PhD Transition Report On-Demand

In this week’s episode…

If you know anything about networking, you know it’s important. 

Maybe you’ve done a little bit of it yourself. 

Maybe you’ve started to build a network of professional connections. 

You know that networking is the process of establishing mutually beneficial relationships. 

But did you know that the kind of network you’re building matters? 

Your contacts all fit into categories based on your career trajectory. You need to leverage different ones to accomplish different things. 

Business experts classify networks into three categories: operational, developmental, and strategic. 

As a new job seeker, you’re most likely focused on building a strategic network right now. 

This category of connections are people who can help you get hired or get promoted. 

These people help you define what goals you want to work toward and how you can succeed.

An operational network, on the other hand, is made up of people who can help you do your current job well. 

These are peers that you respect and people that you work with. 

They’re stakeholders from other departments, people outside the company that you may partner with to do your job, and team members that you work with directly every day. 

While your operational connections may not be able to help you grow into your next career, they do support you where you’re at now and depend on you to some degree. 

A third type of network, developmental, are a combination of social contacts and trusted colleagues. 

These are people that you can trust. 

You may feel able to call on these connections to discuss a wide variety of things. 

These connections are who you think of when you need to turn to someone for advice, and maybe even to vent about your frustrations. 

Their career may have had a similar trajectory as you, and their insights may be of value as you navigate your own path. 

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post What Kind Of Network Do You Want To Build? appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

For PhDs, working while you complete your degree is almost never an option. 

Your research and publication take precedence over…well, just about everything. 

But when you graduate, that Experience section on your resume suddenly feels very empty. 

There’s a workaround to this – a kind of on-the-job experience that you can get at big-name companies you’d like to work for.

The schedules are flexible, and the work provides a great opportunity to network with professionals already working in industry. 

I’m talking about volunteering.

This can be a great way to demonstrate your value to employers on your time and gain valuable industry experience. 

You might think that you don’t know where to start, and may even question how useful volunteer experience can possibly be. 

Employers promote volunteerism among their employees for a lot of reasons. 

For one, it’s a great opportunity to demonstrate the company’s brand and its value – both to customers and also to investors and shareholders. 

Volunteering also acts as a tool for recruitment and talent attraction – who doesn’t like the idea of working with a company that gives back? 

If you have a company in mind that you’d like to work with, start there. 

Some companies have opportunities to volunteer with them directly. 

If so, apply and treat your volunteer experience like a job. 

Be punctual, be personable and try to make connections with the people you come into contact with. 

Check the company’s site for press releases or news about their giving projects. 

Make it a point to volunteer with the same organizations they do if you can’t volunteer directly with your employer of choice. 

You can then leverage the contacts you meet while volunteering or the experience of volunteering itself as a reason to connect with professionals at your target company. 

“Hey So-and-So, I see we both volunteered with Red Cross this year” or “Hey, we met volunteering this weekend with the Red Cross.” 

You can use this as a reason to build and nurture a relationship. 

“Is this your first time working with this organization? Maybe I’ll see you at the next event.” 

Sometimes job leads can fall directly into your lap if you’re talking to the right person. But don’t go into your volunteer experience expecting a job. 

You need to be sure that you’re earnest and genuinely interested in giving back. 

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post Volunteer Your Way Into A Job appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

Would you rather apply to 50 jobs and get 2 interviews or apply to 10 jobs and get 3? 

Tailoring your resume is the trick to getting better results in your job search. 

You should be updating your resume and cover letter every single time you apply for a job. 

It’s the only way you can be sure a hiring manager is actually going to lay eyes on your application at all. 

Now if you’re like me when I first started my job search, you probably think that sounds unrealistic, right? 

Writing a resume is way too time-consuming for that. 

But it really isn’t. 

You’re looking at 15 minutes, max, to make those changes, and very little effort, if you do it right. 

If you don’t, you risk your application being muted or rejected by applicant tracking systems and never seen by the company you were so excited to work for. 

Creating a targeted resume boils down to keyword research. 

Keyword research is the act of pulling keywords from a job listing and using those words or phrases in your resume, word for word. 

You want to use key phrases and single words that you see as central to the job requirements to mirror what an employer is looking for in your resume. 

The best place to start is at the beginning. 

The first items they mention in their job listing should be some of the first items you mention in your resume. 

You also want to make sure the job title you’re applying to is at the start of your resume. 

Even if you haven’t worked as a Data Scientist, if that’s your career goal then you should work in “relevant to this Data Scientist role” or similar at the top of your resume. 

