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PhD transferable skills

Sometimes it's difficult for PhD students to identify what skills they have since the academic experience is not necessarily focused on articulating skill sets. We also often find that PhD students struggle, understandably, to present the transferability of their academic experiences to non-academic contexts. Here are examples of PhD skill sets and ways to describe them.

• Define a problem and identify possible causes
• Comprehend large amounts of information
• Form and defend independent conclusions
• Design an experiment, plan, or model that defines a problem, tests potential resolutions and implements a solution
• Facilitate group discussions or conduct meetings
• Motivate others to complete projects (group or individual)
• Respond appropriately to positive or negative feedback
• Effectively mentor subordinates and/or peers
• Collaborate on projects
• Teach skills or concepts to others
• Navigate complex bureaucratic environments
• Manage a project or projects from beginning to end
• Identify goals and/or tasks to be accomplished and a realistic timeline for completion
• Prioritize tasks while anticipating potential problems
• Maintain flexibility in the face of changing circumstances
• Identify sources of information applicable to a given problem
• Understand and synthesize large quantities of data
• Design and analyze surveys
• Develop organizing principles to effectively sort and evaluate data 
• Work effectively under pressure and to meet deadlines
• Comprehend new material and subject matter quickly
• Work effectively with limited supervision
• Prepare concise and logically-written materials
• Organize and communicate ideas effectively in oral presentations to small and large groups
• Write at all levels — brief abstract to book-length manuscript
• Debate issues in a collegial manner and participate in group discussions
• Use logical argument to persuade others
• Explain complex or difficult concepts in basic terms and language
• Write effective grant proposals

10 PhD Transferable Skills You Can Use in Most Jobs

“No one wants to hire PhDs because they are overqualified and too independent!”

This is one thing PhDs are tired of hearing. How can your PhD be a liability to your career? Rather, recruiters prefer PhD candidates over others not just for their qualification but for their PhD transferable skills.

Table of Contents

What are PhD Transferable Skills?

PhD Transferable skills are exactly what the name suggests! These are skills other than technical skills that you develop in your academic program. Furthermore, these skills are so versatile that they can be used everywhere, irrespective of the designation or field. Transferable skills are desirable because if you already have them, your employer will not have to train you on them. Consequently, you can make positive contributions in any career with these skills.

Which are the PhD Transferable Skills that You Must Develop?

Considering that a doctorate degree is the highest degree in most fields, the skills that are required to excel in the same are impeccable. Undoubtedly, researchers pursuing their Ph.Ds. or postdocs develop technical skills related to their research. However, what they also need to develop is a host of research transferable skills they can use as they progress in their careers.

Which are 10 PhD Transferable Skills You Can Use in Most Jobs?

With the surge of jobs for PhD in STEM, recruiters struggle to fill those positions with talented candidates. They are always in need of trained professionals who know how to create information from scratch, and not just recreate it in a tinkering manner.

While your work experience and education during PhD is an asset, you’d be surprised to find out that employers in most sectors pay close attention to your skill set. According to a recently published survey report by LinkedIn, 57% of respondents identified soft transferable skills as more important than hard skills (technical knowledge).

Here, we list 10 significant PhD transferable skills students can use in most jobs.

1. Project Management

The most apparent thought that comes to anyone’s mind while thinking about PhD is “project management” skills. A successful research experience goes hand-in-hand with a well-planned project. As simple as it may sound, the management skills of a PhD graduate are not confined to his/her project. It starts right from ideation of the research project to final submission, which results in an ultimate success of the project. Different stages of a PhD’s journey demands customized planning and organizing to ensure that deadlines are met and projects are completed efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, a PhD makes sure that all plans are duly incorporated. Employers seek candidates with PhD transferable skills as they want someone who can not only see a task through, but can visualize what needs to happen on a project from start to finish.

2. Accelerated Learning

As a doctor of philosophy, the ability to ascertain knowledge runs thick in the veins of a PhD researcher. An inquisitive mind and quick comprehension of technical things is interlinked to your accelerated learning ability. Moreover, being a PhD, you attend conferences and read papers to stay on top of the latest trends in your field. Consequently, PhD transferable skills ensure employers of your ability to understand technical procedures, protocols, and methodologies.

