. In fact, it is perhaps more rational to approach the “should I pursue a PhD?” question with the assumption of not able to land a professorship.

The rest of the world

What about the world outside of academia? The situation is similar to that of teaching jobs, except many times more extreme. That is, many academics still consider jobs outside of academia (also known as “industry” jobs) as a sign of professional failure and last resort. Students who have such aspirations often have to hide them from their departments, as departments sometimes withhold resources, intentionally or not, from students who are “wasting talent and education” by not pursuing academic jobs. In general, alternative to academia (or “alt-ac”) career path is still a delicate issue.

I believe the situation is improving, if only slowly. Graduate students, including some of the founders of wonderphilosophy, are calling attention to alt-ac acceptance and support. I know of a number of professors who are supportive of alt-ac. Nevertheless, since successful academics tend to be life-long academics, it is difficult for them to provide alt-ac support. I believe the APDA (mentioned above) is trying to contribute in that direction.

If alt-ac is something you’d like to consider, it is also important to assess the general attitude a department holds in this regard. Alt-ac attitude is, in my experience, easier to assess than teaching attitude, since academics tend to be less apologetic at declaring their contempt (if they do hold it) towards industry jobs than towards teaching.

And the chaos in between

Many things can happen during the 5, 6, 7 years it takes (Note: do not go to a program whose normative time to degree is more than 6 years) for you to complete a PhD. It is probably unwise to plan to stick to one plan.

Still, PhD training is, at the core of it, a professional training . It trains you for a specific profession, and all statistics show that this specific professional demand does not meet the trained supply, and PhD training has been slow to adapt to this fact. While I certainly think it’s not true to claim (as some do) that graduate training in philosophy is a “waste of time” if you do not go into professional philosophy, I think it’s wise to keep your eyes, minds, and options open during the entirety of this process.

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PhD Program Overview

Academic mission.

The PhD Program in Philosophy offers an intensive course of study in preparation for a career as a scholar and teacher of philosophy. The program in particular consists of four major components. (1) Completing coursework in the three main areas of contemporary philosophy and in the history of philosophy. (2) Participating in a paper revision workshop, in which students significantly revise an essay originally written for a seminar in consultation with faculty and other students. (3) Defining an intellectual project and writing the PhD dissertation under the direction of a faculty committee. (4) Teaching as assistants in faculty-taught lecture courses and then as lecturers in stand-alone tutorials and small courses. In addition to these major components, students and faculty also participate in a variety of workshops and reading groups in which students present their own work for criticism by their peers and faculty. Throughout the PhD program, students and faculty join together in a continuous, rich philosophical dialogue. And faculty also support that dialogue and students’ intellectual work through advising, mentoring, ongoing academic evaluations, and canny career advice.

Note: The PhD Program in Philosophy is the only graduate program to which the Department of Philosophy admits students; those students interested in a masters degree can apply directly to the Masters of Arts Program in the Humanities ( MAPH ). This is a standalone program in the Division of Humanities within which students can take a number of graduate courses in philosophy. Elsewhere on this site we have a more thorough explanation of how our faculty interests serve our MAPH students.

Culture of the PhD Program

The PhD Program in Philosophy is intellectually inclusive, capacious in its research and teaching interests, and unusual in the extent and depth of the collective engagement with both the analytic and continental traditions. All programs now promote their interdisciplinarity, but we’ve been enjoying our wide range of philosophical interests for decades here at Chicago—thanks in part to the thorough integration of the interdisciplinary Council of Advanced Studies workshops into the PhD program and also to departmental colloquia, in which departmental and visiting faculty speak (and are challenged) on various philosophical issues. The department hums with free-flowing philosophical discussions among students and faculty occurring in seminars, workshops, colloquia, the hallways of Stuart Hall, and the Friday afternoon coffee hours in our Anscombe Library.

Socially, the department also tries to make sure that every student’s voice is heard in the running and shaping of the department and its PhD program. There are always two elected graduate student representatives who help keep channels of communication open and flowing in both directions between the departmental faculty and graduate student body, and faculty meet with students regularly about issues of concern. The department also has a faculty diversity liaison; a Diversity, Inclusivity, Climate, and Equity (DICE) Committee composed of departmental faculty and graduate students; and a graduate student outreach coordinator. We all work to ensure that the PhD program, courses, and the departmental culture feel welcome to students from all backgrounds. Here is more information on DICE .

