When you complete your doctorate, you will face new challenges and opportunities. Here are a few of the practical details to be aware of.
- Your AU email will be cancelled unless you continue to work as an academic staff member at AU. It’s important to remember to establish a new email account that your network knows about.
- You cannot edit your PURE profile when you are no longer enrolled. Make sure your PURE profile is up-to-date and export it to a Word document before you submit your dissertation. This will allow you to include it in your CV.
- If you don’t know what to do after your PhD, you can check out the webpage for Science for Society. Science for Society enables PhD-students and postdocs in Scandinavia to commercialize research results as it equips them with the required entrepreneurial knowledge and toolkits to create impact in society.
Ten useful things to do before finishing your PhD:
- Think ahead: Research your next move before it becomes urgent.
- Be open-minded: Talk to different people and research different career opportunities.
- Know your job market: Research which employers could be relevant for you. Start collecting interesting job ads – not to apply for them but to get an overview of job descriptions, contact persons, companies and application buzzwords.
- Do not underestimate your transferable skills: Identify them, assess them objectively and figure out if there are any gaps you need to work on. Ask your colleagues, mentors and collaborators for input.
- Prepare your CV: An academic CV is quite different from a CV aimed at the non-academic job market, and it takes a lot of work and time to prepare an effective CV. Seek help from career advisers and get feedback so you don’t apply for your dream jobs with the wrong CV.
- Know what makes you tick: Consider your values and your motivational factors in order to find the right job.
- Try a personality test: For most jobs you will be tested with at least one type of test. Trying it out beforehand will make this less intimidating and will provide you with ideas on handling feedback situations.
- Finetune your LinkedIn profile: Your LinkedIn profile is important, and potential employers will check it out.
- Get a network overview.
- Start applying for jobs 2-4 months before you hand in your dissertation.
AU Career PhD & JR
AU Career PhD & JR can support you in your transition to life after your PhD programme, so feel free to get in touch. Read more about AU Career PhD & JR