3. Time Management

Time waits for none! The key to a tension-free and smooth workflow is effective time management . While planning is important, defining your deadlines, setting realistic and achievable goals, and adhering to them takes you a long way! At a job, every moment spent on an unfocused or frivolous task, is a waste of money. Contradictorily, time management may not be viewed similarly in academia. However, as a PhD your motive has been to complete your program in time. This acts as a serious motivation to develop excellent time management skills.

4. Attention to Detail

One of the essential core skills of a PhD is paying attention to the details. To the best of your experience as a researcher, you are aware that mistakes can be missed in the bat of an eye. Therefore, it is a known fact that PhDs are one of the finest people to make sure that each project runs through a fine-tooth comb. As a result, employers can count on you for detail-oriented assignments that require critical assessment and corrections.

5. Ability to Collaborate

As stated earlier, PhDs are not new to working in groups to achieve common goals. Your significant contribution in research groups, as a researcher and author during your PhD program demonstrates your ability to collaborate . Employers seek candidates who are team players making positive contributions to the success of a group.

6. Writing Proficiency

Given the nature of modern technology, writing may not be a primary task of most job profiles. However, it sure is an essential element for academic and allied knowledge dissemination careers. In due course of pursuing a PhD, you come across countless reading material from authors all around the world. This subsequently stocks up your bank of vocabulary and enhances your writing skills for an unambiguous conveyance of messages and information.

7. Leadership Skills

Leadership skills aren’t only your ability to supervise and manage a team, but to take the lead on a project and get a team to follow through and achieve goals. As a PhD you’re the “lead” for your project. While it doesn’t necessarily involve leading other people, it still means being responsible for major decisions to accomplish targets. Additionally, it is common for PhD students to work in research groups and collaborate on shared projects. Nonetheless, they also demonstrate leadership while organizing conferences and seminars for their department or university. PhDs are also seen showing leadership skills while advising students and mentoring peers.

8. Critical Thinking and Analysis

As a PhD, it’s a given that you are able to analyze data and provide logical reasoning to it. Throughout your program, you collect data, analyze it, and draw conclusions. The ability of a PhD to critically examine everything and deliver logical reasoning behind it is not new to anyone. A PhD is well versed with 360-degree logical thinking without being biased. Employers seek these research transferable skill of a PhD to consider alternative solutions to a problem and suggest next steps for efficient functioning.

9. Communication Skills

This is the master of PhD transferable skills. Even if you decide to step into a career that is a 180-degree sweep from your PhD, you’d still need to communicate! Your ability to communicate efficiently is developed right from preparing for your PhD interview, presenting papers and posters at academic conferences, defending your thesis, etc. As verbal communication affects your ability to work with your peers, it is one of the most sought after research transferable skills by employers.

10. Adaptability

A PhD isn’t only about specialization. Rather, it’s about the ability to specialize. During your PhD you learn to tackle a new topic, solve it, and move on to the next problem. Almost all careers require employees to focus on specific topics and projects in detail to achieve a specific goal. Your ability of in-depth specialization in academic research project demonstrates adaptability and flexibility —quite literally!

So the next time you are asked, “What skills do you bring to this position?”, you certainly know how to answer that! Brush up your PhD transferable skills to help you make the right career switch. Remember that your PhD isn’t a liability after all. In fact, it’s an asset! Let us know how you acquired these valuable skills that are highly sought after by employers today.

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PhD Transferable Skills

Translating your skills and experiences.

Transferable skills are skills you acquire or learn in one setting that can be applied or translated to new and different settings, environments, and activities. Doctoral students often fall into the trap of seeing their skills as applicable in only one setting, thus do not recognize that they are qualified for a wide variety of career paths. Don’t let this happen to you! In the table below you will find a list of skills most sought after by employers. In the final column of the table are examples of activities that demonstrate these essential skills. For several of the skills you can also take online assessments to identify which areas you still need to develop.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS: Adaptability , Analytic skills , Balance & resilience , Communication skills ( oral and written ), Conflict resolution/negotiation , Cultural/Intercultural , Discipline-specific skills , Ethics & Integrity , Follow-through/Ability to get things done , Fundraising , Independent (self-starter), Intelligence , Inter-/Multi- disciplinary , Interpersonal skills , Leadership (program) , Leadership (personnel/management) , Networking & collaboration , Organization , Outreach , Project management , Research , Self-direction/Entrepreneurial skills , Supervision , Technical skills (information technology), Work ethic

Essential Skills and Competencies for Graduate Students 1 :

1 Contents of table are adapted from Blickley, et al. (2012). “Graduate Student’s Guide to Necessary Skills for Nonacademic Conservation Careers.” Conservation Biology, 27:1. 2 Winterton, Delamare - Le Deist, and Stringfellow (2006). “Typology of knowledge, skills and competences: clarification of the concept and prototype.”

Additional resources on transferable skills:

• Plan Your Work & Work Your Plan [PDF]
• Graduate Student Skills (UIUC) [PDF]

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The 7 Essential Transferable Skills All PhDs Have

During your PhD, you’re not just learning about your research topic. You’re also learning core skills that apply to jobs both in and out of academia. Most institutions don’t teach you to articulate these transferable skills in a way that aligns with how they’re described in the business world. Knowing your skills increases your value as a candidate.

Written Communication

It takes practice to become a good writer. Fortunately, as PhD student you have years of practice writing papers, conference abstracts, journal manuscripts, and of course your dissertation. The feedback you receive from your supervisor and peer reviewers will help improve your communication skills.

Research skills are valuable even in many fields outside of academia. As a trained researcher, you are able to determine the best approach to a question, find relevant data, design a way to analyze it, understand a large amount of data, and then synthesize your findings. You even know how to use research to persuade others and defend your conclusions.

Public Speaking                   

Strong oral communications skills are always valued, and PhD students get more public speaking opportunities than most. Through conference talks, poster presentations, and teaching, you will learn to feel comfortable in front of a larger audience, engage them, and present complex ideas in a straightforward way. Winning a teaching award or being recognized as the best speaker at a conference is a concrete way to prove your public speaking skills.

Project Management

Even if you’re not working as a project manager, every job requires some degree of project management. Fortunately, a PhD is an exercise in project management. Finishing your dissertation requires you to design a project, make a realistic timeline, overcome setbacks, and manage stakeholders. During this time, you will also have to manage long-term projects at the same time as short-term goals which requires strong organizational skills.

Mentoring and teaching are the two main way PhD student can learn leadership and management skills. As a teacher or mentor, you have to figure out how to motivate someone and help them accomplish a goal. You also get experience evaluating someone’s performance (grading) and giving constructive feedback.

Critical Thinking

Every PhD student learns critical thinking skills whether they realize it or not. You are trained to approach problems systematically, see the links between ideas, evaluate arguments, and analyze information to come up with your own conclusions. Any industry can benefit from someone who knows “how to think”.

Collaboration

Very few jobs require you to work completely independently, and academia isn’t one of them. Your dissertation is a solo project, but on a day to day basis you work with other people on your experiments or preparing a journal manuscript. Doing these tasks successfully requires knowing how to divide up a task, get along with others, communicate effectively, and resolve conflict.

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The top 3 skills needed to do a PhD are skills employers want too

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Lilia Mantai is an Executive Member of the Australasian Council for Undergraduate Research (ACUR), a non-for-profit association promoting undergraduate research.

Mauricio Marrone developed the data dashboard and is the founder of ResGap.com.

Macquarie University and University of Sydney provide funding as members of The Conversation AU.

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More and more people are applying to do a PhD. What many don’t know is it takes serious skills to do one – and, more importantly, complete it.

We analysed the selection criteria for PhD candidates on a platform that advertises PhD programs. Our analysis of thousands of these ads revealed exactly what types of skills different countries and disciplines require.

Why do a PhD in the first place?

People pursue a PhD for many reasons. They might want to stand out from the crowd in the job market, learn how to do research, gain a deeper expertise in an area of interest, or pursue an academic career.

Sadly, too many PhD students never finish. The PhD turns out to be too hard, not well supported, mentally taxing, financially draining, etc. Dropping the PhD often means significant financial loss for institutions and individuals, not to mention the psychological costs of other consequences such as low self-esteem, anxiety and loneliness .

Read more: 1 in 5 PhD students could drop out. Here are some tips for how to keep going

Our society and economy can only benefit from a better-educated workforce, so it is in the national interest to manage PhD intakes and be clear about expectations. The expansion of doctoral education led to a more competitive selection process, but the criteria are opaque.