The Women in Philosophy (WIP) group organizes bi-quarterly social gatherings for graduate women in the department. Gatherings typically consist of dinners or brunches hosted at the home of one of our members. While the primary purpose of these gatherings has typically been that of socializing, they are also a space in which people should feel free to raise and discuss any issues pertaining to life in the department. These social events build solidarity and community for the women in our department, and in general there is a high level of cooperation and collaboration between graduate women in the department. Here is more information on WIP .

The University of Chicago is situated in the heart of the South Side of Chicago, one of the country’s most culturally and intellectually rich cities . Life in Chicago is itself also inclusive: it’s a diverse, vibrant city with many social possibilities and livable—and strikingly affordable!—neighborhoods for students.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House (on the University of Chicago campus)

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What You Need to Know Before Getting a PhD in Philosophy

Is a getting PhD in Philosophy an attainable career option in today’s world?

Whether you are interested in influencing academia or becoming a scholar at a think tank, obtaining a doctorate degree in philosophy can be a rewarding and realistic step in your career—if you are willing to work hard.

Even getting into a graduate program can be competitive. Dr. Bill Glod notes that there could be over 200 applicants for every five spots at some of the top schools. But with the proper planning, you can be successful despite the competitive field.

In the podcast below, Dr. Glod walks you how to get into a good PhD program—and what to expect once you enroll—so that you can succeed in this field.

A few things you should think about before getting a PhD in Philosophy:

Whether a PhD in Philosophy is really right for you, and how to prepare for a career in Philosophy as an undergraduate.
Different types of programs in Philosophy.
Different methodologies you’ll encounter within the field.
How to approach the application process if you are sympathetic to classical liberal ideas.
How many programs you should apply to, and what you should be looking for in a program.
What classes to take once you enroll.

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As a PhD student in the Harvard philosophy program, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your ideas, knowledge, and abilities. You'll work with other doctoral students, our faculty, and visiting scholars, all in a stimulating and supportive environment. The program has strengths across a broad range of topics and areas, so you'll be able to pursue your interests wherever they may lead, especially in moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, epistemology, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, the history of analytic philosophy, ancient philosophy, Immanuel Kant, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. In addition, students can pursue joint degrees with classics, Harvard Law School, and in Indian philosophy.

Incoming cohorts consist of five to eight students per year. You will have substantial access to our renowned faculty and all the resources that Harvard makes available. This relatively small size also gives students a sense of intellectual community.

The curriculum is structured to help you make your way towards a dissertation: graduate-level coursework, a second-year research paper, a prospectus to help you identify a dissertation topic, and then the dissertation itself. Past dissertations in the department have addressed a broad range of topics: Aristotle, Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; contemporary moral and political philosophy; metaphysics; epistemology; and logic.

In addition to your research, you will also have the opportunity to develop your teaching skills in many different settings across the University.

You can find graduates of the PhD program in many universities. Some of our students have gone on to faculty positions at Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, and Stanford University. Other graduates have gone on to diverse careers in, among others, the arts, the law, secondary education, and technology.

In addition to the standard PhD in philosophy, the department offers a PhD in classical philosophy in collaboration with the Department of the Classics and a coordinated JD/PhD program in conjunction with Harvard Law School.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Philosophy and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Areas of Study

Philosophy | Classical Philosophy | Indian Philosophy

For information please consult the Department webpage on the graduate program overview .

Admissions Requirements

Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Philosophy .

Academic Background

Applicants to the program in Philosophy are required to have a solid undergraduate background in philosophy, indicating that they have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, as well as familiarity with contemporary work in ethics, epistemology and metaphysics, and logic.

Standardized Tests

GRE General: Optional

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and should be between 12 to 30 pages long. The sample must address a substantial philosophical problem, whether it is an evaluation or presentation of an argument, or a serious attempt to interpret a difficult text. The upload of the writing sample should be formatted for 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper, 1-inch margins, with double-spaced text in a common 12-point font, such as Times New Roman.

