PhD Resources > Options Outside Academia > Assessing Skills
PhD Students
THINKING “SKILLS”: CONVERTING YOUR ACADEMIC MINDSET AND MATERIALS
Marketing yourself outside of the academic setting means selling the “skills” you have acquired during graduate school and from other experiences. After you have assessed your values and priorities and decided to pursue an alternative career path, the next step is to make a list of all the skills you have gained in your education, work, volunteer, and life experiences. This process will help you begin to see that you have a number of new career options to consider – and you can be a success on the job market outside of the academy.
SELECTED SKILLS ACQUIRED IN A TYPICAL SU GRADUATE EDUCATION
Research /Analytical Skills
- Ability to locate and assimilate new information rapidly
- Ability to think on one’s feet
- Ability to reach and defend independent conclusions
- Problem-solving tools and experience
- Intellectual maturity
- Ability to synthesize and understand complex content
- Problem-solving tools and experience
- Ability to see the big picture while still retaining attention to details
- Advanced research methods/skills
- Ability to make decisions consistently about abstract information (grading)
- Ability to exercise good judgment
Communication Skills
- Ability to convey complex information to non-expert audiences
- Editing and proofreading
- Ability to coherently organize material for others
- Ability to write at different levels: brief abstracts/book reviews to book-length manuscripts
- Ability to write successful grant/fellowship proposals & secure funding
- Ability to verbally convey complex information to non-expert audience
- Ability to speak before large groups
- Ability to facilitate discussions
- Ability to speak up
Intelligence
- Capable of learning and retaining information quickly
- Intellectually curious
- Intellectual maturity
Supervision
- Objectively evaluate the performance of others (grading)
- Monitor/oversee the work of others (students)
Adaptability
- Ability to learn and adapt at a high level
- Ability to think quickly on your feet (in the classroom/conference papers)
- Ability to take in large amounts of information and respond appropriately
- Self-confident
Interactive Personal Skills
- Leadership
- Ability to cope with and manage complicated personalities
- Ability to thrive in a competitive environment
- Ability to navigate complex bureaucratic environments
- Ability to persuade others to see your point of view and value your work (papers/grant & fellowship proposals)
- Ability to bring others together and build consensus over a topic (your dissertation)
- Teamwork (esp. in the sciences)
- Ability to motivate and persuade others
- Ability to convey enthusiasm to others
- Ability to handle complaints professionally (from students)
- Ability to manage difficult people
- Diplomacy
- Ability to accept criticism well
Entrepreneurial Skills
- Ability to work independently and in self-directed manner
- Ability to acquire funding and write successful grant proposals
Organization and management
- Manage a project (dissertation) (“project management”)
- Organize, plan, and manage research/work
- Maintain records
- Foreign language or other skills specific to your discipline
- Ability to navigate a complex bureaucratic environment
- Organize & plan events (“event management”)
- Prepare programs/panels
- Persuade others to participate
What it Takes to Advance to Candidacy
- Exceptional intellectual horsepower
- Track record of achievement
- Ability to perform under pressure
- Ability to learn and adapt at a high level
- Ability to meet high expectations
What it Takes to Finish
- Focus, Tenacity, Stamina, Discipline
- The ability to close the deal
Once you’ve analyzed your skills, you’ll see that they are applicable to many fields – some that you may never have considered! This chart can give you some new ideas on how your skills are transferable to positions in business, finance, media, education, non-profit, or public policy organizations.
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