To clarify PhD expectations, we turned to a European research job platform supported by EURAXESS (a pan-European initiative by the European Commission) where PhD programs are advertised as jobs. Required skills are listed in the selection criteria. We analysed 13,562 PhD ads for the types of skills different countries and disciplines require.

We made three specific findings.

1. Top 3 skills needed for a PhD

It turns out that it takes many so-called transferable skills to do a PhD. These are skills that can be translated and applied to any professional context. The top three required skills are:

communication – academic writing, presentation skills, speaking to policy and non-expert audiences

research – disciplinary expertise, data analysis, project management

interpersonal – leadership, networking, teamwork, conflict resolution.

Trending skill categories are digital (information processing and visualisation) and cognitive (abstract, critical and creative thinking and problem-solving).

Previous research shows transferable skills are requested for post-PhD careers, including both academic and non-academic jobs. Our research shows such skills are already required to do a PhD. Those keen to do a PhD are well advised to provide strong evidence of such skills when applying.

2. Skill demands vary by country and discipline

Skill demands significantly differ by country and discipline. For example, 62% of medical science ads mention interpersonal skills. This is twice as often as in biological science ads. Digital and cognitive skills score much higher in the Netherlands than in other countries.

Our research article reports on 2016-2019 data and the top five represented countries (Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain and the UK) and the top five represented disciplines (biological sciences, physics, chemistry, engineering and medical sciences). However, you can use this tool for granular detail on 52 countries – including non-European countries like Australia, New Zealand, the US, etc. – and 37 disciplines included in the data sample. For continuously updated data, please visit https://www.resgap.com/ .

3. PhD expectations are rising

We see a rise in PhD expectations over time (2016-2019) as more skills are listed year on year. The publish or perish culture prevails and rising demands on academics have led to calls for more engaged research, collaborations with industry, and research commercialisation .

PhD students get accustomed early to competitiveness and high expectations.

Read more: Is it a good time to be getting a PhD? We asked those who've done it

Research-based learning needs to start early

These insights have implications for pre-PhD education and pathways. Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees can further promote PhD readiness by embedding authentic hands-on research with academic or corporate partners, either as part of the curriculum or as extracurricular activities.

Many postgraduate degrees offer authentic research project work opportunities but are shorter. Those entering the PhD without a postgraduate degree miss out on developing essential research skills.

Authentic research experiences need to happen early on in higher education. Organisations like the Council on Undergraduate Research ( CUR ), the Australasian Council for Undergraduate Research ( ACUR ) and the British Conference of Undergraduate Research ( BCUR ) are designed to support institutions and individuals to do this effectively. They showcase great models of undergraduate research.

To get a good idea of what undergraduate research looks like, start with this comprehensive paper and catch up on undergraduate research news from Australasia .

We know research-based learning develops employability skills such as critical thinking, resilience and independence.

Embed career development in PhD programs

Doctoral training needs to take note, too, if it is to further build on the skill set that PhD applicants bring with them.

The good news is doctoral education has transformed in recent decades. It’s catching up to the call for better-skilled graduates for a range of careers. The training focus has shifted towards generating practice-based and problem-solving knowledge, and engaged research with other sectors.

Read more: It's time to reduce the number of PhD students, or rethink how doctoral programs work

Some institutions now offer skill and career training. Generally, though, this sort of training is left to the graduates themselves. Many current PhD candidates will attest that the highly regulated and tight PhD schedule leaves little room for voluntary activities to make them more employable.

Most PhD candidates also know more than half of them will not score a long-term academic job. Institutions would serve them better by formally embedding tailored career development opportunities in PhD programs that prepare for academic and non-academic jobs .

It’s not only PhD graduates’ professional and personal well-being that will benefit but also the national economy.

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• Transferable PhD Skills You Can Use in Any Career
• After a PhD
• Having a PhD demonstrates that you have a host of skills desirable for employers, allowing you to pursue a non academic career path.
• Transferable skills from a PhD include interpersonal skills, work ethic, problem-solving, time management, independence & responsibility, adaptability and report writing.
• It is important to sell yourself to potential employers by identifying and relating these transferable skills to the job you are applying for.