Applicants seeking admission to the coordinated JD/PhD program must apply to and be separately admitted to Harvard Law School and the Department of Philosophy.

Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Philosophy

See list of Philosophy faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

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Phd in philosophy: requirements, salary, jobs, & career growth, what is phd in philosophy.

A Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy, commonly known as a PhD in Philosophy, is a doctoral degree that focuses on advanced study and research in the discipline of philosophy.

Philosophy is a field of study that investigates fundamental problems concerning the nature of reality, knowledge, ethics, and the purpose of life.

Individuals who have completed considerable research in philosophy and produced original contributions to the discipline through their dissertation or thesis are often awarded a PhD in Philosophy.

The requirements for a PhD in Philosophy vary depending on the institution and program, but in general, it entails several years of study, rigorous exams, and the completion of a doctoral dissertation.

Coursework in philosophy may cover a wide range of topics such as metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and philosophy history.

Comprehensive exams are typically used to examine a student’s knowledge and understanding of philosophical concepts and theories.

How much money do people make with a PhD in Philosophy?

Individuals with a PhD in Philosophy’s wage or earning potential might vary substantially depending on a number of things. A professor with a PhD in Philosophy can earn a wide variety of salaries in academia, depending on rank, institution, and location.

For example, according to data from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the average income for a full-time faculty member (including professors) with a PhD in Philosophy in the United States in 2023 is roughly $80,000 to $120,000 per year.

Salaries, however, might vary greatly depending on factors such as the institution’s level (e.g., community college, liberal arts college, research university), geographic location, and years of experience.

Outside of academia, the earning potential for people with a PhD in Philosophy varies substantially depending on the subject and professional function.

Salary ranges for those working in research, think tanks, or policy analysis may differ from those working in non-profit organizations, government agencies, or other industries.

Salaries in non-academic professions may also be determined by the individual’s specialized talents, competence, and experience.

What is expected job growth with PhD in Philosophy?

The job market for philosophy PhD holders is competitive, with prospects varying by sector and locale. The job market in academia, which is a frequent career option for philosophy PhD holders, can be competitive, and job availability may be affected by factors such as the institution’s level, departmental finances, and overall demand for philosophy courses.

Tenure-track roles, which provide long-term employment security and promotion chances, can be extremely competitive.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of postsecondary teachers, including philosophy professors, is expected to expand by 9% between 2020 and 2030, roughly in line with the national average.

Outside of academia, philosophy PhD graduates may find employment in research, think tanks, policy analysis, non-profit organizations, government agencies, publishing, writing, and other professions.

However, the demand for philosophy PhD holders in these areas may be influenced by factors such as economic situations, employment market trends, and the individual’s specific skill sets and expertise.

What can you do with a PhD in Philosophy?

A PhD in Philosophy can lead to a variety of job opportunities both inside and outside of academia. Here are some examples of what a PhD in Philosophy may get you:

1. Academic Career: Many PhD holders in philosophy go on to become professors, researchers, or scholars in philosophy departments at universities or research institutions. They may instruct undergraduate or graduate courses, do research, write academic articles or books, and serve as mentors to students.

2. Research and Think Tanks: Philosophy Research and Think Tanks PhD holders may work in research institutions or think tanks, performing interdisciplinary research on philosophical concerns or contributing to policy analysis, ethical research, or social science research.

3. Non-Profit Organizations: Philosophy PhD holders may work in non-profit organizations that focus on ethics, human rights, social justice, environmental protection, or education, giving competence in critical thinking, ethical analysis, and philosophical foundations.

4. Government and Public Policy: Philosophy PhD holders may work in government agencies or public policy groups, contributing philosophical insights, ethical analyses, and critical thinking abilities to inform policy decisions, regulations, or legal frameworks.

5. Publishing and Writing: Philosophy PhD holders may work in publishing, journalism, or writing, use their analytical and writing talents to contribute to philosophical literature, write for popular media, or engage in philosophical journalism.

6. Consulting and Communications: Philosophy PhD holders may work as consultants, advisors, or communications specialists, advising organizations, corporations, or individuals on critical thinking, ethics, or philosophical foundations.

7. Education and Outreach: Philosophy PhD holders may work in educational settings such as museums, libraries, or educational outreach programs to promote philosophical literacy, engage in public philosophy, or develop philosophical dialogues in larger groups.

8. Entrepreneurship: A Philosophical Approach PhD holders can launch their own enterprises or organizations that offer philosophical services such as advising, coaching, or training programs in critical thinking, ethics, or philosophical investigation.

What are the requirements for a PhD in Philosophy?

The specific requirements for obtaining a PhD in Philosophy can vary depending on the institution and program, but generally, the following are common requirements:

1. Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree: Applicants to most PhD programs in Philosophy must have a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university. Although it is not usually required, certain schools may accept applicants with a Master’s degree in a related discipline.

2. Academic Transcripts: Applicants are usually expected to present certified transcripts of their undergraduate and graduate education, which demonstrate their academic performance and achievement.

3. Statement of Purpose: Applicants are typically expected to provide a personal statement or statement of purpose detailing their research interests, academic ambitions, and reason for pursuing a PhD in Philosophy.

4. Standardized Test Scores: Applicants to many PhD programs may be required to submit scores from standardized tests such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or other related assessments.

5. Letters of Recommendation: Applicants to PhD programs in Philosophy are frequently required to provide letters of recommendation from academic or professional sources who may speak to the applicant’s academic talents, research potential, and eligibility for a PhD program.

Looking For Scholarship Programs? Click here

How long does it take to get a phd in philosophy.

The time it takes to earn a PhD in Philosophy depends on several aspects, including the program, the institution, the country, and the individual’s progress. A PhD in Philosophy typically takes 4-7 years to complete, though it can take longer in some situations.

Looking For Fully Funded PhD Programs? Click Here

Do you need a masters in philosophy to get a phd in philosophy.

In many circumstances, a Master’s degree in Philosophy is not required to pursue a PhD in Philosophy.

While some PhD programs in Philosophy may require or provide students the option of completing a Master’s degree prior to or during their PhD program, many institutions accept students directly from a Bachelor’s degree program.

PhD programs in Philosophy often have their own entry requirements, which may include a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy or a related discipline, such as Humanities, Social Sciences, or an interdisciplinary field.

Some programs may also require applicants to have completed a particular amount of coursework in Philosophy or a related field, as well as exhibit skill in appropriate research methods or languages.

What are the Best PhD in Philosophy Degree programs?

1. new york university (nyu) – department of philosophy 2. harvard university – department of philosophy 3. stanford university – department of philosophy 4. princeton university – department of philosophy 5. university of pittsburgh – department of philosophy 6. university of oxford – faculty of philosophy 7. university of cambridge – faculty of philosophy 8. massachusetts institute of technology (mit) – department of linguistics and philosophy 9. university of california, berkeley – department of philosophy 10. yale university – department of philosophy, leave a comment cancel reply.

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Doctor of Philosophy in Education

Ph.D. Commencement robing Martin West and Christopher Cleveland

Additional Information

Download the Doctoral Viewbook
Admissions & Aid

The Harvard Ph.D. in Education trains cutting-edge researchers who work across disciplines to generate knowledge and translate discoveries into transformative policy and practice.

Offered jointly by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Ph.D. in Education provides you with full access to the extraordinary resources of Harvard University and prepares you to assume meaningful roles as university faculty, researchers, senior-level education leaders, and policymakers.

As a Ph.D. candidate, you will collaborate with scholars across all Harvard graduate schools on original interdisciplinary research. In the process, you will help forge new fields of inquiry that will impact the way we teach and learn. The program’s required coursework will develop your knowledge of education and your expertise in a range of quantitative and qualitative methods needed to conduct high-quality research. Guided by the goal of making a transformative impact on education research, policy, and practice, you will focus on independent research in various domains, including human development, learning and teaching, policy analysis and evaluation, institutions and society, and instructional practice.

Curriculum Information

The Ph.D. in Education requires five years of full-time study to complete. You will choose your individual coursework and design your original research in close consultation with your HGSE faculty adviser and dissertation committee. The requirements listed below include the three Ph.D. concentrations: Culture, Institutions, and Society; Education Policy and Program Evaluation; and Human Development, Learning and Teaching .

