After spending years on a PhD and post-doctoral research, it can be difficult to transition to a non-academic job. This slide deck discusses some of the "pre-work" that you can and should do to smooth the transition before you even write a resume,

1. Finding What’s Next
PREPARING YOURSELF FOR A NON-ACADEMIC JOB SEARCH
MELANIE NELSON, PHD

2. About Me
 PhD from Scripps Research Institute, in protein structure/function
 15 years in industry, more than 10 of them as a hiring manager
 Author of recent book “Navigating the Path to Industry: A Hiring Manager’s
Advice for Academics Looking for a Job in Industry”
 Now split my time between consulting on management and scientific
informatics and bootstrapping a company- I am on Plan C or D at least!

3. Overview of Talk
 Mental preparation and the job search mindset
 Exploring options
 Building a network

4. Mental Preparation

5. Why You Need to Prepare
 Your first post-academic job search is completely unlike previous
career steps
 You need a different mindset, and it is a mindset that is not native
to academia
 You’re likely to have to deal with a lot of rejection, and that is less
soul-destroying if you’re prepared for it
 Your job search will be more successful if you prepare

6. Change Your Mindset

7. Change Your Mindset

8. Accept Some Angst
 Career change is hard and angst-
inducing.
 You’re likely to feel lost and
overwhelmed at times, and like
you’ll never figure out what to do
next.
 That’s normal.

9. Banish Bitterness
 You are changing to a new direction that you may not have
anticipated. Be OK with that before you do anything else.
 You may have some anger about how things have evolved.
It may be justifiable. Work through that before you do
anything else.
 Bitterness is a poison that kills job prospects… and it
lingers!
The only acceptable type of
bitter during a job search

10. PhD Prestige – Let it Go
 Your new path may not require a
PhD. That’s OK.
 Don’t get hung up on the idea that
you have to “use” your PhD
 Stop thinking of the PhD only as job
training
 Start thinking of it as a valuable life
experience that can benefit you in a
variety of careers

11. Get Comfortable With Uncertainty
 Ditch the “forever job” expectations
 Stop looking for job security and
start building career and financial
security
 Career security:
◦ Always networking
◦ Always building skills
 Financial security:
◦ Build a buffer

12. Figure Out How to Handle Rejection
 Keep a folder with positive feedback
and other evidence of past success-
review it when you’re feeling down
 Develop a closure routine to “say
goodbye” to jobs you do not get
 Cultivate a hobby or other interest
 “Fake it until you make it”
 Never stop searching until you have
a signed offer
Image from slgkgc on Flickr, used under Creative Commons license
One of my closure rituals

13. Overcome Your Internal Obstacles
 “I’m too old to make such a big change”
◦ The time passes anyway
◦ Calculate the years you think you have left in your career. Observe the size of that
number. You have plenty of time.
 “I need more training to do that”
◦ Maybe, maybe not
◦ Academic culture emphasizes credentials. Not all work cultures do.
 “If I don’t [stay at the bench | stay in science | get a tenure track job]
I’ve failed”
◦ Success comes in many different guises
◦ All you really have to do with you career is support yourself and any dependents.

14. Interactive: Other Internal Obstacles
 Anyone have other comments from the mean person inside your
head? Let’s debunk them as a group.

15. Internal Obstacles

16. Construct a Supportive Environment
 Some people you know may not support your decision to leave
academia
◦ Advisors, peers, people who view you as a mentor
 Don’t accept their negative views at face value
◦ They often come from the other person’s own fears and insecurities
 Your choice is not a judgment on anyone else’s choice, and vice versa
 Try to discuss your decision in terms of what is right for you, not general
concerns about academia
 Build a group of people who do support your career change

17. If a Bridge Gets Burned…
 Sometimes advisors just cannot accept your new direction
 This will be most problematic in your first job search
 If you suspect your advisor will undermine you with a bad reference:
◦ Get out in front- explain the situation. Without bitterness and with as little criticism
of your advisor as possible
◦ Find a neutral third party who can provide a reference and/or support your version of
events

18. Explore the Options

19. Identifying Options
 Two complementary approaches
◦ List your transferrable skills, and look for jobs that use them
◦ List possible jobs, and identify aspects of your experience that are relevant
 Starting from jobs is more likely to succeed… but starting with skills
is usually easier
 Do both, and iterate

20. Transferrable Skills
 Your PhD and postdoctoral experiences have taught you more than
specific lab skills
 Let’s list some!
 Some starting ideas:
◦ Analyzing a problem and identifying potential solutions
◦ Teaching yourself about a new topic
◦ Teaching others about a topic
◦ Breaking a large project down into discrete tasks
◦ Collaborating productively with others
◦ Writing clearly

21. Transferrable Skills

22. Identifying Potential Careers
 Cast a wide net in your initial survey of possibilities
◦ Academia filters your perspective of the options. Try to take that filter off.
 Read job descriptions
◦ Look at websites of companies that interest you
◦ Run some general searches on job aggregator sites (e.g., Biospace, Monster)
 Look for professional societies that include people with your
background
 Search LinkedIn using keywords that describe your skills
 Talk to lots of people about their work, with an open mind

23. Identify and Research Options by
Networking
 Networking events
◦ SDBN, AWIS, professional societies…
◦ Great opportunities to talk to wide range of people
 Informational interviews
◦ Meetings in which you ask someone about their career
◦ Best used once you have some ideas about what you might want to do
◦ More on Informational Interviews in a minute….