This page will explain how your PhD has prepared you for a career outside of academia, and how to make the most of your transferable skills when looking for a job.

Can PhD Doctorates Work in Any Role?

A common misconception we hear is that individuals with PhDs must pursue a career in academia. This is usually due to a lack of industrial work experience PhD students have upon obtaining their doctorate. However, this is not the case as one of the key benefits of a PhD is the transferable skills it brings.

Transferable Skills from A PhD

By completing a PhD you will have demonstrated several skills which make you desirable for employers. It is essential that you recognise these skills and can use them to sell yourself in your CV .

Transferable skills from a PhD include:

Communication

Throughout your PhD, you will have been required to work with others, be it supervisors or examiners. You will also have been required to communicate your ideas (often complex and detailed theories) succinctly and to those with less background knowledge than you. Communication skills are essential in the workplace, regardless of the job, as it shows the ability to work in a team effectively .

Completing a PhD is no easy task. In doing so, you have shown a drive to ‘ get the job done ’.

Problem Solving

Throughout your PhD, you will have encountered several problems you overcame. Use these as examples to show your ability to use creative thinking  to devise  solutions  to these problems.

Data Analysation

Most PhD research projects will involve some degree of data analysation. The ability to interpret complex information and identify relevant data is a valuable skill in numerical fields such as science and engineering. You are also likely to have developed your research skills which shows you can identify types of bias, anomalies and trends which is useful in statistical roles such as accounting.

Time Management

An important skill in the workplace is the ability to  prioritise and organise   tasks . With your PhD degree, you should be able to convince potential employers that you can establish realistic timelines and remain to deadlines. You are also able to engage in both short and long term planning . Time management skills are particularly useful for those pursuing project management or leadership roles.

Independence & Responsibility

Perhaps one of the most important things you have shown throughout your research project is your ability to take responsibility  for your  development . A potential employer should see you as someone who does not need constant instructions, but someone who can take ownership of problems and resolve them using their own  independent judgement .

Adaptability

It is unlikely that you will have stuck to your original plan. Things happen and you will have been required to adapt on the fly during your PhD. This is common transferable skill employers are looking for if they operate in volatile markets.

Report Writing

You have been able to summarise approximately three years or more worth of work in a single thesis. This shows your ability to filter through massive amounts of information, identify the key points , and get these points across to the reader. The ability to ‘cut out the waffle’ or ‘get to the point’ is a huge asset in the professional industry.

Useful Phrases To Demonstrate Your Skills

From the above list, it’s clear that a PhD provides you with a host of transferable skills employers look for in candidates. The key is to relate these skills to the job you are applying for.

To help you with this, we’ve put together a few common examples of phrases we hear from doctorates that can be refined for job-seeking purposes. It’s imperative not to stretch the truth or to mislead them but focus on convincing your potential employers how your PhD has prepared you for the role you are applying for.

Other Specialist Skills

Aside from these PhD transferable skills, you may have also developed expertise in more specialised areas of knowledge . For example, as part of your PhD were you required to use Computer Programming? Were you required to use Medical Equipment? Did you organise events? Not only are these skills in themselves, but they have inherent  soft skills  too.

Make sure you get these skills across to your potential employer as they will help demonstrate how valuable you are.

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How to develop soft skills during your PhD studies

Let me start today with some sobering news.  PhD completion rates are low .  Too low.  There are numerous reasons why candidates leave their PhD programs. Personal problems, financial issues,... the (bad ) stuff of life. Lack of supervision and guidance can be a problem. 

If we leave out all the external causes for leaving a PhD program, we are left with internal causes. In some cases, a candidate has the analytical skills to do the research, but lacks the soft skills to deliver a dissertation and  defend . A good technical student can perhaps still need to do some effort to manage his/her project, or to write a sound conference paper.

The good news is: you can learn these soft skills. Universities are realizing more and more that actively encouraging doctoral students to learn soft skills is of mutual benefit. An added plus is that these soft skills are useful for any career path after the PhD, and can be  desirable in the industry . 

If your university does not provide courses to train your soft skills, you can teach yourself. Just like you can teach yourself to code in another language, you can teach yourself the soft skills you need to manage your research, and present and publish your results. Let's go step-by-step:

1. Analyze your workflow processes

Have an honest conversation with yourself. How are you currently working? What work do you get done, and what stays behind? 

