Why I went straight from PhD to industry (and why it’s not failing!)
You’re in the final year of your PhD and you’re writing up your thesis, presenting at (virtual) conferences, networking, and constantly refreshing job sites. You’re looking for that perfect postdoc or maybe you’re looking at more teaching focused lectureships.
But what if that’s not what you want?
What if you’ve decided that academia isn’t for you right now?
What if you’ve decided that you want something else?
Then what do you do?
I finished my PhD and went straight into an industry job, and I LOVE IT. There, I said it. I love my job. I work with great people, doing exciting work, using my hard earned skills, and it’s not anywhere close to what I imagined myself doing.
I recently found myself in this position and I found myself torn in two directions — academia or industry. I felt like I was torn between being perceived as a success or a failure. Like I was trying to make a decision that very clearly had a ‘right’ outcome and a ‘wrong’ one. During this time I realised that many people feel this way but don’t really talk about it. I also noticed that it feels like transitioning to industry out of academia is something that’s talked about in hushed tones.
It shouldn’t be this way.
So I’ve decided to write this blog — the blog that I wish I had been able to read a year ago. Let’s go…
A bit of background
Let’s go back in time a bit. In my first year of my undergrad degree I told my research methods teaching assistant that I wanted to do a PhD. I must confess, at this point I wasn’t even really sure what a PhD was, but I knew that it meant getting to continue learning more and that was enough for me. I was lucky at this point, that person introduced me to their PhD supervisor and I got to hear more about the world of research and PhDs. This gave me a fierce drive to be one of those researchers I heard about, I wanted to be discovering cool things and teaching people new concepts.
I was lucky again (okay, I worked really really hard but I believe there’s always an element of luck), I gained entry to a funded 1+3 programme. I was able to work with an incredible mentor on a super cool project and it was all I ever wanted.
I LOVED being a PhD researcher. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some exceptional people, I’ve learnt from some of the best, I’ve gained new skills, and I’ve learnt a lot about myself and developed self-confidence. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve received and I’m a better person because of them.
Short contracts and a lack of stability
Throughout the final year of my PhD I started searching for my future job. I was looking at jobs.ac.uk multiple times per day, I had alerts set up for my keywords, and I was always keeping an eye out on academic Twitter to see what might come up.
When I was finishing up my thesis write up I took on a few short-term part-time contracts. Tutoring jobs or research assistant positions, I wanted to do everything. I wanted to show that I was dedicated, hard-working, and willing to work my little socks off to get that sought-after permanent academic job.
But I got tired. Really tired. I was working all hours of the day, trying to juggle multiple contracts and tasks, then staying up late into the night to try and also submit that pesky PhD. And suddenly I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. My brain felt tired and everything felt tedious. I felt guilty, after all I was lucky enough to be doing the things that so many other people wanted to be doing.
I felt guilty about wanting stability. After all, there have been people juggling precarious jobs long before I came along. Surely they deserve to reach that stable point before me? This is just the process that we work through to get where we want to be. After all, nothing worth having comes easy. Right?
Again, I’m lucky. I was able to sit down with people I trust and respect, from both my personal and work life. I realised that I’m in a position where I could keep going with multiple, small contracts (sometimes even several zero-hour contracts) until I could get that dream job. But I realised that I don’t want to do that.
Opening my eyes to industry
I started looking at industry jobs alongside my normal academic job hunting. I looked jobs in science communication, data analysis, project management, to name just a few.
For a while I felt guilty, I thought that I was letting people down — after all, many of those people who had invested time and energy in my training thought I would be going for a traditional academic job. Would they be disappointed if I didn’t do that? Would I be being ungrateful?
For too long industry jobs have been seen as a back up plan by many. That thing you consider if you can’t get a job in academia. But this just isn’t true. I didn’t fail to get an academic job. I CHOSE to find a job that uses my skills in a different way.
As people with PhDs we have amazing skill sets. We can communicate complex topics in varying ways to different audiences. We are great at critical thinking and formulating arguments. We can collaborate with peers and lead teams. We are fantastic organisers and are top notch at managing projects. We are adaptable, resilient, and generally pretty badass. Honestly, we’re amazing!
Once I considered the skills I developed during my PhD, I realised that there’s a whole world of opportunities out there. I found myself getting excited about job hunting again!
My transition to industry
In November I was offered a job at Gorilla, the online experiment builder. For the first month I kept wondering if I did the right thing; I was worried that I had closed doors that I could never open again. But I very quickly realised something — I am EXCITED to start work each day. I get to learn new skills about marketing and new ways of writing, and almost every day I get to speak to researchers about the cool science they’re doing. It’s like my favourite parts of academia, but I don’t feel bad about closing my laptop at the end of the work day. Plus I feel like I’m actually making a positive difference to researchers lives and I’m proud of the work we’re doing.
I have had time to reflect on the things that really matter to me — 1) I want to work from home and have some flexibility, 2) I want to do exciting work, and 3) I want to remember what it’s like to have guilt-free weekends.
Now please don’t get me wrong, these things can be possible in academia too. Many people are starting to fight back against the ‘always-on’ culture, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet.
I am happy and I’m doing work I really enjoy. I’ve got a stable income, and I’m no longer worried about sudden emails of ‘by the way there won’t be any teaching for you for another month of two’ (the joys of zero hour contracts right?!).
A final note
You are the person who knows what career is best suited to your skills and what you want in life. I am not trying to tell you that a job in industry is better for you than a job in academia. I just want you to be able to consider all the options available to you with an open mind.
As I recently said to a friend of mine: ‘Think about what you want most in life and how you want to lead your life, and then keep that in mind when considering different jobs — make sure you’re picking the job best for you rather than what everyone else thinks you should be doing.’
