Learn the basics for a career transition from research into business &
get to know companies which hire people with a doctor title!
0:00
Transitioning your career from science into business. All right, ready, set, go. But how?
Welcome to your 10-step plan to transition your career into business. And the good news is you've already made the first step. Or if you haven't, go back to Episode 0001, where we shared how to check your readiness to leap out of science (15 factors that you need to consider to reflect before you leap into business).
And maybe if you're there, also check the episode 0002 where I share my benefits of having done a PhD as a mom, a professor and as a business owner. So, this way, you maybe have something that you can aspire to because you do a PhD at the moment.
So, from now on, I'll be assuming that you have listened already to Episode 0001.
So, what are the 10 steps to transition your career into business?
1) Check that you are ready to leap out of science.
2) How to build your sustainable LinkedIn?
So, most of the PhD say: “I am afraid to start posting, to start being active on LinkedIn. And I totally get it. It's totally different to science communication in general and academia. But also, it's totally different to communication and networking / posting on TikTok and Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or whatever. So, it's a huge different world.
But the only thing is, if you seriously want to leap from science into business, then LinkedIn is the place to be. But why? Well, LinkedIn is the platform, globally, where experts, recruiters, people in business leaders, business owners, and everyone who makes business is probably active.
Either they are having a voice and they post a lot (the minority), or they like and comment as passive consumers of the content of the people I just mentioned (majority).
And you don't have to pay for an account. You can also use a free account, just like me: I do have a free account to this date. But you can use that to foster your career, because you can show that you're open to work. Or you can also have a business account, if you are a company, maybe one day later. And also, there are accounts for recruiters and also for sales people.
So, when you look at this demographic that is probably older, more advanced in their careers. They probably (represent) the key people (not all of them, obviously), but some of them might be the key people that you can ask for informational interviews.
Or who can be role models for you so that you can emulate some of their business behavior. So, with knowing that you should now check the industries and also the business roles that you are interested in and look for these industries, companies’ business roles, etc., type that in into the search bar and find the people who are currently representing this company or do this role.
And there you have the first people that you can follow. So, how can you follow? Well, the initial step is to open an account and again, you don't have to pay for that. You can have a free account and that is enough to get you going.
And when you open the account, you can see that you can insert a photo of you and also that should look like your new aspirational identity, right. So, your professional identity that you want to achieve after leaping into business. That's the photo that should be making this point.
And there's also the CV-like section. Here's the big warning: Please do not just copy and paste from your academic CV into the LinkedIn profile. That's totally boring. And also, it doesn't tell potential recruiter or a potential contact anything about you. So, try to find information that is relevant for those you want to network with. Well, and if you don't have an idea, how to fill that in, you can check out my LinkedIn profile.
I'm Professor Dr. Eleonore Soei-Winkels. You can look it up and then you see all my CV entries.
3) How to read and network in social media?
So, while I mentioned all the other platforms, which are more fun like TikTok or Instagram, I have to say, the place to be is LinkedIn. You should then identify and follow informative patterns of key people's activities.
So, earlier on, I said you have to identify companies, industries, roles, then you will find the people you need to follow. For maybe a couple of months down the road, get used to follow them and then see whether their posts their comments, everything what they articulate and voice, whether that aligns to your values.
Whether you would love to work there in their organizational culture.
4) How to research your favorite jobs and employers.
So, there are many points of view how you can tackle that question, but the best is to go from you inside to outside. So, inside is what are your transferable monetizable skills. And if you have no clue, go back to the episode 0001, where I explain why your transferable skills need to be monetizable to be attractive for a business recruiter.
And you can check your transferable and monetizable skills and then see, where and what are the jobs that need these skills? And the other direction is; what's the outside perspective. What is the future of work? What are the industries, the companies, the roles that will survive in this future?
Remember, you are the future doctor who means business!
In this context, you might want to listen to episode 0004 on the future of work for new PhD holders in business:
And you need to find the best next, not the ultimate, but the best next match between the outside and the inside perspective. And even if a lot of people are going in this direction or another direction, you have to still find your own way out of science. And this leads to question number five.
09:50
5) How to do informational interviews to get insights?
Well, the question is really how do you get these insights that will inform your job application, so that you know this is the industry, company and role for you.
And you can’t just ask a random person that you have just connected via DM or you're just followed for a couple of days on LinkedIn and ask that person to do an informational interview for 30 minutes or so.
You have to ask yourself, whether you would love to have this kind of request. And you probably will say “it doesn't feel okay”. You are probably asking them to reserve some of their precious time. I mean, remember they're doing business. So, it's precious, valuable time on their side and what is in it for them?
You need to build relationships first, before you can ask them for a favor of doing an informational interview for you. Let's move on to the question number six.
6) How to create your customized application?
It is really offensive for a business recruiter to read applications that are not customized for the company and for the role. And to be honest, I don't even think that you will make the cut between the robotic recruiting and to the human side.
Because the robotic recruiting is powered by natural language processing and if your cover letter and your CV and everything that you submit is not tailored, not customized towards the role, job description, the company, then it will probably have a low matching score and then your application will be automatically sorted out before it will be placed on the desk or on a computer of a human business recruiter. So, what else can you do?
You need to examine and also court your preferred employers because even if you are applying within consulting, then there are a couple of consulting companies and they all pride themselves to be different. And if you can't grasp what the difference is, and reflect on that you are the one who wants to make them making the difference, then you probably won't win. At the end of the day, you have to make them want you in their company. So, let's check out number seven.
Want to learn how to use ChatGPT for customizing your CV, cover letter and even your principal investigator's recommendation letter for you?
7) How to prepare your thesis from a business point of view?