This is not dishonest or misleading – this is what employers expect. 

They’re looking for specificity. 

They only want to hear about the things they put on the job posting and how relevant you are to those things. 

Nothing else matters to them. 

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post Target Your Resume In 15 Minutes appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

Sometimes less is more – that’s why statistics stick. 

Facts and figures can package complex ideas neatly. 

Which is why today I’m going to focus on key numbers that capture what’s at stake when it comes to your resume. 

These statistics come from Top Resume, Zety and LinkedIn. 

One. 

One is the most common answer to the question “How many people are you hiring for this role?” 

The average corporate job posting gets approximately 525 applications and resumes per job posting (but also up to 2,000 for large companies), but there is only one person who ultimately gets hired. 

Two. 

Two is the percentage of resumes received by employers that will result in an interview. 

That means that of those 525 applicants, only 10 human beings are likely to get a call for an in-person interview. 

The reason for this is not that there are 515 unqualified applicants.

The reason is that Applicant Tracking Software is relatively affordable and used by every Global 500 company. 

Three.

Three out of four companies use ATSs to help companies find candidates. 

This software uses keywords and other metrics to weed out candidates that don’t look like a great fit on paper.

Four. 

Quality of hire is reportedly four times more important for recruiters than the cost per hire to the company. 

After the losses that came along with the Great Resignation, employers are giving real thought to how to find and retain top talent. 

That means that tailoring your resume is absolutely critical to being selected for an interview. 

Five. 

Five out of every ten resumes are discarded without being read if they contain spelling errors. 

Proofreading and spell-checking documents is a very preventable way to make sure that your hard work and experience don’t go unnoticed by employers. 

Use the spell check feature built into your word processing program, sites like Grammarly, or – better yet – a friend with a red pen and a few minutes to spare.

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post 10 Important Resume Stats For PhDs appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

Academic life is often celebrated as noble and fulfilling, but there’s a darker side to academia. 

Depression, isolation, stress, and uncertainty plague PhDs. 

Authority, time management, work/life balance, and motivation are common setbacks. 

Sadly, many PhDs suffer long-term from the toxic effects of years spent in academia. 

But to succeed in industry, you must stop seeing yourself and your future through an academic lens. 

First, stop feeling like there’s never enough. 

Not enough funding, not enough time, not enough skills. 

The stress of always dealing with resources in short supply breeds what’s called a scarcity mindset. 

Scarcity mindset can push you into making poor decisions based on the fear of sinking even lower – decisions like taking a low-paying postdoc or adjunct position because you haven’t had any luck with your job search yet. 

This sense of scarcity will disappear once you break away from the exploitative cycle you’re trapped in. 

Stop looking at all the barriers, and instead, focus your attention on the one hundred million plus companies that could be hiring you. 

And yes, that’s an actual number of companies, located in the U.S., that are hiring PhDs like you. 

Second, start thinking about success as more than your publications. 

In academia, we’re taught to create goals centered around publications. 

But publishing doesn’t mean much in industry. 

In industry, you’ll be working with a team of people who are all focused on a shared goal – one that helps solve a larger problem. 

To succeed here, you need to shake the “what’s in it for me?” mindset. 

Instead, focus on the big picture. 

Ask yourself, how can I work cross-functionally in this organization to help achieve its 5-year corporate strategy? 

Third, stop believing that your colleagues are your enemy. 

In academia, everyone is your competition – at least everyone is a trained reviewer ready to pick apart your logic at a moment’s notice.

 Feeling good about yourself? 

Finally made some progress? 

Not so fast – what about this typo? 

What about this flimsy language? 

Well, it’s really not that impressive. 

This kind of environment breeds distrust. 

If you carry on with this idea, you’ll only hamper your own growth. 

In industry, a healthy sense of competition can be motivating. 

But employees who don’t work well in a team or across departments are a burden on the company. 

Start viewing your coworkers as an asset, not as competition – and not as people whose work you should criticize instantly. 

Shift your focus on lifting others up, not on pushing them down.

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post Scarcity And Criticism In Academia (Breaking The Cycle) appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

Quantifiable achievements on your resume make the decision to hire you an easy one. 

They make you stand out as a candidate and highlight your accomplishments in a memorable way. 

Don’t believe me? 

Eye tracking studies have actually proven that employers’ eyes pause at length on numerals.

When you use these numerical values, you help make your name and what you’ve accomplished more impactful. 

