Summary: PhD in 2014 at the University of Bristol, UK in experimental petrology. Got first non-academic job as a renewable energy manager within a few months of completing PhD.
Continue reading“Whatever you end up doing, it should be something you’re passionate about. That might not be what you did your PhD in and that should not be seen as a failure.”
Not all of us get jobs right away when we leave academia. I know most people do the wise thing and apply for non-academic jobs before they leave. In my case, I was just fed up, and I was in a position of privilege: I had money left over from my PhD (I know!) because I’d gotten one of those fancy Marie Curie grants, and I had enough to keep me going for a year. I also didn’t have any dependents, so I could afford to take a risk… So I left my postdoc in New York, went back to Belgium (where I’m from) and started looking for jobs. This was three months before the Covid outbreak – terrible timing. I often use Covid as an excuse for why I didn’t find a job right away, but plenty of people found work during that time. Whatever the reason, the point is: I was unemployed for a year. Here are a few things I learnt during my search. I would like to stress that this is geared to Belgium, where I was looking, and very much based on my own experience – I’m sure others will have different advice: please do share them in the comments, or get in touch to write a post!
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Summary: PhD at the University of Liverpool. Got non-academic job <1 year after PhD. Currently a Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, specializing in volcanic hazards.
Continue reading“Seek out positive role models, who you can identify with, and surround yourself with people who encourage and champion you wherever possible.”
The IAVCEI Early Career Researcher Network hosted a virtual panel discussing the transition out of academia on April 30th, 2020. Below are some common questions that were asked during the panel, with responses from panelists Fred Witham and Jennifer Wade.
1. Coming from an environment where graduates are often funneled into industry, or the very few who pursue volcanology are assumed to remain in academia; how have you overcome the potential challenges of going down a path that is not considered conventional for volcanologists?
Fred Witham (FW) – It didn’t really feel like there were many challenges, to be honest. The main one was probably that nobody within academia was advocating my career path. So, it was up to me to look around to see what I could find. Given that I wanted to stay in the same city, my scope was limited geographically. I just looked for everything within a commutable range. (And first preference was commutable by bike!)
Jennifer Wade (JW) – The only challenge I really faced was from faculty where I did my PhD who saw the non-faculty path as less valuable. I have had to remind myself that no one can choose my path but me, and I’ve tried to demonstrate back to them the value in non-academic positions (I think successfully!) To employers, I’ve always tried to highlight my skills, and not focus on my dissertation title. I demonstrate that I can use instruments, software, and I can communicate and think out problems.
2. For jobs related to geoscience/volcanology, how useful is a Masters? Unsure of whether to do a Ph.D. or not, and how useful it would be. Did you encounter any companies that did not want to hire someone with a Ph.D.?
Thinking about the future? Considering careers outside academia? Join our virtual career panel discussion on Thursday 30 April, 17:00 UTC. We will discuss a variety of career options for volcanologists with our panelists: Sheridan Ackiss (remote sensing scientist for Aerospace Corporation), Melissa Plail (senior editor at Nature Communications), Claudio Trovato (after school teacher and nature guide on Etna), Fred Witham (combustion engineer at Rolls Royce), and Jennifer Wade (Program Director at the US National Science Foundation)!
We’ll be using Zoom to host the panel on:
Apr 30, 2020 05:00 PM UTC
Register in advance at https://psu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtc-ivqTwpHNW30ETNs8Cua5XEc5aBzeZg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
If you have questions you’d like to ask the panelists, submit them by e-mail to ecrnetiavcei@gmail.com or tune in and ask them on the Zoom call!
PhD, University of Washington, 2017, magma dynamics and petrology
Many early career academics believe that they don’t have any useful skills for a different career path. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry; most of our survey responses agreed on one thing: a PhD in volcanology absolutely does provide marketable skills, what young researchers lack is the ability to market them. As one of our survey respondents says: ‘It can be difficult for a PhD student to identify the skills they have gained during their academic experience. […] From data processing to project management and communication, the transferable skills are numerous and the avenues are endless, in both public and private sectors.’
The mission of this blog is to share information on the non-academic career options available to scientists with a PhD in volcanology. As PhD students are trained by academics, recent and current students might not be aware of the many career paths that exist outside of academia. Our aim is to highlight these paths through short bios, stats on non-academic careers, and article resources.
If you have a PhD in volcanology and are working in a non-academic position, we value your advice and can learn from your experience! To participate in our project, please take the survey. For more information, please do read our “mission” page.
Personal profiles are posted below as they become available, and are sorted by job type and decision path (see menu bars).
Careers outside of academia with a PhD in volcanology 