Team work and good communication are the two most valuable soft skills an academic can develop, says Elizabeth Silva.

Contributor Elizabeth Silva

Working effectively as a team means you need to understand how different people communicate.{credit}PhotoDisc/ Getty Images \ Brad Goodell{/credit}

PhDs commonly assert that their skills and experience are specific to their research niche: valuable at the bench but nowhere else. This perception is reinforced by the extraordinary time spent trouble-shooting experiments and analyzing data in detail. It is certainly true that any PhD moving away from academic research will need to learn new techniques or tools, referred to as hard skills, but most trainees are well-equipped to acquire these as needed. More important is the recognition that the real worth of a research-based PhD is in the development of highly-valued soft skills. It is these skills that many PhDs fail to see in themselves. It is also these skills that PhDs can and should be cultivating during their research, regardless of career goals.

At its best, a PhD selects for creative, rigorous and independent thinkers. A PhD’s greatest training is not in learning the details of a scientific problem but in how to find the answers they seek and critically evaluate the evidence underlying them. It is up to you, as a trainee, to actively seek opportunities to improve these skills, and these abound when you simply look for them at conferences, in journal clubs, in collaborating with colleagues, engaging in seminars and in broader scientific one-on-one conversations. It can be incredibly tempting to narrowly focus your attention on the science and techniques that are relevant to your research niche, but pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone will make you a better researcher and a more valuable employee. Continue reading →