We invite you to review an example course list, which is provided in two formats — one as the full list by course number and one by broad course category . These lists are subject to modification.

Ph.D. Concentrations and Examples

Summary of Ph.D. Program

Doctoral Colloquia In year one and two you are required to attend. The colloquia convenes weekly and features presentations of work-in-progress and completed work by Harvard faculty, faculty and researchers from outside Harvard, and Harvard doctoral students. Ph.D. students present once in the colloquia over the course of their career.

Research Apprenticeship The Research Apprenticeship is designed to provide ongoing training and mentoring to develop your research skills throughout the entire program.

Teaching Fellowships The Teaching Fellowship is an opportunity to enhance students' teaching skills, promote learning consolidation, and provide opportunities to collaborate with faculty on pedagogical development.

Comprehensive Exams The Written Exam (year 2, spring) tests you on both general and concentration-specific knowledge. The Oral Exam (year 3, fall/winter) tests your command of your chosen field of study and your ability to design, develop, and implement an original research project.

Dissertation Based on your original research, the dissertation process consists of three parts: the Dissertation Proposal, the writing, and an oral defense before the members of your dissertation committee.

Culture, Institutions, and Society (CIS) Concentration

In CIS, you will examine the broader cultural, institutional, organizational, and social contexts relevant to education across the lifespan. What is the value and purpose of education? How do cultural, institutional, and social factors shape educational processes and outcomes? How effective are social movements and community action in education reform? How do we measure stratification and institutional inequality? In CIS, your work will be informed by theories and methods from sociology, history, political science, organizational behavior and management, philosophy, and anthropology. You can examine contexts as diverse as classrooms, families, neighborhoods, schools, colleges and universities, religious institutions, nonprofits, government agencies, and more.

Education Policy and Program Evaluation (EPPE) Concentration

In EPPE, you will research the design, implementation, and evaluation of education policy affecting early childhood, K–12, and postsecondary education in the U.S. and internationally. You will evaluate and assess individual programs and policies related to critical issues like access to education, teacher effectiveness, school finance, testing and accountability systems, school choice, financial aid, college enrollment and persistence, and more. Your work will be informed by theories and methods from economics, political science, public policy, and sociology, history, philosophy, and statistics. This concentration shares some themes with CIS, but your work with EPPE will focus on public policy and large-scale reforms.

Human Development, Learning and Teaching (HDLT) Concentration

In HDLT, you will work to advance the role of scientific research in education policy, reform, and practice. New discoveries in the science of learning and development — the integration of biological, cognitive, and social processes; the relationships between technology and learning; or the factors that influence individual variations in learning — are transforming the practice of teaching and learning in both formal and informal settings. Whether studying behavioral, cognitive, or social-emotional development in children or the design of learning technologies to maximize understanding, you will gain a strong background in human development, the science of learning, and sociocultural factors that explain variation in learning and developmental pathways. Your research will be informed by theories and methods from psychology, cognitive science, sociology and linguistics, philosophy, the biological sciences and mathematics, and organizational behavior.

Program Faculty

The most remarkable thing about the Ph.D. in Education is open access to faculty from all Harvard graduate and professional schools, including the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. Learn about the full Ph.D. Faculty.

Jarvis R. Givens

Jarvis Givens studies the history of American education, African American history, and the relationship between race and power in schools.

Paul L. Harris

Paul Harris is interested in the early development of cognition, emotion, and imagination in children.

Meira Levinson

Meira Levinson is a normative political philosopher who works at the intersection of civic education, youth empowerment, racial justice, and educational ethics.

Luke W. Miratrix

Luke Miratrix is a statistician who explores how to best use modern statistical methods in applied social science contexts.

Eric Taylor

Eric Taylor studies the economics of education, with a particular interest in employer-employee interactions between schools and teachers hiring and firing decisions, job design, training, and performance evaluation.

Paola Uccelli

Paola Ucelli studies socio-cultural and individual differences in the language development of multilingual and monolingual students.

View Ph.D. Faculty

Dissertations.

The following is a complete listing of successful Ph.D. in Education dissertations to-date. Dissertations from November 2014 onward are publicly available in the Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) , the online repository for Harvard scholarship.

