Sarah Blackford, academic and science career specialist, shows that bioscience researchers and PhD students have opportunities in many different roles outside of academia.
Contributor Sarah Blackford
Thanks to everyone who voted – I’m not surprised that this was the highest scoring question. I’ll also incorporate a little bit about how to prepare and where to look, since these questions came a close second and third.
Here is a list of career areas which I present in my career workshops with PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Researchers in scientific disciplines other the biosciences may also be able to see careers on this list of relevance and interest to them.The careers are ordered so that those at the top of the list are the closest and most familiar to PhD-qualified graduates and researchers.
- Academic Research (universities, research institutes, government)
- Research in industry/business (technology companies, bioindustry, food technology, policy think tanks, media)
- Teaching (university, colleges, schools)
- Scientific services (advisory, sales, data management, technical specialist)
- Associated commercial careers (technology transfer, patent examiner, patent attorney, regulatory affairs, marketing)
- Communication (publishing – editorial, commissioning, production – press officer, outreach, medical writer)
- Administration/management (conference organisation, science administration, policy)
- Self-employment/consultancy (spin-out company, freelance)
- General professional careers (finance, project management)
Familiarity with academic research and its associated work environment make these jobs a popular choice post-PhD. However, apart from the devastating statistics which show that only around 3.5% of PhD graduates realise a permanent, tenured academic position, if you enjoy working in the lab and the practical side of your research, a research job in the private sector, ultimately, may be more suited to your skills and interests. There are also research roles where the work may not necessarily take place in a lab; you can use these skills in office-based jobs such as policy.
Large and small (SME) companies offer a range of roles, some of which are listed above. For some jobs, direct entry is not possible and may require professional qualifications and/or additional experience. Viewing profiles of others who are already in these jobs can give you invaluable insights into how to break into particular professions. LinkedIn is a great way of researching job sectors and employers, whilst extending your network. You could also approach your university alumni office and investigate other sources of career information, such as Naturejobs.
Your specialist scientific knowledge can be an advantage in careers such as publishing, patent examination and data management, where you need to understand complex information and communicate with academics.
Moving down the list, further away from academic research careers, the PhD qualification itself may not be as essential to the job and your transferable skills become more important. This means you will need to promote them to prospective employers on your CV to highlight the most relevant experience and qualities, even demoting your PhD to the second page and omitting your list of publications.
Self-employment can be risky and requires careful preparation. Is there a market for your service or product? Who are your potential competitors? Will you generate enough income to live on? Consultancy work can be achieved by seeking employment with management and technology consultancy companies, where you are assigned to businesses to conduct a defined task or help solve a distinct problem.
If you are considering more general professions, such as these and other management, administration and finance careers, a visit to your career service may be helpful to prepare yourself. They hold lots of information on these types of careers and are experts in helping graduates to gain entry to specialised training schemes. They usually run workshops on interview technique, assessment centres and psychometric tests, all of which may be required hurdles to negotiate to secure a job.
This list is just a tiny snapshot of the international job market. To maximise your job search, try to become familiar with the career landscape so you are aware of opportunities. Bear in mind that job satisfaction is largely dependent on whether the role and work environment suit your personal preferences, namely your skills, values, personality, interests and work/life balance. Most people compromise their personal and professional lives more than once during their careers according to their situation and changing priorities. The criteria on which they base their career decisions also change; it’s likely that you will do the same, or have already done so!
For more of Sarah’s advice, you can go to her blog at www.biosciencecareers.org
Report this comment
Unfortunately, most of those jobs cannot be got by using one’s academic credentials alone.
The problem with transition to the industry is that most companies want people who already have industrial experience. It is a catch-20 situation, where one cannot get industry experience unless hired by a company, while no company wants to hire someone with no prior industry experience.
As for teaching, most countries require an addition certification to be able to teach at the high school level.
Most of the commercial and management oriented jobs require an MBA. This is an expensive, additional qualification that post-docs or PhD students, most of whom are already under financial pressure, will find difficult to consider taking up.
As for the communication or medical writing jobs, most companies seem to want people with specific experience in the type of writing involved. For example, having experience with preparing scientific manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals is not considered enough for a medical writing or a regulatory writing job that involves writing CSRs or regulatory submissions. Again the catch-20 with regard to experience comes into play here.
The biggest problem is that there are too many life sciences PhDs out there, and for most jobs outside of academia, a PhD is considered too much of a qualification. Even leading pharma companies are now recruiting candidates with Masters degrees for R&D roles.
Report this comment
Dear Ganesh,
Many thanks for your comment. I take on board what you say and am sorry to hear you have had such negative experiences. I have spoken to employers who are happy to accept applications from doctoral graduates and postdoctoral researchers, but who advise that CVs must demonstrate that they have well developed communication and management skills on top of their specialist knowledge and expertise. I think one difficulty for employers is when researchers still present themselves as academics, rather than promoting their ‘transferable’ skills. Ordinarily they employ researchers into research posts, after which there is progression to team leader or into other areas of the company, such as regulatory affairs and marketing. I wrote a blog on this recently which may be of interest to you: https://www.biosciencecareers.org/2014/05/career-directions.html
For management and consultancy, I agree with you that an MBA is definitely an asset to those who wish to get into these professions, however there are graduate schemes which will allow new graduates, including doctoral graduates, to apply via a quite rigorous application process. They are looking for particular skills and competencies, regardless of degree subject. With regard to medical writing, you may find this link useful https://www.medcommsnetworking.co.uk/startingout/. It shows how you can make a start in medical communications. Agencies recruit PhD students who demonstrate excellent writing skills, as do other communication organisations.
It is true that the situation for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers is challenging nowadays, with an over-supply of researchers chasing very limited permanent academic positions. The situation will not change anytime soon, so it’s advisable to try to ensure that you take a proactive approach to your career and seek ways to further develop your skills or even gain extra professional qualifications. Reflect each year on your achievements and try to keep learning and adding to your current experiences, within and around your core research. There is no one easy answer, I wish there was! Please refer to my blog which offers more advice on how to address career issues, as well as Naturejobs’ blogs and career profiles, which give you insights into other people’s career experiences.
Report this comment
Hi,
Being a PhD student, it is always a dilemma to choose between job and PDF after PhD. Which one would you suggest after PhD. Should we go for Job or look for a PDF in a foreign land. As you know age is an important factor for us.
Report this comment
Dear Ritu Raj,
It is difficult to answer your question since I’m not sure of your career aspirations. Obviously, if you are aiming for an academic career, a postdoctoral research post or fellowship is the career path to lead you in that direction. If you are unsure, you could do one postdoctoral post to gain further research and technical experience, whilst developing associated skills such as teaching, supervisory responsibilities, writing, project management, etc. However, if you have no intention of pursuing an academic career, these extra years may be betters spent in a different role and work environment. In the UK, statistics show that over 50% of PhD students leave science after they graduate so you too may be better served looking at entry into non-academic careers directly after your PhD.
Report this comment
The problem both PhD students and Posdocs face is breaking into these fields. I understand the importance of a network, but what other advice to you have for people looking to transition into industry (research, scientific services, or associated commercial careers). In other words, how do we “break in” to industry and out of academia?
Report this comment
Hi Colleen,
Your question is well timed. I was just talking to a head hunter and recruitment expert this week and she recommends that signing up with a recruitment company is a great way to enter industry. But you do need to build up a good relationship with your recruitment consultant as well as promoting yourself on social media such as LinkedIn and having a targeted CV. For more information contact Tina Persson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinapersson1