I’ve spent the last few weeks overhauling my LinkedIn page! 🛠

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!

Here’s what I changed in each section and why: 1. Profile and Background Photos

The goal of this overhaul was to make my profile more professional, polished, and cohesive.

These pictures set the stage, with simple design and grayscale backgrounds that help my image, name, and role callouts pop..

Moving from academia to an #AltAc role is hard, and it’s totally okay to make mistakes along the way!

But it’s even better to avoid mistakes from learning from others’ 😊

So learn from mine! Here’s some mistakes I made, and what I plan to do instead moving forward: 1. I rushed the process

I was desperate to leave academia when I decided my future was outside of it.

So I didn’t spend enough time reflecting on what I wanted in a role, polishing my resume, etc.

Moving forward, I will take my time on these and make future moves deliberately.

Let’s talk compensation! 💰

I didn’t understand many financial terms when I left academia, which made it hard to negotiate my salary and understand my comp packages. Empower yourself by learning about this!

Here’s a primer on stock options, vesting, and all the other $$ stuff: 1. Base Salary

This is the minimum amount of money you can expect to earn through your job. Excludes bonuses, stocks, etc.

When people report their salaries, they’re usually talking about this number.

It’s super important to try to negotiate this up bc it’s going to impact…

“What kind of teaching-focused jobs exist outside of academia?”

I LOVED teaching as an academic and it’s the only thing I miss about being in the academy (I’m in a research-focused role).

If you prefer teaching to research, here’s some #AltAc jobs to consider: 1. Instructional Design

This role is like all of the prep work of teaching without the in-classroom element!

As an ID, I wrote content for online trainings. I truly enjoyed this role.

Storytelling is HUGE for this role, as is the ability to simplify complex concepts.

“What kind of research-focused jobs exist outside of academia?”

I get this question in 1:1 meetings a lot, so here’s a little thread with my answer: 1. Marketing Researcher

I do this! I research—mostly via surveys— how consumers and clients benefit from our products, what new features the market wants, etc. and draw insights for the sales and product teams.

See also: Market Research, Syndicated Research

Let’s talk LinkedIn!

I know a lot of you might be hesitant to use this platform (it can get annoying)

But it actually IS useful for finding an #AltAc job. And it’s not that big of a time investment.

So here’s my top 10 LinkedIn tips: 1. Build that network

Try to get at least 300 connections.

The algorithm relies a lot on your network so you’re missing out a lot without connections.

It’s ok to connect to non-work people too (but more work-related connections will be better for your algorithm).

About a year ago I started the process of transitioning to the #AltAc world!

Here’s a rough sketch of the steps I took and when, which I hope could help others organize their own transition. ☺️

I took initial steps at the end of Sept, and started my FT role in early March

1/16 End of September: Start Building Out LinkedIn network

I updated my neglected LinkedIn profile just to reflect my current role.

But my first task was LinkedIn networking . I sent connection requests to EVERYONE I knew, both from work and non-work contexts…

2/

I’m so tired of the “you knew what you were getting into” narrative when grad students/postdocs express concerns about pay/benefits.

It’s definitely dismissive and myopic. Also feels a little elitist…

1/5 Not everyone grows up with a support system to help them understand how to weigh financial decisions in their careers, or to tell them what to expect from career options.

Not everyone got accurate (or any) information about financial or job market expectations for PhDs.

2/5

Social scientists leaving academia are flocking to UX research—this is a great field! But it’s also pretty competitive to get an entry-level role bc of this popularity.

Also consider Marketing research or Consumer Insights—this is what I do. Let me tell you about it!

🧵 1/10 As a marketing researcher, I design surveys to gather perspective from our clients, experts in the field, or consumers about our products or related concepts.

I interpret the data to glean insights related to our products to support my company’s marketing and sales teams.

2/10

Woke up to 5K followers! Thank you all so much 🥰

A quick re-introduction:

I’m Nicole, I spent over 10 years in academia researching emotions, concepts, and reasoning.

A few years into my “dream postdoc” at Yale I realized that I didn’t want to be in academia anymore…

1/ I’ve battled depression, anxiety, and chronic illness (#hEDS) my whole life and the stress of short-term academic employment away from support systems took its toll on me physically and mentally.

On top of chronic pain and month-long migraines, I had to have a surgery…

2/

I often give the advice that the first step to transitioning out of academia is to reflect/learn about non-ac job options.

I want to dig into this a little… what do I mean by reflecting, and when may it be helpful?

1/ In terms of what reflection means/how to do it, it’s mostly:

1) thinking about what you like/ don’t like about your current role
2) learning about other roles you may be suited for
3) learning what other roles may offer that is important to you (location, PTO, remote, etc)

2/

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about non-ac interviews this week.

A few tips:

1. Look up a position and/or company on GlassDoor for sample interview questions and answers. Tons of content here, especially if you just search for common positions.

glassdoor.com/Interview/inde… 2. You’ll almost certainly get the “Tell me about yourself/your background” question so def prepare for this.

Come up with a good, succinct story summarizing your background/ experience. Tailor it a bit to the role, highlighting your most relevant skills.

Practice on a friend

“Why am I not getting interviews?”

There are many reasons why PhDs may be overlooked for roles. Here are a few common ones:

(Please add to thread any that I’ve missed!) 1. No Referrals: Whenever possible, get a referral when applying to a job. Your application is SO MUCH less likely to be seen without one.

Apply to jobs at companies where you know someone or network on LinkedIn/with alums to get refs.

It’s somewhat common for PhDs pivoting to non-ac jobs to feel like they “wasted years of their career” in the program.

I’ve felt this too. Here’s why/ how I calm myself down:
1/ First a why.

It can take a while to get your first non-ac job. I’ve heard of 8-12 months on the longer end of the timeline and some give up before landing a role. There can be a lot of rejection in this stage.

Many ppl struggle to translate their skills to non-ac terms… 2/

Agreed and I actually think that it’s a lot more money lost out if you don’t go straight to industry.

Factor in 401k, salary projections, opportunities for advancement. You can be missing out on $500k+ easily for 2 years of postdoc. And maybe push your retirement.

https://twitter.com/ashleyruba/status/1519310347781484546

Honestly I didn’t even consider going straight into industry after PhD and that was a huge financial mistake.

PhD stipends and postdoc salaries are pretty stagnant. In contrast, my job does raise considerations every six months. Not just inflation raises but real ones.

To any grad students still wondering how their peers can afford studio apartments, brand new cars, take-out, regular restaurant trips, concerts, fancy vacations on a grad student stipend: they can’t. They’re probably being supported by family. It’s not you unable to manage $$ Take this as a cue to stop comparing yourself to your peers. It’s a lot easier for some to meet grad school demands if they aren’t worried about money, don’t have to sustain themselves on rice and beans/ramen, can live near school instead of having a 1.5 hour commute.

I’ve had a bunch of chats this week with academics curious about industry—love to see it! My repeated advice is that the first steps in this process should be exploring options and self-reflection. Some tips for this… 1/10 LinkedIn is a great place to start—build out a network by connecting to people whose jobs sound interesting or who have similar backgrounds. Scan their profiles, job descriptions, skills. You can also search for & read job descriptions for roles that intrigue you. 2/10

Are you considering leaving academia? Here are a few simple ways to dip your toes in the 'industry' pool:

1. Create a LinkedIn Profile and network like crazy. Keep an eye out for what PhDs are doing in the 'real world.' and join groups for any the jobs that interest you. 2. Follow people on Twitter like @HelanaDarwin* @FromPhDtoLife @TheLeveragedPhD @PapaPhDPodcast who talk about how to use a PhD outside the ivory tower.

*Helana has been offering some very affordable group Zoom Q/A sessions about her transition to UXR.