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From PhD to Career Success
Explore how PhDs from a variety of different
fields navigated the decision to leave academia.
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Venture Associate Says Not to Listen to Those Who Tell You No
Name: Hannah Jacobs (she/her) PhD: Biology, MIT, 2025 What is your current job? I am an Associate for Safar Partners, based in Boston, Massachusetts. My job entails due diligence on companies, building investment memos, site visits, and screening companies. What is your favorite thing about your job? I can be myself with my colleagues, people seem happy, and I get to help founders trying to change the world. What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had
Oct 163 min read
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Chief of Staff Specializes in Deep Tech Strategy
Name: Cam Watson (he/him) PhD: Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University College London, 2018 What is your current job? I am Chief of Staff for Nuclera, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. In my job, I develop business strategy, identify markets to enter, build partnerships/collaborations for research and commercial teams, win funding from government and investors, and work with R&D to refine products based on market feedback. What is your favorite thing about your job? I lo
Oct 162 min read
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Space Technology Consultant Works on Cutting-Edge Projects
Name: Rowan Curtis PhD: Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, 2022 What is your current job? I am a...
Oct 52 min read
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Founder Helps Researchers Present in More Memorable Ways
Name: Andrew Churchill (he/him) PhD: Education, McGill University, 2011 What is your current job? I am the Founder of PresentBetter based...
Oct 43 min read
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Business Owner Helps People Get Into Great PhD Programs
Name: Natalie Morse (she/her) PhD: Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 2018 What is your current job? I am the Owner of...
Oct 41 min read
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Consultant Chose His Life Over His Work & Doesn't Regret It
Name: Ian Coley (he/him) PhD: Mathematics, UCLA, 2019 What is your current job? I am a Consultant (soon to be Project Leader) for Boston Consulting Group, based in San Diego, California. Management Consulting is all about solving business problems while balancing the realities of client services. The three main tasks are the following: 1) actually solving the problem at hand, doing analyses, making spreadsheets, crunching data, meeting with other team members to get strategic
Jul 204 min read
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Senior Consultant Makes an Impact in the Private Sector
Name: Ashley Whitt (she/her) PhD: Environmental Science, Deakin University, 2020 What is your current job? I am a Senior Consultant for...
Jul 193 min read
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Life Science Consultant Recommends These 2 Experiences
Name: Yiying Zhao (she/her) PhD: Nutrition Science, Purdue University, 2022 What was your main area of research? I studied how the...
Jun 122 min read
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Doctor of a Pro Soccer Team Created His Own Path
Name: Leijs Maarten PhD: Medicine / Molecular Medicine, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2021 What was your main area of research? I...
May 52 min read
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Associate's Job Search Like Planning a Trip to a New City
Name: Nirali Rathwa PhD: Biochemistry, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 2021 What was your main area of research? During my...
May 43 min read
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Consultant's Grad School Side Hustle Turned Full-Time Career
Name: Justus Hillebrand (he/him) PhD: History, University of Maine, 2021 What was your main area of research? I researched the history of...
May 42 min read
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Business Development Associate Sees the Work's Impact
Name: Tom Ng (he/him) PhD: Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, 2024 What was your main area of research? My research focused on spinal...
May 32 min read
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Principal Consultant Is Always Evolving
Name: Valerie Silfee (she/her) PhD: Kinesiology, Ohio State University, 2015 What was your main area of research? I studied how we can...
May 32 min read
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Data Strategy Consultant Explains the Internship Approach
Name: Alfredo Cumerma (he/him) PhD: Modern Languages & Cultures, Johns Hopkins University, 2020 What was your main area of research? I...
May 22 min read
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Business Owner Call You to Prioritize Your Needs
Name: Luna Munoz (she/her) PhD: Applied Developmental Psychology, University of New Orleans, 2005 What was your main area of research? I...
Apr 293 min read
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Operations Manager Develops Life Science Buildings
Name: Francesco Nicolini (he/him) PhD: Molecular Biology, King's College London, 2018 What was your main area of research? I worked on...
Apr 292 min read
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From Tenured Professor to Consultant and Coach
Name: Caitlin Faas (she/her) PhD: Human Development and Family Sciences, Virginia Tech, 2013 What was your main area of research? I...
Apr 292 min read
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Food Consultant Created His Own Career
Name: Bryan Quoc Le (he/him) PhD: Food Science, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2020 What was your main area of research? I studied if...
Apr 243 min read
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Technical Analyst Says to Learn to Speak Finance
Name: Ariel Hyre (they/them) PhD: Chemistry, Boston University, 2020 What was your main area of research? I studied the way electrons...
Apr 212 min read
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Founder & CEO Has a Recipe for a Meaningful Career
Name: Kyle Todd (he/him) PhD: Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, 2020 What was your main area of research? I worked to discover...
Apr 202 min read
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