Academia: A Survival Guide (Or: Things I wish I had known) – Part 1

I was recently asked to give a talk to PhD students on how to be successful in academia. It made me think of all the things I wish that I had known when I started. In this blog post, I have tried to summarise some key pieces of advice that I would have liked to have had and will hopefully help you find your way through academia.

Academia is strange beast. The freedom to research and teach within a highly intellectual environment can be amazing; however, the competitive nature of the business can make it very difficult to succeed.

There is no linear path, or “right” and “wrong” decisions, but there are certain things you can do to maximise your chances of success. In this blog post I’ve put together a list of advice that I wish I knew when I started out – it doesn’t cover everything and not everything– but I hope it can help you navigate the tricky world of academia. Stay tuned for Part 2 coming later.

First and foremost: Prepare for a non-academic career.

There is a very high chance that you won’t end up as a Professor – the number of PhD graduates is orders of magnitude larger than the number of academic positions available. Numbers vary, but most estimates show that than less than 5% (and often much less) of PhD graduates will end up as a professor. So, you need to prepare for a non-academic career by learning transferable skills that are applicable outside of academia. In a previous blog post we highlighted some areas where you can enhance your own skills. It is wise to be thinking what skills you can add to your CV now, so that you can prepare for a transition into another job if you need to. Don’t wait to the end of your PhD (or postdoc) – start now! Some small hints: attend workshops, complete micro-credentials, work on your soft skills, investigate what style of jobs you’d like to have if you weren’t in academia, start networking, setup a LinkedIn profile, do online courses (coding, stats, business management, etc).

Be an expert in a technique or area of research - but don’t limit yourself.

Often what makes you employable or sought after as a collaborator is your expertise in a specific technique or area of research. This means that you should aim to be an expert in a particular area of research, so that you can maximise your chances of bringing unique skills to your position. However, it is important that you don’t become too niche. Take the opportunity to learn as much as you can, do extra training, jump in with other people's experiments, make time to learn new techniques, and branch outside of your comfort zone.

“Be an expert, but don’t limit yourself to one area of expertise.”

An example from my own career: I am (debatably) an expert in atomic force microscopy (or AFM to the initiated), which is the main instrument/technique I used during my PhD studies. When I finished my PhD it was the only really expertise I had, and applying for jobs was difficult as I didn’t have a diverse set of skills – I was too niche. I’ve worked on this during my postdoctoral research fellowship, and now jump at every chance to learn new skills and techniques. But it was a harsh learning curve, which I needed to overcome. Although my expertise is still valuable - I am often invited to quickly get AFM data for people, which then leads to new collaboration and publications for (generally) a few hours work. Learn from my mistakes and start to learn new skills now. Be an expert, but don’t limit yourself to one area of expertise.

Develop Your Transferable Skills.

In our previous blog we wrote about diversifying your skills set. As an academic, you need to be a jack-of-all-trades; researcher, writer, project manager, communicator, administrator, student counselor - the list goes on. Most professional careers will require you to have at least some of these skills too, so it is valuable to develop your transferable skills as much as your filed-specific knowledge. Take a look at this entry for more tips on how to develop transferable skills as part of your academic studies.

Build your professional network – Find mentors and colleagues that you can rely on.

Academia can be isolating and you will benefit from having a support team to navigate through the maze. Find senior people you admire, trust, and believe have valuable insight to share, and ask if they can support you as a mentor – this can be in an unofficial capacity (coffee chats, etc) or more officially, where routine meetings are set. Moreover, having multiple mentors is better, as you need different perspectives and to learn from other people's mistakes and triumphs – approach multiple people and learn from them. I strongly believe that one person often can’t teach you everything.

In addition, you need friends both at your own and other institutes. Search for like-minded people in similar positions in their career as you (PhD, Postdocs, ECRs). These form your network of support, which you can bounce ideas off, help in difficult situations, support you in your research and grants, and will act as a shoulder to cry on if (let’s be honest - when) things get tough. Don’t try to go it alone!

Part 2 will discuss tips on networking, building collaborations, and honing your interpersonal skills. Stay tuned!

If there’s anything that you’d like to see covered in the blog - let us know! Fill in our enquiry form, send us an email or hit us up on Twitter or LinkedIn!