Have you ever wondered what PhDs do if they don’t work as professors?
Back in December I asked my PhD Twitter followers about their job titles. Here’s the tweet:
I got hundreds of responses, from PhDs (and ABDs) across all fields, in many different countries. And yeah, a few folks work as adjuncts, postdocs, lecturers, and professors of various kinds. That’s expected.
But most are working as scientists, researchers, writers and editors, project and program managers, engineers, analysts, and more. There are plenty of senior, principal, lead, director, and other fancy job titles in the mix, too.
(I call myself a PhD career coach and educator, as well as an entrepreneur and business owner. So that’s my PhD job title situation.)
There’s a ton of variety. And it’s great! 🎨
Check out the responses on Twitter for inspiration for your own job search. Feel free to share your good news or identify PhDs you want to network with in the new year. (A couple folks already said they’d be happy to speak with PhDs interested in learning more about their careers. Take advantage!)
If you’re struggling to get a meaningful career going, I hope you’ll remind yourself that we’re still in a global pandemic (😭), the academic job market is terrible (let’s be honest), and the labour market looks nothing like what it did for our parents when they were our age (so their advice is probably crap, sorry!).
Plus, did your PhD program teach you how to get a great career going for yourself in this day and age? I hope so; for most of you, I expect it did not. 😬
So please be kind to yourself, take a breath if you need it, seek out the right strategy (check out my advice on that 😉), and then go forward at your own pace.