If your PhD were a product, the job market would treat it like an unlabeled jar on a crowded shelf. You did the work, you paid the time tax, you survived the data catastrophes and the endless revisions, and yet when you walk into an interview the question is not how brilliant your methods were, it is what that degree actually means for the job you want. Spoiler, most people outside academia do not automatically translate thesis chapters into employable skills. That is not their fault, it’s yours to fix.
Here are the things I tell people who’ve finished a PhD, or are in the middle of one, and who want to make their experience count beyond the tenure track.
Treat your PhD like a portfolio. Start documenting now, not when the deadline panic hits. Write down concrete outcomes and the skills behind them. For example:
These are not humble brags, they are the contents of a real CV for non-academic roles. List them clearly and describe impact, not just tasks.
In the lab, it’s normal to say, I ran the analysis and checked the model, and expect people to be impressed. Outside the lab, that means nothing unless you translate it. Put your skills into outcomes. Instead of saying, I did fMRI preprocessing, say, I designed a robust data pipeline that reduced processing time by 40 percent and ensured reproducible results across collaborators.
You should be able to explain a complex result in one short sentence, and then expand with a couple of measurable outcomes. Practice that line. You will be surprised how rarely academics do.
Yes, an academic CV is different, but you also need a parallel document that speaks to employers. I suggest starting a one-page non-academic resume the moment you begin your PhD. Keep it updated with:
If you can’t quantify something, ask yourself how to measure it. You ran workshops, great. How many participants, what feedback did you collect, what changed afterward.
Selling is a dirty word in some academic circles, but here’s a practical truth, quoted advice included. You need to “learn how to communicate,” because “if you communicate badly, nobody is going to get behind your ideas.” That was said plainly in conversation and it’s true. Practice pitching your work, not just for grants, but for partners, users, and employers. An elevator pitch is not cheating, it is clarity.
A memorable line my old supervisor gave me at the start of a PhD stuck because it is a brutal truth, “do you get along with your supervisor? do you get along with your supervisor? do you get along with your supervisor?” It matters a lot. But don’t forget the bigger picture, a PhD is also shaped by the program and the department. If the department values only flashy publications and impact factors, you will be incentivized to play that game. If it values reproducibility, teamwork, and transferable skills, you get a different experience. Know what your institution rewards, and make choices accordingly.
You don’t have to choose between being a competent researcher and being employable. Train in project management, communication, and entrepreneurship where possible. Short courses, bootcamps, or a few workshops can go a long way. These skills are not optional extras, they are signal in the job market. Think of entrepreneurship training as a mindset shift, not a business pitch, it teaches you how to test ideas, iterate quickly, and speak to a variety of stakeholders.
Books that help frame this thinking include the lean startup for thinking in iterations, and a management framework called competing values, which highlights how different organizational cultures push different priorities. If you want inspiration for organizational design, read the book How Google Works, it’s a reminder that good hiring, and creating space for creativity, matter.
If your project produces code or tools, consider this binary: you can dump it publicly and hope someone maintains it, or you can build a sustainable model around it. Open source is phenomenal, but without maintenance the tool dies. A pragmatic approach is freemium or institutional support for maintenance. If your work has commercial potential, patents have a role. But patents should not be a vanity badge. They are a tool to secure investment and development, not a goal in themselves.
One practical rat hole is paperwork and timing. If your country funds PhDs for four years but the average project takes five, plan from the start. Talk to your supervisors, define milestones, and know what happens if you need extra time. Do not treat unpaid extensions as an acceptable default. You are not a charity, you are a professional.
You earned your PhD by solving problems that frequently look messy and ambiguous. That is your advantage. The world beyond academia loves people who can navigate uncertainty, clean messy data, and tell a clear story about results. Build your portfolio deliberately, practice speaking a non-academic language, and treat your PhD as work experience, not just a diploma. If you do that, the unlabeled jar on the shelf suddenly becomes a product with a clear description and a label that people actually want to read.
Commenting Rules: Being critical is fine, if you are being rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for your input.
Join a growing community. Every Friday I share the most recent insights from what I have been up to, directly to your inbox.
