Written by Charlotte Kramer, PhD
People start PhDs for different reasons, and people will also end up in different jobs after receiving their title of doctor. What are the different possibilities?
In principle the career options are endless, and you could find a dr. in any particular role you can imagine. In practice, some options are more likely than others. In this blog we will show you some main routes, and provide you with tips on when to start looking into your future paths.
As a PhD candidate, you are officially being trained to become an independent researcher. An academic career trajectory is therefore often thought of as the logical future. In general, people tend to think about a post-doc, followed by the tenure track towards becoming a full professor (“hoogleraar”) in this context, but other options exist too in academia. For a comprehensive overview of the Dutch academic system “A beginner’s guide to Dutch academia” by De Jonge Akademie is highly informative.
Traditionally, as an academic one was expected to focus on research, but in the meantime to also excel at supervision, acquisition of projects and grants, teaching and more. In reality, some people are better at patient care, others are better at teaching, or leadership. Recently, attention has started to shift, and awareness has increased that it is impossible to excel at all domains, and that different people have different strengths, so different options are becoming possible at universities of research and applied sciences (See: Recognition & Rewards - Recognition & Rewards).
Research is not only carried out at universities and UMCs, but can also be done in companies, non-governmental or not-for-profit organisations, public health institutions, etc. Once we are talking about jobs outside academia, titles of positions are not universal. “Researcher” can overlap with titles as scientist, project manager, or consultant for example.
Other roles that might be interesting are trial coordinator, “programmamaker”, positions as “adviseur”, data-analist, clinical research associate, research staff, and many more.
The exact options available to you are quite individual. Just under half of the PhD candidates at Amsterdam UMC are also medical doctors. Some of you might have started a PhD to increase the chances to get a spot for education to become a medical specialist. Others just really enjoyed research, or were interested in a particular research project. Or perhaps a combination of the above. Quite a few of you really enjoy certain aspects or research, even if that is not always what you expected. As a medical professional in the clinic, finding time for research is not always easy, but we do find that many of you will find a way to get some time te keep contributing to research after obtaining the PhD title. It is often not easy to get funding for time to work on research, but worth to put the effort in and see what is possible after the PhD!
When to focus on the steps after the PhD?
This is a question that we PhD advisors regularly get. The simple answer is right now. In reality, many PhD candidates feel like thinking about the post-PhD steps is something to do in the last phase of the PhD. Before that, you might feel like you don’t have the mental space to do so, especially when you do not really know what you want.
We would recommend to take steps as early as you can. You might not be able to figure out for certain what you want to do after the PhD, but the attention you give it can contribute. These can be things like: keeping a document of tasks and work-aspects that you like, noting down potentially interesting jobs or future employers that you might hear about, taking a career course, speak to people about their jobs and career tracks.
One big advantage you have in your PhD is the opportunity to join courses, conferences, seminars, etc. As and enrolled PhD, much more is usually possible compared to once you are not a candidate anymore. (Usually, as a PhD candidate, things are cheaper too, as you can employ the term “student” to your advantage). It can be unclear where to find interesting seminars, courses, etc. Therefore, it is worthwhile to keep an open mind and speak to many people. This is another advantage of being a PhD candidate at Amsterdam UMC: the size and diversity of the organisation means you can find people with many different fields of expertise if you look for it. Often, when you ask, many people are happy to help and share knowledge. Use this to your advantage.
As mentioned earlier, each PhD candidate will end up with a unique profile and experience. Someone might have acquired extensive experience in international collaboration and project management, someone else might have complex data-analysis skills, or an epidemiology certificates. Others might have animal handling experience, expertise in certain lab techniques or know exactly how to work a particular technology or part of equipment. Next to general transferrable skills, these particular skills can give you just the right advantage in the competitive labour market to land you the job you want. This is the time to acquire the skills and experience.
Moreover, since you are graduate student you are often also able to join courses, trainings, summer schools, workshops, exchange programmes and more at other universities or institutes. Do not be afraid to ask around about possibilities. Often paths that are not part of the standard are possible with a bit of creativity!
For more tips on finding a job after a PhD, the website of Academic Transfer has many useful resources. Not only to find vacancies, but also useful resources such as their ebook Unlock Your Future, and tips about your CV and more (Academische vacatures & PhD posities in Nederland — AcademicTransfer)