24. Evaluating Ideas
 Figure out what is important to YOU
◦ Academia is a culture, and like all cultures, it has a set of values
◦ You have absorbed those values
◦ Need to determine what YOUR values are
 Use career counseling tools
◦ Career values inventory, e.g. www.heinz.cmu.edu/download.aspx?id=81
◦ Writing a “career story,” identifying favorite and least favorite things in each
position, what made you feel successful, what made you feel bad
◦ Consider using a career counselor/coach
 This is hard- be gentle with yourself!

25. Chart the Path
 Your survey may have turned up ideas that you can’t reach right
away. That’s OK.
 You may have multiple possible paths. That’s OK, too.
 Look for the positions that will get you on the right path
 Use networking to fill in details
 Remember, your first job is not your forever job!

26. Be Open to Serendipity and Change
 Don’t get too attached to any one path
◦ You may start on a path and determine it isn’t actually right… and change
again. That’s OK.
◦ Once you’re out of academia, new paths may become apparent.
◦ There is always an element of luck.
 Find the balance between planning ahead and living in the present
that works for you.
 Don’t be miserable short term in hope of long term rewards.

27. Build a Network

28. Principles of Networking (I)
 Build your network before you need it
 99% of networking contacts should be about gathering (or sharing)
information, not about specific jobs
 Make sure you are ready to communicate effectively
◦ Be ready to say where you’ve been and where you’re going
◦ No bitterness or snark
◦ Avoid badmouthing anyone – it is a small world
◦ You’re making business contacts, not bosom buddies

29. Principles of Networking (II)
 People are more likely to risk their own reputation and recommend
you for a specific job if they have had multiple contacts with you
 The most useful recommendations come from people who can
speak to your skills
◦ Keep in touch with former colleagues
◦ Volunteer on committees

30. Ways to Build a Network
 Networking groups
 Conferences
 Informational Interviews
 Online tools

31. Effective Networking (I)
 Help your new contact help you by having a good “elevator
speech”
 The elevator speech:
◦ Summarizes what you’ve done
◦ “I am finishing my postdoc in Dr. Jones’ lab at UCSD, studying optimal reed selection for underwater
basketweaving…”
◦ Explains where you want to go
◦ “…I am interested in applying my knowledge of reed selection and weave techniques to industrial
basket development, and am particularly interested in basket trials.”
◦ Is concise. This isn’t your life story.
 Let’s practice!

32. Effective Networking (II)
 Have a goal or direction for the discussion to help you overcome
the inevitable awkwardness
 Examples
◦ Looking to hear about a new career path
◦ What is a typical day like for you at work?
◦ How did you get from graduate school to where you are now?
◦ Looking for career development advice
◦ I’m interested in industrial basketweaving, but don’t have much experience in reed selection. Do you
have any suggestions for how I can learn the basics?

33. Informational Interviews
 Useful for expanding your network and exploring new career
possibilities
 Most people will be happy to help- but always give people a
graceful “out”
 Look for potential interviewees:
◦ Via your career center
◦ Via your alumni office(s)
◦ LinkedIn: search your second level network
◦ Local networking events

34. Effective Informational Interviewing
 Come with ~5 questions ready
 Let the conversation evolve- and listen carefully to what your
contact tells you
 Always follow up with a thank you email
 Consider sending a LinkedIn request, too, but send it promptly and
don’t be offended if it is declined

35. Online Methods
 Best as supplements
 LinkedIn
◦ Keep your contacts organized
◦ Search for “friends of friends” who are great sources for informational
interviews
 Twitter and blogs
◦ Real relationships take time to develop
 Be respectful of people’s time and your friends’ social capital
 The internet IS real life. Behave accordingly.

36. Additional Resources (I)
 My book: Navigating the Path to Industry
◦ http://annorlundaenterprises.com/books/navigating-the-path-to-industry/
 Other Books
◦ The classic: What Color is Your Parachute
◦ For people with a lot of interests: Refuse to Choose, by Barbara Sher and
The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine
◦ Many more… don’t assume general career books won’t help

37. Additional Resources (II)
 Online resources
◦ BiochemBelle’s posts on her career change:
http://biochembelle.com/2015/01/26/changing-course-part-5-asking-
answering-the-tough-questions/
◦ List of resources from BiochemBelle: http://list.ly/list/Z1V-finding-your-
career-path
◦ List of resources from Jen Polk, a career/life coach focusing on people with
PhDs: http://fromphdtolife.com/resources/
◦ myIDP from AAAS: http://myidp.sciencecareers.org/
 Career counselors/coaches

38. Keep in Touch
 Find me on Twitter at @melanie_nelson
 I blog at BeyondManaging.com
 I write a newsletter about bootstrapping a company:
https://tinyletter.com/foundingchaos