2022 Graduate Dissertations (265 KB pdf)
2021 Graduate Dissertations (177 KB pdf)
2020 Graduate Dissertations (121 KB pdf)
2019 Graduate Dissertations (68.3 KB pdf)

Student Directory

An opt-in listing of current Ph.D. students with information about their interests, research, personal web pages, and contact information:

Doctor of Philosophy in Education Student Directory

Introduce Yourself

Tell us about yourself so that we can tailor our communication to best fit your interests and provide you with relevant information about our programs, events, and other opportunities to connect with us.

Program Highlights

Explore examples of the Doctor of Philosophy in Education experience and the impact its community is making on the field:

Teacher standing happily in front of class

Reshaping Teacher Licensure: Lessons from the Pandemic

Olivia Chi, Ed.M.'17, Ph.D.'20, discusses the ongoing efforts to ensure the quality and stability of the teaching workforce

Lost in Translation

New comparative study from Ph.D. candidate Maya Alkateb-Chami finds strong correlation between low literacy outcomes for children and schools teaching in different language from home

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6 PhD jobs in Philosophy

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PhD positions in Ethics (3)
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Three-year PhD position in Literature and Arts (funded by A*MIDEX)

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PhD Candidate: Affectivity in the Anthropocene

Dienstverband 0,8 - 1,0 fteBruto maandsalaris € 2.770 - € 3.539Werk/denkniveau UniversitairOrganisatieonderdeel Faculteit der LetterenReageer uiterlijk 15 april 2024This project is funded by the Christine Mohrmann Foundation at Radboud University ...

PhD in: The Ethics of the Use of Artificial Intelligence at Criminal Courts

The Department of Communication and Arts (DCA), Roskilde University, invites applications for a salaried PhD position studying the ethics of the use of artificial intelligence in criminal sentencing from 1 September 2024. The position as PhD fello...

2024 New Year Famous Universities and Enterprises PhDs Recruitment and Cooperation Video Matchmaking Meeting

1、 Event Introduction In the Chinese New Year of 2024, Juqi Consulting collaborated with the Famous universities and enterprises club to organize global PhDs visits to well-known Chinese enterprises and universities, coordinating job recruitment a...

PhD researcher in (Multi-Disciplinary) Legal Research in the Field of Migration

1 - Working at the VUBFor more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. At the VUB, you will find a diverse collectio...

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13 Philosophy jobs

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Applied Philosophy jobs (7)
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(Valid from 10/02/2024 to 31/05/2024) Language: English (UK) Location Belval Country: Luxembourg Organisation data: Secretary General of the Board of Governors Job Number: UOL06190 Contract Type: Permanent Schedule Type: Full Time Work Hours 4...

Three-year PhD position in Literature and Arts (funded by A*MIDEX)

Full-time academic position in education

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Junior postdoctoral scholarship holder philosophy of digital culture

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CAREER COLUMN
08 April 2024

How we landed job interviews for professorships straight out of our PhD programmes

Violeta Rodriguez 0 &
Qimin Liu 1

Violeta Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Qimin Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University in Massachusetts.

A person organizing ideas and thoughts with sticky notes on a glass wall.

By staying organized in their job hunt, both authors received several job offers. Credit: Getty

We met during the last year of our PhD training, after securing placements at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Department of Psychiatry for our predoctoral internships — the final step of our clinical doctoral programmes. V. R. came from the University of Georgia in Athens and was pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, and Q. L. came from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and was working towards a PhD in clinical science and quantitative methods. It was amid the academic rigour and personal stress of the last year of our programmes that we became friends. We bonded over being immigrants and not speaking English as our first language while navigating the complexities of academia. We both wanted to forgo postdoctoral training and instead immediately become junior professors. Now, we’re assistant professors: V. R. is at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Q. L. is at Boston University in Massachusetts.

The odds we faced in the academic job market had seemed insurmountable, particularly to immigrants, and we had been cautioned by mentors and even junior faculty members about the challenge ahead. But we succeeded: we received a combined total of 27 in-person interviews, leading to 15 tenure-track assistant-professor offers across departments of psychology, paediatrics or psychiatry, schools of education and academic medical centres. (You can check out our hints for nailing job interviews in our other article .)

