Daniel A. Columbus’ Post

Hey PhDs! You’re not a failure. You don’t have to start over. Your time in academia wasn’t a waste. Your career path is long. It probably winds around, gets rough at times, and branches in ways past-you never could have predicted. But no part of that path exists in isolation from what came before. You’re always building this path, always editing. You can pivot, but you don’t have to throw out your past work to do so. Some of your skills will transfer directly – I designed surveys in academia, I design surveys now. Some will need to be revised and developed a bit before they can transfer – I wrote peer-reviewed articles in academia, I had to adapt those writing skills to speak to a wider range of audiences. Some need to be broken down into their component parts before you can see how to transfer them – I built undergraduate courses in academia. I don’t do that now, but I do identify and articulate project goals, determine appropriate assessments, and use evaluation outcomes to recommend process improvements. You’re not building a new career from scratch, you’re creating your Next Draft. Next Draft LLC helps universities support the career development of PhD students. Interested in learning more about our work? Comment or DM me to set up a chat! #GradSchool #CareerServices #PhD

This time I am not "thrilled to share" with my network. No papers or great achievements to post, just a thought. I see many PhD openings all over the world. Many interesting projects, undoubtedly. However, there is a huge mismatch between the number of PhD positions offered and the limited number of Postdoc and tenure-track openings. What is the future for PhDs? Much ongoing research ends when the PhD goes to the conclusion. In this way, we often waste money, time, and knowledge, as there is rarely enough time to translate our research into something tangible and beneficial for people. Our contract ends, and the university says "Goodbye, it was a pleasure. We are gonna hire other PhDs to put into the (grinding) loop". Of course, there are alternatives to an academic career. What about PhDs working in industry? Well, here we could write a poem about it. In short, very often the potential of young PhDs is not recognised at all. We work daily with strict deadlines, we deliver reports and projects in cooperation with different stakeholders (companies, other researchers, thesis projects, etc), and we often lead and guide small groups. We are also trained to be flexible, "resilient" (algorithms seem to love this term), and open-minded. However, many companies simply ask for "working experience", as the primary selection criterion. Note: "working experience" typically means having your name linked to an established company. University jobs are often seen as irrelevant. Weird, don't you think? Brilliant future, or brilliant illusion? Who knows. #phd #job #university #industry #career

For those of you trying to forge that path

Forging a career path within academia can sometimes be a daunting prospect. The sector is full of esoteric systems and jargon – and can be confusing even to someone who has already spent years within it as a student (and long after!). Like all journeys, it’s best undertaken prepared, with as much information and visibility upfront as possible. Knowledge of the landscape is often assumed, and it can often be unclear who to ask. If you're a newly minted postdoc, considering a career in academia, or even an old-hand who still finds themselves occasionally mystified by landscape, read our blog on demystifying careers in academia for some pointers and handy links: https://lnkd.in/emdWNKF2 UK Research and Innovation University of Liverpool - The Academy

In my opinion, the most impactful legacy of an academic is their trainees (graduate, undergraduate, postdocs)... not necessarily the papers, the ideas, the knowledge, and the software. It is our trainees the ones that carry our ideas, skills, and knowledge (and generate their own!) and "propagate” them to create impact in industry, government, and academia. The impact of a trainee throughout their career can be substantial. I like to think of mentorship as a mechanism to generate and propagate ideas, knowledge, and skills. #phdresearch #science #academia

Really useful advice for early career researchers from Jan Buermann:

This blogpost (https://lnkd.in/eQrQ-Tdd) should be mandatory reading material for all Master's and PhD students! Below is a summary, but the link above has even more options for non-academic careers 👀👀🎓

1.4% people have PhD Naomi Tyrrell, PhD thank you for sharing your wisdom during the workshop on Supporting Early Researchers' Careers. It was good to learn that: ▶You are not a failure if you want to transition to industry. ▶There are many career options available for you. ▶There are not enough academic jobs for the number of PhDs. ▶More people are leaving academia by choice rather than because they can't get academic jobs. But the first step is not applying for a job! Ask yourself: What do you actually want to do? How do you want to use your skills and experience? What do you enjoy doing? Academia is one part of your life – it’s one part of who you are. Do you think of a career outside academia? #careerdevelopment #careers #researcher #academia #careerchange

I am guilty of LinkedIn-ifying my Biotechnology Business and Profession students. They take my course because they don't know what they can do after a life science degree (other than more school). I show them a variety of careers they can pursue and make them think about their personal interests and to use LinkedIn to find someone they can informationally interview. This exercise helps prepare them for a future by making decisions about whether or not to continue in school, to avoid University's herd education and to be self directed in their experiential learning. The use of the term self-expression captivated me and I struggle with how it could be applied to the life sciences where students go into labs and do the work of their professor bosses. It doesn't have to be this way, of course, but only the enlightened students (hopefully those who take my course) realize that they have the power to direct their self-expression by making good choices in their education and becoming experts and visionaries. In his book "Lynchpin" Seth Godin predicts that it is the artisans who will prosper in our hypercompetitive economy. From the scientific perspective that can mean being an expert that people go to for advice and help. A perfect example was presented in my class yesterday where a student's informational interviewee developed a technology as a student, licensed it to a company (don't know if their professor was in on that deal), which subsequently hired them to further develop it and to generate customized sales. This interviewee is a lynchpin and an example of a scientist artisan who developed their self-expression as a student.

🧐 I'm interested in an alternative academic career after my PhD, Isabelle. Is this a good idea? 🧐 Doing a PhD also helps you understand the pros and cons of the academic landscape. 🤔 What if you like academia, but you don't want to pursue a traditional career as a professor? Well, you can opt for an alternative academic career, or alt-ac for short! Research assistant, junior lecturer, outreach coordinator, working at the grant office, transfer technology office (TTO), grant administrator - all these roles are among the alt-ac positions you can find in academia. Curious about the pros and cons of some of the most common alt-ac positions? 👇 💝 Remember that your PhD programme is unlikely to adequately prepare you for a career in the alt-ac space. If you're a second-to-last or final year PhD student, I strongly encourage you to find out about these roles if this is something that interests you! 💝 Of course, this advice also applies to those interested in a career outside academia. (and since "pursuing an academic career is now the exception rather than the rule"*, this advice applies to the majority of early-career researchers) --- 👕 *yes, similar to Victoria Beckham and her t-shirt "My dad had a Rolls-Royce", I plan on wearing a t-shirt "Pursuing an academic career is now the exception rather than the rule" during the career workshops I give. --- 👋 Hi, I'm Isabelle, Captain at NextMinds, which provides tools to early-career scientists to help them navigate through #academia 💌 Interested in getting some of these tools every week directly in your inbox? Go to the "Featured" section of my profile and sign up for the NextMinds Newsletter!