PostdocTransformation show for scienctists leaping into business
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Episode 0022 Shownotes
Working out your future
Are ready to work out your future after your PhD or postdoc? This episode builds on episode 4 (future of work for new PhD holders in business) and extends to how artificial intelligence and large language models will change the jobs of tomorrow, why companies' diversity, equity & inclusion efforts are important for you, the trends driving business transformation (creating opportunities for you), technology adoption and fastest growing jobs. Listen to Prof. Dr. Eleonore Soei-Winkels as she shares actionable tips for your PostdocTransformation.
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The cost of living affects you
the hardest as you seed and build
according to your vision of life
Have you ever thought about working out your future? Well, if that concept is new to you, then I invite you to listen to this episode because this one is really eminent for your own future. You know, the cost of living affects you the hardest as you seed and build according to your vision of life.
At the moment, you're probably age 25, 28, maybe 35 or so. So, this is like in the rush hour of your life ? So you're thinking of building a family, buying a house. I don't know, whatever you want to do in your life. Living is costly and you know that your PhD and your postdoc positions are probably not the best paid.
So, you need to think twice what you want to do in your future. First things first, I want to remind you that this episode is a sequel episode and episode number four [00:02:00] is on the future of work for new PhDs in business. So listen to that as well because I won't repeat myself, but instead this will be a sequel.
Now let's get back to this episode. You need to build your future proof skill set for the future work. And please do not rely on naive employers or leaders? So, academia is full of professors and postdocs who never embraced business who never had a foot in the door of business companies who never build their own businesses.
So, how would they know how the business future of work is? They don't. So don't rely on them when they say, you know, the job market is open for you and blah, blah, blah. Maybe it is, but specifically you need to check. Also, don't rely on naive [00:03:00] employers because sometimes you're applying and the employer maybe is not so much future proof or not so much future oriented.
And that means if you then jump ship from academia to these kinds of, you know, naive employers, then you will find yourself in the near future again looking for a new employer. And that's why it's so, so key that you check out your future of work options yourself.
AI changes the future of work
So let's think about. AI and how it changes the future of work. If you haven't been under, you know, a stone or whatever, you would have noticed that ChatGPT and the likes, so large language models, you know, text , image voice processing. This is the artificial intelligence that really changes and disrupts the future of work.
There will be new jobs created, jobs that we don't know today, [00:04:00] but that will require skills, AI skills, that you should hone today already. You will have augmented tasks and automated tasks, and you don't want to be working in automated tasks, you don't want to be necessarily just working in augmented tasks, but instead you want to be working in tasks that are relatively less exposed to AI.
And did you know that we offer deep dive e course workshops and memberships at graduate schools? Maybe also at yours in the future. Ask your graduate school coordinator, whether they want to book my services so that I can deliver them to you 24 seven, 365 on your mobile device.
And even better, if you get us paid by your grad school, we will pay you 50 percent recurring sales commissions.
So, you will earn money with us as we help you and your PhD besties to [00:05:00] transition into business. We can build our PostdocTransformation together.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
All right, something that I haven't mentioned in the previous episodes so far is diversity, equity, and inclusion. And even though you probably have heard me that I'm always trying to help the underrepresented, underserved, and underprivileged early career scientists, this is something that affects us in different ways, right?
So when you are a woman, when you are a woman of color, a person of color, when you are young, when you are a parent, when you have a different background, when you are, you know, the first to study the first to have a doctor title, then you definitely have different hurdles and systemic hurdles or obstacles.
And it was harder for you. And I want you to transition into business. With an [00:06:00] employer who appreciates you the way you are, who acknowledges that you had a different path, that you had a different journey. So, what I want you to do is that you seek out the diversity, equity, and inclusion focused employers because they will probably appreciate you in your intersectionality.
Right, so even if you're not LGBTIQ+ or even if you're not a woman, or even if you don't have children, yet, you will probably benefit from their DEI, you know, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, because they know that they need more people from diverse backgrounds within their workforce. You don't want to be trying to be the first to break the glass ceiling, because you don't have time to do that.
Business trends
All right. Another topic. We've got five trends, and I would say that [00:07:00] businesses have these challenges. And if you can contribute solutions to that, you'll be in safe waters. And that's why you should look out for these five trends. Number one, increased adoption of new and frontier technologies.
That really goes hand in hand with your, technology literacy. If you are an early adopter, you probably are also able to teach the existing workforce to use the new technologies. Number two. We also need to have a broader digital access?
So companies that are allowing all parts of the workforce to have a digital access are able to leverage the whole potential of the workforce and not just the ones who are digital specialists or ambassadors. Number three, broader application of environmental, social, and governance standards. I know [00:08:00] companies who get only the funding from their sponsors, if they comply to the ESG standards.
And that means those companies, are the companies that are probably more future proof than other companies. And that's why this is so important to look out for those criteria on the websites of companies that you are applying for. And number four, the rising costs of living for consumers.