How to move labs

Despite the positive outcome, the process was stressful, fast and unpredictable. Our friendship became a sanctuary: amid the daunting job market and our own self-doubt, we understood and encouraged each other. We want to offer what our friendship provided us — understanding, support and encouragement — to researchers hoping to stay in academia after earning a PhD, so we are sharing our reflections and insights.

We must first make clear: no amount of job-search tips and tricks can substitute for good science and a strong publication record. To gauge our readiness, we looked up the CV of the most recent hire in each department that we applied to. We also made sure we had backup offers of postdoctoral positions. While navigating this process, we learnt that institutions were interested in candidates who planned to pursue external funding.

Portrait of Qimin Liu in front of a graffitied wall.

Qimin Liu is now an assistant professor. Credit: Qimin Liu

We had both obtained federal and private funding before — making us more competitive. We urge aspiring professors to prioritize their research contributions, external fellowship and grant applications and academic achievements above all.

To readers who’ve successfully navigated this process, many of our reflections and insights could seem obvious. However, this kind of advice can be the hardest to follow during a fast-moving job hunt, with several moving pieces involved and new considerations and job offers or advertisements emerging unexpectedly. Treat this as a checklist before beginning to fill out job applications.

Tips and tricks

Start your search early. Allow ample time to prepare for the job hunt; research potential options, such as jobs in academic medical centres, standard department positions or tenure-track jobs in related fields; and submit applications. Plan to reply to job ads long before the first deadline. Starting early gives you time to collect and incorporate feedback from mentors and colleagues.

Training: Free course on peer review

Prepare your networks. The academic job market can be unpredictable, with opportunities emerging unexpectedly. It is important to think about who can write letters for you — sometimes at short notice. Most of our applications required three letters of recommendation from all applicants. Others requested letters from only shortlisted candidates.

Plan ahead. The final drafts of materials took, on average, one to two months in total to prepare and polish. The initial drafts took about 8 hours, and the research statement required a total of 16 hours. (The research statement summarizes your research programme, the work you’ve done so far and what you plan to pursue in future. It can also highlight why a particular institution is well-suited to support your work.) Preparing drafted statements in advance made it easier to adapt them to different positions later — tweaking materials for specific positions took 30–60 minutes per application.

Research potential job opportunities. Don’t just rely on word-of-mouth or googling specific positions to find things you’re interested in applying to. Use online job boards (such as HigherEdJobs or Nature Careers ), and tap into your professional network by sending e-mails or LinkedIn messages to your mentors and colleagues, letting them know you’re on the job market. Scour social media and department websites to find available positions. We both posted on X (formerly Twitter) that we were job hunting, and several people reached out with opportunities.

Develop job application ‘templates’. Create a set of well-crafted templates for your application materials, such as cover letters and statements, on which you can easily fill in your name, relevant details and where you’ve previously worked. Having adaptable documents allowed us to respond quickly to new postings.

Tailor your application materials. Templates can take you only so far. Take the time to customize your application materials, including your CV, cover letter (each of ours was one page long) and research statement, to highlight your relevant skills, experiences and research contributions. Tailoring your materials to each position demonstrates genuine interest and increases your chances of standing out to hiring committees. Generic applications are easy for hiring managers to reject. Mentioning centres or institutes that align with your research; available resources, such as early-career programmes, that you want to take advantage of; and the names of people whom you are interested in working with can help to personalize your application materials.

Stay organized. Maintain a well-organized system to track application deadlines, requirements and submission statuses. Be ready to remind your letter writers to submit their recommendations. Keep a calendar or spreadsheet to ensure that all required materials are submitted on time and to track when to follow up. An example spreadsheet is provided below.

Practise for interviews and job talks. Run mock interviews with your peers or mentors. Practise answering common interview questions and develop concise, compelling responses that highlight your expertise, teaching abilities and fit. Treat these seriously — you’re likely to be nervous in the real interview, so try to recreate that while rehearsing, perhaps by inviting a relatively unknown colleague or professor to join the practice runs. V. R. recorded her job talk on Zoom and sent it to others for feedback.

