"I don't have any industry experience. What can I write in my resume to enter the industry?"
These are the words from fresh MSc and PhD graduates who want to transition into the industry and contacted me with this concern.
The hype of getting into the industry and the divide between the industry and academia lead to such concerns. We see academia and industry skills as two completely isolated buckets.
Here, I would like to introduce transferable skills. One acquires many skills as a part of their research that are highly valued in the industry. The problem is that we don't recognise these skills.
๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐, ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐, ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐, ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
A few skills that researchers acquire during their research stint:
Project Management: you have a project that you handle end-to-end, from the procurement of reagents to the execution of the project to the final reporting. You have managed your experiment timelines and deadlines and acquired project management skills in this process.
Time Management: Remember when you managed your incubation time so that you could attend a seminar or have your lunch peacefully? Well, if this is not time management, then what is?
Scientific writing and documentation: You have created posters, written manuscripts and multiple progress reports, and you definitely have acquired some documentation skills on the way.
Effective communication skills: You have communicated your project details through various verbal and written presentations on various platforms and various formats. You know you can do it.
Stakeholder management: You have successfully navigated people at various hierarchy levels throughout your research: supervisor, labmates, collaborators, vendors and, not to forget, the admin staff. You have nailed it.
Team management: You have been part of multiple teams, helping them organise scientific events (seminars), leading projects and managing the students/juniors in the lab. You have definitely honed some excellent team management skills on the way.
These are the ones that came to the top of my mind (and a few from the LinkedIn comments), but the list is long for sure. Depending on your research experience, you may have unique transferable skills. If you present these skills appropriately in your resume and follow the golden rules of job application, transitioning to the industry could be a cakewalk.
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