Quantifiable results provide specific, measurable, time-bound accomplishments to hiring managers that demonstrate you understand the importance of prioritization and performance. 

If you already have bullet points in your resume, you’re halfway there. 

Now you just need to look for a way to make those accomplishments measurable by adding numerals. 

For instance, rather than saying that you “worked on a grant,” you could say that you “helped earn 1.2MM in grant funding.” 

This gives employers a clear idea of the scale and impact of your achievements. 

These numbers don’t have to be sky-high to count. 

You can do research that “resulted in 2 publications” or even just “2 discoveries.” 

If you have a choice between quantifying with words or numbers, always choose numbers. 

Saying you “doubled” productivity jumps off the page less when compared to “increasing productivity by 100%.” 

If you don’t have a resume started at all, you can begin building your quantifiable achievements by making a list of things you’ve accomplished. 

They can be professional or personal wins, so long as they are relevant to the job you are applying for. 

You should be making a note every time you complete a project, report, or experiment, while the results of that activity are still fresh in your mind. 

If not, you’ll find yourself trying to rack your brain for pertinent details a year after you graduate or have moved on to another job. 

If that’s the case you find yourself in, specific numbers might be a little hard to come by. 

Consider using ranges if you can’t nail down exact numbers. 

You can say you generated 5 to 6 times the data previously acquired, for instance. 

Some key metrics that employers are interested in hearing more about include financial wins, people that you’ve managed or clients you’ve helped, and rankings. 

But numbers on their own aren’t compelling enough. 

So ask yourself questions like, what were the challenges you overcame? In what way did you overcome those?

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post How To Add Quantified Results To Your Resume appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

If your resume makes it past the applicant tracking system, there’s really only one section the employer is going to read themselves. 

While this section only takes up one-third of the page, it’s where recruiters spend 80% of their time. 

What is it? 

Your professional summary. 

If you don’t have a rock-solid summary, your credentials won’t count for anything. 

Why? 

Studies show that employers won’t even read your contact information on the page until they’ve read your professional summary first to see if it’s worth knowing who you are. 

Think about that for a minute.

So, how do you capture your skills and experience in a strong professional summary? 

Start with a headline in bold that says, you guessed it “Professional Summary,” and then add three bullet points after it. 

Each bullet should follow the same format: transferable skills, niche skills, and quantifiable results. 

The very first bullet point is your one-line selling point. 

It should be a compelling statement that captures a recruiter’s attention and showcases your value using key skills, achievements, and goals. 

The transferable skills you use are also sometimes called soft skills. These are qualities that you can use in any job such as leadership skills, communication savvy, and conflict resolution. 

Your niche, technical, or specialty skills speak to what you can do.

Transferable skills namely show how you do it.

Transferable skills come first. The reason for that is when a company hires you, they know they’re hiring a person with unique traits and a distinct personality. 

The transferable skills you identify are the best way for them to find out if you work best alone or in a team, if you have experience behaving like a professional, what environments suit you best, if you can manage a project effectively, if you can prioritize your work well, and so on. 

Choose these transferable skills with purpose. Niche skills, such as ethnography, next-generation sequencing, or flow cytometry, are your specialties. 

You’ll pull these directly from the job description and build your bullets around them.

They’re important because they let employers know that you have X, Y, and Z skills that will allow you to hit the ground running in their organization. 

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post Your Summary Is Killing Your Odds Of A Callback appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

The economy is contracting, and it’s taking the job market along with it. This means you’ll face even tighter competition in the months ahead. 

But with a more tactical approach to your job search, you can still stand out to employers who are being extra-selective. 

The first strategy may seem obvious but it’s also overlooked: you need to commit. 

You need to commit to researching companies, commit to tailoring your resume, commit to networking – and commit to your job search as a whole. 

If you aren’t, employers will sense this.

They look at up to 100 resumes a day, reach out to up to 1,000 potential candidates a day – yes 1,000 thanks to automated tools – and do up to 10 interviews a day. 

They know when you’re just making stuff up as you go, are unprepared, or aren’t 100% into the role at hand. 

So, take the time to understand the trends and expectations in your field. 

Demonstrate, by your actions and also in the answers you prepare for interviews, how your values align with the company’s. 

Putting in the work at this stage is critical to landing interviews and impressing employers – especially during times of economic uncertainty.

Second, practice your interview skills. A lot. Most interviews are performed remotely now, so it’s important to be prepared to use tech. 

