Updated May 25, 2021. I have a PhD and can’t get a job! What’s wrong? Check out my book about leaving academia– Doctoring: Building a Life After a PhD—read the first chapter for free on Amazon. When I finished my PhD, I jumped into a
Updated Apr. 20, 2021 Quitting academia after my PhD was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It took a tremendous toll on my physical and mental health and, worst of all, was extremely lonely. Like many PhD students, I was in denial. I
Updated May 24, 2021 Is a PhD worth it? Should I get a PhD? A few people admit to regretting their PhD. Most—myself included — said that they don’t (I wrote about why in this post). But we often say we don’t regret stupid things
I never thought I would be leaving academia after a PhD. I loved academia. I talk to PhD students all the time who tell me that they want to work outside of academia. I never envisioned it. I had what I call a tenure-track vision
Updated 12-03-2020 This is a follow-up to the first post on great PhD careers: “3 Amazing and Well-Paying Career Paths for PhDs.” These two posts are an introduction to some alternative careers for academics, and the options here are broad enough that almost any PhD
Last night, I put a call out on Twitter for people’s top questions about post-PhD work (specifically non-academic). I got some really good questions about post-PhD work, and I’ll try to answer them here. For a few of them, I’ve rephrased the question. I hope
On a cold December morning, I was in the back of a taxi on the way to Schoenefeld Airport in Berlin. The sun hadn’t yet risen over the red roofs. We were on our way to London for Christmas. My kids had gone back to
There was a piece of advice that I heard again and again during my young life, long before I ever thought about doing a PhD and certainly long before I thought about leaving academia. “Get a good job with a pension.” If there was academic
Updated May 31, 2021 I’ve now worked outside of academia for three years, and I’ve realized that research careers are EVERYWHERE! I’ve been paid to research for most of my career so far. So I’m always puzzled when people with advanced degrees think that the
Early one Friday morning, I was driving into the east end of London, Canada. The sun was in my eyes as I cranked Death Cab for Cutie—Marching Bands of Manhattan, and I was shaking with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. After months of studying
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