If you find it hard to reply these questions, use  the monthly progress monitor , originally  introduced by Gosling and Noordam.  Set goals for a month, subdivide these into tasks per week, and then evaluate at the end of the month what you accomplished and what not, and identify why you deviated from your planning. Keep doing this exercise on monthly basis (even weekly in the beginning) to learn which type of tasks you struggle with, and to improve your planning. Use your research diary to write your observations. 

2. Identify your weaknesses

Based on the previous exercise, you may know which tasks cause you difficulties. Now, go one step deeper: which precise skills are you lacking to carry out these tasks? Analyze this question in your research diary.

For example: say that you struggle to deliver reports or papers by a given deadline. There are many different possible causes for this problem: you can have difficulties with the writing of the text, you can lack the skills to draw the figures, your planning skills may be poor, or you may have a hard time  asking your supervisor for help . Be honest with yourself and identify your weakness.

3. Find your learning method

Now that we have identified the problem, let's look for a solution. How are we going to solve this problem? In order to answer this question, you need to know your preferred learning method. How do you learn soft skills best: through a course (workshop, offline course, online course,...), with the help of a coach, by practicing with the support of your supervisor or peers, or by reading a book? The answer to this question also depends on the type of skill you need to improve - improving your networking skills will require you to practice in real-life situations, and you can only use learning with a book as a supporting method for this case.

Once you know your preferred learning method, see what is available. Carry out a targeted search, book your course, contact a coach, and get your materials ready for studying.

4. Plan your study time

You know what you need to study, and you know how you are going to study. Next step, is planning when you are going to study.  Take your planning  (even if planning is a skill you are struggling with), and identify when you will devote time to working on this skill. Treat learning this new skill in the same way as you would treat learning an analytical skill required for your research - in the long run, both are equally important! 

5. Evaluate yourself

At the end of the time you have devoted to mastering your new soft skill, evaluate yourself. If you have worked on improving your presentation skills, plan to give a presentation to your research group, and ask your peers for feedback, If you worked on improving your networking skills, go to an industry event and try to make a contact with a previously determined number of people. Afterwards, write in your research diary to evaluate how you did and to identify what you can improve even further.

There is more than one soft skill to learn during your PhD. Repeat the learning process for another skill that you need to improve. Additionally, keep improving the skill you worked on by practicing at every possible occasion. You are now your own teacher - you need to find how to learn a new skill, when to reserve time for learning, and how to take your own exams. Use your research diary to reflect on your progress, see how far you've come, and determine what you can improve further.

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Transferable skills from your PhD

During your PhD, you become an expert in your field. You will gain a deeper understanding than most of your peers on a very specific topic. This knowledge is valuable for research, as well as when an expert opinion on this particular topic is required.

Besides the technical knowledge you obtain during your PhD, you also learn a large number of transferable skills. Indeed, the doctoral journey with its large research component is different from the previous degrees. The research project addresses a complex research problem and stretches out over various years. Certainly, tackling doctoral research is a different league than solving homework.

Given the complexity of doctoral research, you don’t only learn highly specialised laboratory or computer programming skills, but you also pick up a number of skills that will serve you for the rest of your life: in research, in your career, and in life in general.

Top 10 transferable skills

Today, we are going to discuss the ten most important transferable skills that you develop during your PhD. These skills will help you in a wide variety of circumstances. I’ll explain each of these skills to you, and will show you how your PhD gave you these skills.

• Writing: Clear and concise writing is a key communication skill that serves us in many aspects of life: from drafting a business report for your boss at work to redacting a clear email, written communication is key in any job as well as in life.

The final product of your PhD is your doctoral dissertation: a long work of writing in which clear argumentation of a hypothesis is key. To get to the end of the PhD, you certainly need to learn how to write for your intended audience.

• Presenting: Orally presenting insights is a second key communication skill that is crucial in research as well as in any job. If you can present your insights in an accessible way to inform your audience, or if you can convince them through a short talk, you will influence and access others in your organisation.

During your PhD, you give various presentations for different audiences. You learn how to communicate your insights in a way that suits the situation and audience, as well as how to express your thoughts clearly.