Well, you need to be able to have an elevator pitch like an one minute explanation of why you did your thesis and what were the major outcomes relevant for whatever whoever, especially in the business context.
So, you need to have an executive research summary and this elevator pitch can be based on your executive research summary. That will be like one page of explaining. That is science communication at its best. So, you have to be explaining why your research is relevant for the society for the business and whatever.
Let's assume that you are successful in the first steps of your job application process. You have handed in our submitted your CV and your cover letter. You went through robotic recruiting and also convinced a business recruiter to invite you for your first interview. And this is the point where you will be glad that you have your executive research summary with all the practical and business implications ready before you need it.
I can reassure you that the moment that you receive an invite, your brain goes blank. Now it really is on you to step forward to get the job. And that's why you probably don't have the time and also the mental capacity to rewrite your executive research summary, right? Okay, on to question number eight.
8) How to apply to your favorite employers?
So, if you are just like me, you probably have your favorite employers. If you are leaving academia, if you're leaving science, what you have worked so hard for, then at least you want to leap into that one company. And that's the last company you should apply into. Why?
Well, when you learn a new skill and that is job application in business at the moment, when you're learning a new skill you still have your training wheels. You don't want to and you probably can't impress your favorite employer on your training wheels.
So, this is why you have to reverse engineer your job application process. You can have a reverse order of application order: You can have dry runs with the least favorite companies, so that you can practice with lower stress levels to later perform well when you have to. And if you have followed all my previous points, chances are great that you can now can choose and that's number nine.
Wait, you aren't sure, whether your CV, cover letter are ready to be submitted to an employer? You don't know, HOW to do mock-up job interview? Check, whether your grad school offers e-courses, online workshops or memberships like we do!
9) How to choose the right job offer?
What are your deciding factors and these are totally individual. It's a different setting for you, as a person who is free, have no liabilities, have no obligations.
Whether you are the breadwinner, or you are not the breadwinner. Whether you are a little bit more advanced in your age or you're still free to go somewhere else. Whether you are a mom or whether you are pregnant, or whether you have your family obligations that will maybe also be decisive for you.
And that's why you need to figure out what's important for you.
Within academia, you've probably always had limited contracts and also not well paid. Low salaries and stuff like that. But it is different and you have to make up your mind with regards to what is aligned with your vision of life (see Episode 0001, How to check your readiness to leap out of science, question 8 on vision of life).
10) How to prepare for your new job?
Now it's time to prepare for your new job. So, clear your mind and let go. Leaving academia means that you will change profoundly because if you are just like me, you probably have identified yourself as a scientist, as a researcher.
That has been always something that you know, at least for a couple of years your identity, and that's why you need to let go of that. Letting go of something that is not serving you, is totally hard, because you've maneuvered yourself into that situation. And now you're leaving and you cannot start a new job, with having a clouded mind, and that's why you need to let go.
The best tip I can give you is to rest and also maybe do a holiday, if you can afford it. Doing a holiday will help you to have a clear cut between the old professional and the new professional life.
And then you also should start to digest relevant info for your new job. That is through your network in LinkedIn maybe where you find the information: all the current obstacles & the challenges that the industry & company is facing.
So, networking in person: maybe they already have a summer fair or summer party or all these social gatherings in person. Being there will help you to jumpstart in your new job.
But if you want to dive into that, academic networking and business networking are totally different. And I have e-courses on that on our platform: So, just let me know whether I can serve you there.
But essentially, networking is your key to find the right people as your role models so that you can ask them the right questions for your information interview so that you have an informed decision making for your job application.
That's why it's so important that you do the networking way before you start to apply for a new job in business.
And did you know that I offer deep dive courses, workshops and memberships at graduate school, maybe also at yours in the future, as your graduate school coordinator, whether they want to book my services so that I can deliver them to you 24/7 365 on your mobile device.
But if your grad school isn't yet our customer, and you need me to guide you in your leap into business asap, the PostdocTransformer Bundle is for you!
Need money to invest into your career transition? How about helping us get booked at your grad school, and earning a current 50 % sales commission?
Summary: So, there you have it. These are the 10 steps to transition your career into business.
1) How to check your readiness to leap out of science?
2) How to build your sustainable LinkedIn profile?
3) How to read social media and network in social media?
4) How to research your favorite jobs and employers?
5) How to do informational interviews to get insights?
6) How to create your customized applications?
7) How to prepare your thesis from a business point of view?
8) How to apply to your fear and employers?
9) How to choose the right job offer?
10) How to prepare for your new job?
If you want me to hold you accountable, then enroll in my free email course, so that you get 10 email lessons with step-by-step instructions. And you can convert these emails into your calendar appointments, so that you can work through them as you can.
So, in closing, invest in your doctorate according your vision of life.
Remember, you will manage your PostdocTransformation!
Thanks for listening,
Eleonore and Team PostdocTransformation!
P. S. We are so curious, what were your thoughts while listening to this episode? If you found any value in this episode, record a greeting and include your country!
We are so amazed about the countries of our show audience:
Germany (ok, that's our home), Australia, USA, India, UK, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Pakistan, South Africa, Netherlands, Kenya, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, France, Guam, Indonesia (my parents's home), South Korea, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Japan, Rwanda, Kenya, Finland, Tanzania.
PostdocTransformation Show mug (buy 1 or get 3 for FREE)
Yeah, you are a grateful listener of our PostdocTransformer Show!
Do you want to support us in our mission to support underserved, underrepresented and underprivileged early career scientists in leaping into business?
Well, then get 3 mugs for free (we cover the costs and shipping), and you place them at your grad school and/or lab kitchen for your PhD peers. Just enter "3mugs" and "freeshipping" and you'll get a 100% discount. Thank you for investing your time into our PostdocTransformation!
