Skill stacking empowers academics and post-graduate students to thrive by combining diverse skills, expanding career prospects, and making a broader impact in the working world.
Category: The Industry Mindset
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What can I do with my PhD?
At some point we all google or search ‘what can I do with my PhD?’, only to be met with unhelpful advice and non-specific guidance. To really understand what we can do with our PhD we need to think about our careers differently and break the mould of academia.
Academia often puts our lives on hold. We don’t usually get to think about or even choose where to live. As we approach the end of academia, we get to re-set and intentionally choose where to live based on our own happiness.
Landing a promotion in the workplace is often seen as the benchmark for success. However, most academics don’t approach this in the right way. To help achieve a promotion it’s important to leave our feelings at the door, keep the conversation open, and to start the discussion as early as possible.
Academia is often siloed and a lonely journey. Knowing how to foster your career visibility in the workplace doesn’t come naturally to academics and PhDs. It’s an important skill to learn and develop when outside of academia. It will be essential to supercharging your career progression.
Being a manager isn’t as straight forward as it seems. Having adept interpersonal skills to foster support and develop those around you is essential. As you progress up the ladder it’s important to think about your manager shadow – how others perceive you, model and emulate your behaviour.
Remote working has become increasingly easier to find, with it being a strong selling point for employers. This perk is not to be underestimated. If used correctly, remote working can drastically improve your quality of life in as many ways as you can imagine.
Throughout our academic journey, it’s easy for our career to be the reason we get up in the morning, thus we start living in order to work. However, a new perspective of working in order to live may encourage you to explore other opportunities, leading to a better routine and happier lifestyle.
Nobody likes to read or study about a pension. However, our PhD and studying years typically set us back in understanding and growing our pension, so it’s imperative we get to grips with it post-PhD and begin to understand and define a strategy that sets us up for success throughout our career.
We all fall victim to complaining and moaning about our careers at some point. This is a concern if it becomes a regular pattern we find ourselves in. Rather than accepting this we must take ownership over the situation and make choices that move us towards our happiness.