• Visualising information: Your presentations and written documents come to life when you illustrate them with clear visualisations . Being able to draw well and show graphs in a clear way is a crucial complimentary communication skill.

No doctoral thesis consists of text alone. You will develop visualisations, and typically discuss with your supervisor and lab mates on how you can present the data in a more accessible manner – as such, you learn how to make clearer visualizations.

• Time management: In research as well as in a modern office setting, we have various demands on our time and several sources of communication that can distract us . Being able to prioritise important tasks so that all projects move forward, is an important skill in the digital age.

The many years of the doctoral journey may seem like an ocean of time, but ask a current doctoral candidate, and they certainly feel pressed for time. Learning how to manage your time is an important skill to learn during the PhD to graduate in a timely manner and meet all deadlines.

• Analytical thinking: Solving complex problems in research, business, and life requires analysing the problem in depth, comparing potential solutions, and making decisions about ways forward along the way. Being able to think in a structured manner is an attribute that can be applied in many situations.

Analytical thinking is also a key skill you learn during the PhD as you work through the research process and learn the scientific method. You combine various sources of information from the literature as well as your own data to answer your research questions.

• Teamwork: Our relations to others define how well we do in research, in our job, and in life. No man is an island, and no researcher is an island. The ability to work with others, with different opinions and different working habits, is a key skill in many settings.

From working together in the laboratory to exchanging ideas with your cohort mates in the PhD, you will certainly have learned that research is much more collaborative than you would have thought before.

• Resilience: Being able to recover quickly after setbacks and looking for a plan B is something that can set you apart from others. If you are resilient, you know how to persist and get the project done or the goal achieved regardless of the headwinds you faced.

Failure is a common component of research : a lab setup doesn’t function, a manuscript gets rejected, or your code won’t run. As you are responsible for your research, you learn to step up your game and try other solutions until you fix your problem, or you rework your manuscript until you think it is ready for resubmission.

• Creativity: Being able to think out of the box, or generate a variety of solutions is a skill that is appreciated by many. If you are the one on the work floor who comes up with fresh ideas, those around and above you will notice quickly.

Research is inherently creative. You need to answer a research question nobody addressed before, so you need to think creatively on how to study the question. Moreover, as you deal with various failures and setbacks, you train yourself in creativity and coming up with new solutions.

• Negotiating: If you are able to satisfy various stakeholders in a project, you show leadership skills that will advance your career.

Negotiating may not be a skill you associate with your PhD research but think again. Have you had to balance various opinions of committee members, or reconcile demands of your funding agency, teaching schedule, and requirements of your supervisor? In those cases, you’ve learned to balance the demands of various voices around you and negotiate a solution.

• Autonomy: If you are self-directed in your work and don’t have to ask your boss continuously what to do next, they will appreciate your ability to do so.

The long years of the PhD require research work that is carried out under the supervision of a professor, but their input is usually limited to a weekly meeting or another type of regular review. You learn how to carry out your research without needing your professor to present you with a task list to complete.

How to market your transferable skills

When you are finalising your doctorate or post-doc and looking to expand your horizons, you may first focus on positions that are very similar in expertise to what you were doing before.

But think again. With your variety of transferable skills, you have many options you could explore. The key lies in how you communicate your abilities to potential employers .

Don’t brand yourself as the expert in your research topic. Instead, focus on the company and your skills. What can you bring to the table? How can you show them that you are a great fit? Focus on the match between you and the company, based on your skills and goals, not based on who you are narrowly as a researcher.

In this post, you learned how you gather many transferable skills during the PhD on top of the expert technical knowledge you develop as a researcher. You learned how these transferable skills can serve you in research, at work, and in life, and how you obtained these skills during the PhD. Finally, you also learned how you can communicate your skillset to a variety of companies.

Related article:

Transferable Skills: The Secret of Success

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Dr Eva Lantsoght

Dr. Eva Lantsoght is a Full Professor in Civil Engineering in Ecuador and tenured assistant professor in the Netherlands. Her blog PhD Talk addresses the mechanics of doing research, PhD life, and general academic matters. Find her @evalantsoght or at evalantsoght.com.

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Soft Skills courses

Courses on soft skills help doctoral candidates to develop their personal, professional and managerial skills.