Make sure your camera and microphone are set up and working. 

It can feel a little less urgent to dress professionally when your outfit isn’t visible from the waist up. It’s still important to take every interview seriously.

Practice the interview beforehand and even try to get a hardline Wi-Fi connection. 

If you can’t manage your internet connection, why would an employer let you manage anything else? 

And dress the part head to toe. According to studies, including a recent one by Scientific American, dressing in business attire head to toe actually leads to better performance and a higher degree of abstract thinking.

You should be aware of your body language too. Sit straight, speak clearly, make eye contact, and try not to fidget. Here’s a pro tip: record practice interviews and self-identify any areas where you feel like you’re coming up short.

Third, broaden your job search during a recession. 

You may have been focused on one area of research in academia, but your PhD has prepared you for a variety of high-paying careers in industry. 

Consider positions that allow you to use your transferable skills, such as sales, marketing, or data analysis. 

Thinking outside the box can have unexpectedly positive results. 

Most PhDs are surprised to learn that there are many more jobs they are qualified for.

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post Recession-Proof Your Job Search appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

Many PhDs think that having a gap in their work history is an instant red flag for employers. 

This might have been true 10 years ago, but taking a break is not as verboten as it once was. 

A recent LinkedIn poll revealed that a whopping 62% of employees have taken a break in the past five years, and 35% have plans to. 

The last few years have created major shifts in the way people work, and tested what the workforce can and can’t work through. 

It ultimately revealed to employers that there are many reasons you might have a gap in your work experience. 

Some left work or school to assume the role of a caregiver. 

Others needed to relocate due to job loss or housing changes. Others still were suffering from fatigue and burnout and hit pause before they self-destructed.

And, during this time of shifting priorities and unprecedented change, employees found themselves thinking about what really matters most to them. 

Many workers left their industry positions, and some still haven’t gone back to work.

The good news is that, with the major shifts in the workforce that the Great Resignation spurred, employers are much more focused now on employee retention than they are on a gap in your resume. 

In fact, if you take the right approach, you can even cast your career break in a positive light. 

Companies like LinkedIn are making it easy to be transparent with employers. 

They rolled out a feature recently that allows members to spotlight career breaks in their profile. 

Users can indicate when a career break occurred, and even why using a dropdown menu that includes options like relocation, travel, volunteer work, career transition or full-time parenting. 

Users can also add details such as responsibilities, achievements, and skills to these sections, just like they would provide for any other work in their profile’s Experience section. 

On LinkedIn as well as your actual resume, you should identify any period of unemployment that lasted longer than 3 months and occurred in the past 5 to 10 years. 

On your physical resume, identify the break under your Experience section. 

This is the space to talk about how you reflected on your goals and worked toward them. 

Did you explore new learning opportunities? Add that in along with how many hours you spent weekly training, any certifications you earned and what skills you acquired. 

Did you volunteer somewhere? Great! Name some measurable outcomes from this experience.

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post If You’re Worried About A Resume Gap, You Need This… appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.

In this week’s episode…

If you’re new to industry, you might not know exactly what I mean by company structure. 

Company structure describes the way that information flows through the company to each individual department, then to each employee, and eventually to each consumer of the company’s products. 

There are many types of company structure –  Functional, Divisional, or Flatarychy, to name a few. 

Functional is the most common structure. 

It breaks up a company into departments, and each department’s workforce deals with a specific aspect of the business. 

Management decisions in this structure flow from the top, say the CEO, on down to the organization’s managers. From there, it moves down further to personnel management and junior employees. 

By contrast, a Flatarchy is a startup-inspired organizational structure. 

It replaces a more traditional chain of command like ones we see with Functional organizations. This style decreases the number of touchpoints with management and invites employees to take ownership of a department’s success. 

Regardless of structure, a company will have departments that information flows through. They might be called groups, teams, or divisions rather than departments. 

The process of information flow does have steps, but the flow of this information through a company behaves much more like a living organism than a checklist. 

Let’s say your work for a biopharma company. The Executive or Finance department is likely the department that decides what to invest in and how much. 

It’s Marketing’s job, once that is decided upon, to work with Sales to determine how to meet sales goals. 

Then it’s R&D’s job to work with Marketing to develop a product or service that is needed in the market-one with enough demand and potential profit margin to meet these goals too. 

…

** For the full podcast, check out the audio player above.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.

The post Company Structures And Departments Every PhD Should Know appeared first on Cheeky Scientist.