You should also check out in which countries these companies are, right? So if these companies are in countries that are very expensive to live in, then you probably need a bigger salary to make ends meet or even more than that. And that's why it's also important to check out the geography of a company.
Some companies obviously are global and that means they can be in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, in the U S and that means you can, maybe if you are a globe trotter and [00:09:00] maybe if you are able to speak different languages, you can also change that. But you have to again, think about your own vision of life, whether you wanna change and whether maybe your life partner also wants to change, and whether you wanna raise your kids in a different country.
Rising costs of living in that country are certainly a factor to decide on. Number five. Some countries have slower global economic growth, so number four and five really go hand in hand. That means that you should also the future outlook of a country, so that you can choose whether you want to raise your kids in that country as well.
And now it's time to thank Company ABC who sponsors this episode of the PostdocTransformation Show. I will now be reading the company's answers to one of six bold [00:10:00] questions so that you can choose to apply. For example, number one, describe your most valuable experts versus leaders in your company.
Have they typically earned a doctor title? Number two, for whichever company roles or units do you encourage somebody with a doctor title to apply? Number three, how would you describe your organizational culture in which your most valuable experts and leaders thrive in? To nominate an employer of choice so that we can ask our own formative bold questions let us know via the click on the link.
If you are a company representative like in recruiting and employer branding. And now you want your company to be highlighted as an employer of choice for our audience. You can become a sponsor of a dedicated PostdocTansformation show episode. Just click the picture below and now back to the episode.
Technology adoption in the future
All right, another topic would be top ten technology adoption in the future. Again, [00:11:00] number one wouldn't be a surprise, digital platforms and apps. So if you are able to design and to contribute to the user experience and to, you know, help disseminate using digital platforms and apps within the workforce, you're probably an asset for the company.
Same goes for number two, education and workforce development technology. Obviously, if you can, you know, develop the personal, the workforce via apps or mentoring that, use AI, something like that, you'll be at the forefront. And the same goes for education apps. I mean, as a researcher at the moment, you're probably also teaching and you probably know that yeah, education is currently disrupted by AI as well.
Number three, big data analytics. If you are able to use your [00:12:00] R like statistical analysis or competencies, something like Python or R then this is something where you can, you know, hone in and double down and learn big data analytics as well. Number four, Internet of Things and connected devices.
Well, we all need. Internet of Things and connected devices. It's been around for quite a while and it will be the more the merrier, right? So that means that if you can again create and improve the user experience by thinking of new applications within the Internet of Things and connected devices to design them to be more inclusive, and to be more functional, then I would say you'll be a valuable asset for a company. Well, I would say the next points are probably a little bit far off. Number five, cloud computing, and number six, encryption and cybersecurity.
Well, I'm a psychologist. [00:13:00] Even I was able to work with people who are in cyber security, but I would say that obviously I didn't do the encryption. I didn't do the hard coding, something like that. But instead, I was the person who was able to sort of like teach the others to be more cyber secure, to behave differently and whatever.
So you probably have to find ways where you can use your skills while applying that in the context of encryption, cloud computing. Okay. I would say that the next one is probably more close to us, even though you probably would say not really, but let me.
Number seven, e commerce and digital trade. Most people in science would say they dislike sales, marketing but I would say that, in part, you are probably also trying to, you know, sell your idea to [00:14:00] funding institutions, right? You want more grants, right? You want to publish your data, right?
You want to get new students so that your faculty, your lab will remain in the future, right? So you also need to sell your scientific ideas in a sense that more clients or more students or more stakeholders will be convinced that this is the lab to be to invest, right? So, a little bit of sales maybe is also something that you have already learned.
And if not, scientific communication activities are a good way to, you know, Learn that at least. Number eight, artificial intelligence, and I would say that I've already talked about it at length, so I'll skip that and talk about nine, environmental management tech.
Again, when you look a t[00:15:00] businesses in their current challenges, they need to adhere to, you know, environmental, global sustainability issues, climate change and also number 10, climate change mitigation tech applies to that. So companies have to tackle these challenges. And if you can help them from your STEM background as a biologist, as a geologist as, I don't know, whatever it is.
Maybe you bring something to the table that they are able to use to develop better management technologies to improve our environment.
Fastest growing jobs
All right. So the next topic would be to think about the fastest growing jobs. So, you know, you can think of, is that maybe the right avenue for you? Or maybe if it is, but you're still lacking some skills, [00:17:00] this is probably, you know, the way forward so that you can upskill while you are still doing your PhD or postdoc.
So number one, AI and machine learning specialist. Well, obviously, if you are already working with large data sets, so you're a quant, then learning to code. It's probably something that you are already familiar with. The thing is, what kind of code? Are you learning MATLAB? Are you learning SPSS coding? You know, or is it maybe already R?
And maybe is it already Python or something like that? So depending on the languages, there are more or less complex, but maybe that is now the time to hone in and double down to learn on machine learning. You know, coding or to understand that and to look into projects and maybe also, you know, to, you know, take [00:18:00] some courses or even do the same experience using a different language so that it's not the repetition in the sense that you want to repeat the experience to confirm the hypothesis, but instead you could use a new language and redo the experience and the learning of the new language is the outcome that you have desired.
