Finding meaningful careers for PhDs and postdocs
“I can remember wrapping up my last year of graduate school…I can remember that feeling of being really, really lost.”
Those are the memories that Harry Thomas, PhD, Learning Engagement Strategist at The Center for Graduate Career Success shared with ASU doctoral students and postdocs on October 6, 2022 during the PFx Lunch and Learn. Those memories and the desire to provide advanced degree holders with the resources to avoid that feeling was why the CFGCS formed the PhD Career Training Platform.
Dr. Thomas and his colleague, Dr. Diane Sepa-Kishi led a discussion about the challenges that current doctoral students and postdocs are facing right now. Based on their team research of about 3,000 PhDs across the U.S., 53% worry that work and life will have less meaning outside of academia. A staggering 56% believe they will not be intellectually engaged in a non-academic job, and 9% feel they can communicate their value to potential employers.
Through a partnership with the Graduate College, ASU students and postdocs can access the PhD Career Training Platform by Beyond the Professoriate that is designed to address these concerns.
The platform allows users to follow the four stages of a successful career process:
- Evaluate: determine if a faculty career is the right fit
- Apply: writing effective documents for your job packet
- Demonstrate: navigating the interview process
- Pivot: if you decide to switch your focus
The PhD Career Training Platform includes tracks for those pursuing academic or professional careers, and participants learned about the negative assumptions that some hold about non-academic careers. Students who wonder about the career paths for doctoral degree holders in their discipline or with their values or interests can review video interviews with over 150 PhDs in a wide breadth of career sectors, all of whom have found their work engaging and meaningful.
No matter which kind of career they want — within academia or not, the PhD Career Training Platform is available for ASU students and postdocs. Through the partnership, they can also attend online workshops available this November on improving their online professional presence and preparing for a video academic job interview.
The platform is available at institutions.beyondprof.com; select Arizona State University as your institution and connect through single sign-on with your ASURITE.