Soft skills that prepare doctoral candidates to meet the needs of the labour market include:

• flexibility and adaptability in the workplace; ability to address work challenges;
• having the tools to manage change, develop innovation, work ethically with entrepreneurial spirit;
• developing problem solving skills in unstructured situations, critical reasoning and creative thinking;
• interacting with others, working in teams, working in open, multicultural and flexible environments, negotiating, managing conflicts in organizational contexts;
• developing leadership skills, decision making and emotional intelligence;
• mastering the tools for communication, dissemination and public speaking;
• knowing how to make use of resources, optimizing time, managing projects;
• managing career development and seizing professional opportunities.

To this end, the Doctoral School has organized its catalogue of soft skills courses in four pathways for skills development in relation to the different job sectors.These four pathways serve as a “bridge” between scientific education and professional training. By doing so, they can knowingly meet the requirement of taking at least 40 hours of soft skills courses over the three-year period of their PhD programme.

Research and Academia

Specific competences.

Research ethics, Integrity and Impact

Research Quality

Research Dissemination

Research Financing

General competences

Personal competences.

Individual Skills

Career Development

Industry, companies and professionals

Organization and Decision Processes

Critical Reasoning/ Problem Solving

Entrepreneurship and start-ups

Enterprenership

Public sector and public organizations

Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

5 Essential PhD Skills Every Student Should Have to Succeed

As an aspiring PhD student if you have ever wondered whether you’d be able to complete your PhD successfully, rest assured you are not the only one. While every doctoral journey comes with its unique set of challenges, there are some basic skills required for PhD that you can imbibe to navigate your way better. So what skills should a PhD student have? This short article will walk you through some of the most essential skills needed for PhD students.

Essential skills required for PhD  

1. Quest for knowledge The drive toward expanding and growing your existing knowledge bank is one of the prerequisite PhD skills to transform you into a motivated candidate. Any successful doctoral journey begins with a willingness to embark upon a continuous quest for knowledge and the ability to keep learning as well as unlearning concepts on a regular basis. Learning to view ‘negative’ results as potential new data is not only an important aspect of a PhD journey, but is also a helpful skill needed for PhD students to keep going during the tough times.

2. Time management While the drive to gain new information is useful to design a hypothesis, one of the skills required for PhD is the ability to translate your hypothesis into a tangible experiment in order to test its feasibility. Some of the biggest challenges and stressors faced during this entire process arise due to ineffective time management. This can also lead to unnecessary mental and physical exhaustion. Learning to maximize your productivity within the stipulated time, is one of the most crucial skills needed for PhD students.

3. Data analysis One of the most important research skills for PhD students is data analysis, which is a key component of any doctoral journey as it contributes significantly to a deeper understanding of the subject. This includes the ability to view your data through an objective lens, grasp patterns through the data, and form logical conclusions leading to new hypotheses. Today many online tools are available for analyzing big data; however, human judgement and discretion are still key skills required for PhD students and helps to lend a contextual relevance to the analysis. Thus, data analysis is definitely counted among the most essential research skills needed for PhD students to succeed.

4. Communication skills Developing good communication abilities is one of the important skills needed for PhD and is necessary not just to ensure your research is conveyed properly, but also to improve your professional relationships. Effective workplace communication is an important skill needed for PhD students and will lead to smooth interactions with your peers and seniors and can also help you to build long-lasting professional connections. As a PhD student, remember you may be required to convey your research not just through academic channels such as publications and presentations, but also through informal interactions with experts at conferences. This makes learning to communicate your research through various modes one of the basic skills needed for PhD to ensure a successful doctoral journey.

5. Perseverance Among the most undervalued research skills for PhD students is perseverance. That is because, the doctoral journey is bumpy, with a lot of uncertainty and failures. There might be times when you question your abilities and lose faith in the big picture. The quintessential PhD skills of persevering through such moments and regaining the motivation and drive to move ahead take a lot of patience and practice. Many doctoral students find this to be quite challenging, but every student must find their own process of polishing these skills needed for PhD. In fact, not only are persistence and perseverance extremely crucial, they serve as transferrable skills required for PhD life and even beyond.

Acquiring these PhD skills before or even during your doctoral journey may seem like a daunting task; however, the good news is that all these skills are transferable and will definitely prove to be instrumental in helping you carve out a fulfilling career beyond your PhD.

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