Number two, sustainability specialist. Like I said earlier in this episode, about environmental management tech, but also environmental, social, and governance standards. So, when you can contribute to these kind of things because you have, I don't know, a politics or humanities PhD that looks at These aspects from a bigger timeline or even from, you know, a bird's eye perspective, , or if you have maybe a biology or [00:19:00] physicist background where you can, you know, create some models to predict Thanks for watching.
How sustainability will look like in the near future or in the far future, then you will probably be able to contribute in companies that need sustainability specialists. And then number three, I would say that this is probably the most common playground for PhD students. So that goes hand in hand with consulting.
It's business intelligence analysts. So business is something that you probably haven't, you know, honed in before, but it should be, and it's not rocket science. The good thing is that most of the business... Concepts, ideas, models or so, are really easy to grasp. It's just different, but it's not undoable.
And if you look into business intelligence, that's probably also something that you can hone in because, if you have been working with [00:20:00] data, then looking into business intelligence data is also quite easy. And then the question really is that you are able to speak with different people from different units, sales, marketing, legal.
But essentially, analysts are the graduate entry jobs, and that's probably easiest for you to jump in. Number four is information security analysts. Well, I would say this kind of analyst is probably a little bit more advanced in the sense that you should have studied IT.
I didn't. I was working with IT security people and it was Way ahead of my understanding of IT. Number five, fintech engineers. Well, banking, the banking sector is also disrupted digitally. So fintech is really on the rise. And companies need people who understand the business side, the banking side, but also the tech underneath.[00:21:00]
So that goes hand in hand that people who are stemist, who are engineers, who are, who are prone to find them. So a lot of data, obviously, these are probably then well received also in the job market. Number six, data analysts and scientists. Well, there has been, you know, I always laugh when I look at this position because In 2012, there was an HBR review also on data scientists, the new sexy, and I would say that that hasn't changed at all
so if you are A researcher at the moment looking more on qualitative data so far, just because you like qualitative data or you always find it easier than to learn a new skill in quantitative research, then this is your sign to build data [00:22:00] literacy, because that is really agnostic, regardless of the industry, regardless of the roles, data analysts and scientists are everywhere needed in bigger companies, not so much in the small and medium companies, obviously, but as soon as you have to aggregate data.
Data analysts are needed. Number seven, which is more a specialty, robotics engineers. It's a specialty that is really exciting, but obviously you, you won't need everywhere a robotics engineer. Number eight, electro technology engineers. Similar to number seven, I haven't seen them in general.
I would say that maybe we should also skip number nine, which is agriculture equipment operators. but number 10 is a gem because it's digital transformation specialists that are needed in business, and most businesses need them.
And again, this [00:23:00] is agnostic about in what industry, in what unit of the company, Every process probably needs to be digitized and this digital transformation needs people who are able to understand the digital side of that and to understand the business side of that and also to understand the human aspects of that.
Have you found this episode so far helpful for yourself? Well, maybe you can subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or wherever you get our show. And also share this episode with your PhD bestie, because that would encourage us to help the underprivileged, underrepresented, and underserved early career scientists leaping into business.
This would also ensure that you don't miss a future episode. Also, our subscription And listening numbers are key for finding the right sponsors for our show so that we can help you for free. And now [00:24:00] back to the show.
Alright, so I would say that in this episode, we have covered a lot of things that are maybe overwhelming, but hopefully also give you an orientation for your way forward so that you can manage your own PostdocTransformation in the sense of what can you now do in your last year of your PhD or in your second year of your postdoc or whatever, or Instead of doing a postdoc, instead of doing a second postdoc, what can you now do to prepare yourself best for your career transition into business?
I can tell you that the future of work is exciting and working out your future is even more exciting.
Remember, you are a PostdocTransformer. You are highly intelligent, well educated, a bachelor, master, and maybe you have [00:25:00] already your doctor under your belt, or you are a postdoc. You are internationally experienced, fluent in English, a leader and expert in your prior research field. You're resilient, brilliant in adaptation.
You are eager to bring in the transferable and monetizable skills needed in many companies to embrace the future and to become or remain an innovator in their markets.
Do you want a transcript of our episode? And our episode sponsors answers to all six bold questions so that you can choose to apply. Do you want to nominate your potential employer of choice so that we can ask them our bold questions? For all of that, click on our links in our show notes and on our website, www.postdoctransformation.com. Remember to check your readiness to leap out of science and to enroll in our free email course career transition made simple.
All right, thanks for listening and I hope that you will watch our show and also listen to our show for the next episodes. And like I said, go back to the previous episodes. I think they have valuable insights for you.
Please ask away your career transition questions (connect with Eleonore on your preferred social), as we aim to create future episodes for our audience. We appreciate every one of you!
Until the next episode,
Cheers,
Eleonore & Team PostdocTransformation
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