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Survival Tips for

Life After PhD in Academia

Gül Varol (IMAGINE, École des Ponts ParisTech)

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Samuel Albanie (VGG, University of Oxford)

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Disclaimer: They have only survived a short time for now.

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8 Tips to Survive Life After PhD in Academia:

  • Drink lots of water - do not neglect basic needs and protect your health.
  • Ask for help - designate mentor(s), many questions are not Googleable.
  • Enjoy the (new) (scary) responsibilities - Interviewing/hiring/supervising, teaching, funding proposals, writing reference letters, ACing, PhD jury…
  • Say NO often - impossible to satisfy all requests, make a list of things you say no to, be proud
  • Time management, find what works well for you - no luxury to focus on one thing, multitasking
  • Allocate time for yourself - at least 1 day for yourself (e.g., no meetings)
  • Allocate time for students - every student is different and requires personalized supervision, find time to get to know them
  • Take time off - do not exhaust yourself, and set a good example to students

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Academic interviews:

  • Step 0: Before starting, let people know that you are looking for a position
    • They might send you announcements, connections are important!
  • Step 1: Ask for help, ask for sample applications, presentations
  • Step 2: You found an open position. Finetune your application for the target place.
    • Can be different from industry positions
    • Know the expectations (e.g., country-specific, lab-specific), complementary/new research theme
    • Some evaluation criteria:
      • Long-term vision
      • Independence
      • Recommendations
  • Step 3: Practice your talk, practice with other people, ask feedback
  • Step 4: Enjoy the process
  • Step 5: Be lucky
  • Step 6: Congratulations, you got an offer! Negotiate if possible.

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Further tips:

Survival tips for researchers