Economics PhD Now Camping in the Fields with Marines

Name: Adam Clemens (he/him)

PhD: Economics, University of Chicago, 2010

What was your main area of research?

My dissertation was on "personnel economics", the study of how labor markets work within an organization.

This includes how and why a firm assigns workers to jobs and how this affects their subsequent career path, how it structures their pay to reward effort, how external factors that affect the performance of the firm impact individual careers, etc.

What is your current job?

I am a Principal Research Scientist at CNA Corporation (Center for Naval Analyses) in Virginia.

I design and direct research projects to help military offices make informed decisions. This involves a lot of external and internal communication, employing analytic tools from multiple disciplines, writing formal reports and delivering briefings, managing project timelines and budgets, and teaching and mentoring more junior analysts.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I work with smart people on interesting problems and am always learning.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

Working groups at the University of Chicago where graduate students present ongoing research are brutal, and absorbing and responding to negative feedback there prepared me to take criticism graciously and use it to improve my work.

Work at my current employer is collaborative and involves receiving constructive criticism from many internal and external sources, so this is a skill I employ constantly.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

My career growth at CNA has involved deep exposure to our military sponsors, including experiencing the environments in which they operate.

I have flown in the cockpit of a tactical jet, been underway at sea aboard both a destroyer and an aircraft carrier, camped in the field with Marines both in the U.S. and in Norway, and navigated mountainous terrain in West Virginia on foot to observe where and how an infantry company operated during experiments. Of course I have gained a lot of experience from writing and presenting as well, but these are some of the more unique and interesting experiences that have set me apart.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

I've had three internal promotions within CNA, but I found my initial position when they saw my profile at the University of Chicago and reached out to me. They were looking for a U.S. citizen doing applied microeconomics at a top program.

PhD graduate ➡️ research analyst ➡️ research scientist ➡️ senior research scientist ➡️ principal research scientist

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Apply for a summer internship with CNA or another federally funded research and development center.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

I was agnostic about where I would land; mostly I wanted a job. I came to appreciate that I was not on a tenure clock and that I was producing work to meet a sponsor's specific need rather than journal articles that may or may not be read.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Soft skills are critical. When I and my colleagues interview PhD candidates looking for a job, most of them have strong enough technical skills for our purposes, but we are looking for personable candidates who will interact well within a team and with external sponsors.

Are there any components of your identity you would like to share, including how they have impacted your journey?

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which since the 19th century has encouraged its members to get all the education they can and emphasizes that we take our knowledge, but not our material possessions or status, with us beyond this life. I believe this influenced my desire to find a career that pushes me to constantly learn.