Practising your job talk — a presentation of your academic research that is often a spoken version of your research statement — until you know it backwards and forwards will prepare you for the unexpected. In addition, rehearsing how you plan to respond to different questions, and practising saying that you want people to hold their questions until the end, can be helpful.

Prepare a start-up budget to get your lab running. Many academic positions include a start-up fund for incoming faculty members. It is typically used for summer salary and staffing or research costs. You might be asked for an estimated budget before, during or after the interview stage — so you should have one ready in advance. When preparing your budget, keep in mind the spending norms at the institution and for your discipline. Ask for more than you think you need, because this amount will often be reduced during negotiations.

As we look back on our job-hunting experiences, we are reminded of how much we grew in this process, in ways that are not related to just our jobs — and this growth continued in our interviews .

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01044-1

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged .

Supplementary Information

Example spreadsheet

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PhD Position: Benchmarking Scientific Explanation in Psychological Practice

Job Information

Offer description.

Are you looking for a PhD position in a dynamic setting? Do you want to execute philosophy of science research informed by and engaging scientific practices? The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) ( https://www.illc.uva.nl/ ) currently has a vacant PhD position for a talented student as part of the project Benchmarking scientific explanation in psychological practice , led by principal investigator Dr. Dingmar van Eck. The ILLC is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research .

Research at the ILLC is organized into six research units ( Research units ILLC ). This project is based in the Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (EPS) research unit. Within the methodology and philosophy of science, this position will connect to the team’s work on scientific explanation and methods applied to areas such as AI, Mathematics, Quantum Physics, Cognitive Science, Life Science and the Engineering Sciences.

What are you going to do? You will develop an account of the explanatory power of scientific explanations in cognitive science. For this you will analyse and use philosophy of science literature on scientific explanation and explanatory power to select and investigate a number of empirical case studies drawn from cognitive science, understood broadly to include psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience.

Tasks and responsibilities:

submission of a PhD thesis, within the period of appointment;
participating in meetings of the project research group;
publishing peer reviewed articles;
presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
assisting in outreach activities to cognitive scientists;
Participation in the PhD programme of the ILLC;
(Co-)teaching courses at the BA-level in the 2nd and 3rd year of the appointment (max. 0,2FTE per year)

Requirements

We seek to hire a candidate with a strong background in philosophy of science and who is knowledgeable of cognitive science. You are a team player, but can also work independently. You are curious, persistent, and ambitious. It is crucial that you are able (to learn) to process empirical case studies for philosophical purposes.

Your experience and profile:

a completed Master's degree in philosophy or related discipline, with a focus on philosophy of science. You may apply if you have not yet completed your Master's degree only if you provide a signed letter from your supervisor stating that you will graduate before 01 September 2024;
excellent research skills demonstrated by an outstanding Master's thesis.
a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences;
good command of English.

Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.

Additional Information

We offer a temporary employment contract for the period of 48 months. The first contract will be for 16 months, with an extension for the following 32 months, contingent on a positive performance evaluation within the first 12 months. The employment contract is for 38 hours a week. The preferred starting date is 01 September 2024.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and relevant experience, ranges from € 2,770 up to a maximum of € 3,539. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8,3% year-end allowance. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

What else do we offer?

PhD candidates receive a tuition fee waiver;
PhD candidates have free access to courses offered by the Graduate School of Humanities and the Dutch National Research Schools ;
excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
an enthusiastic, inspiring and professional academic team.

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the link below. The deadline for applying for this vacancy 06 May 2024 .

Applications should include the following information (submitted in one .pdf by uploading in the required field ‘CV’):

A letter of motivation.
A half page description of your scientific familiarity with a topic in philosophy of science that relates to the research topic specified in the advertisement text.
A full academic CV.
A list of all Master-level modules you have taken, with an official transcript of grades.
The names and contact details of two references, including your advisor, who may be approached by the selection committee.

Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.

The interviews will be held in the course of May 2024.

Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact (during office hours):

Dr. Dingmar van Eck. [email protected]

Work Location(s)

Where to apply.

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Doctor of Philosophy in Education

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Three-year PhD position in Literature and Arts (funded by A*MIDEX)

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