Leveraging Your PhD: Why Employers Value Your Skills

Source: https://careerservices.fas.harvard.edu/blog/2026/03/16/leveraging-your-phd-why-employers-value-your-skills-2/ Parent: https://careerservices.fas.harvard.edu/channels/expand-your-network/

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2026 Event Recap

Written by Jocelyn Sears, PhD ’25 (English)

Each year, the Harvard FAS Mignone Center for Career Success (MCS) hosts “Leveraging Your PhD: Why Employers Value Your Skills,” an event highlighting the diverse careers that PhDs pursue in industry, nonprofit, and government. About 50% of Harvard PhDs work outside academia, Harvard Griffin GSAS Dean Emma Dench explained in her introductory remarks, and a majority of those alumni still consider their degrees highly relevant to their chosen careers. Panelist Gus Domel, a venture capitalist, echoed this sentiment, saying, “I use my PhD every single day in my work.”

Gus joined seven other Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD alumni from the humanities, sciences, and social sciences on the panel. These panelists have applied their academic training across a wide range of sectors, and during the event, they reflected on their individual career paths, provided insights on their industries, and shared advice for current doctoral candidates and recent PhDs considering non-academic jobs.

This year’s panelists included:

Moderator:

• Stephanie Lo, PhD 2017, Economics (Investment Officer, MFS Investment Management)

Panelists:

• Kacey Carter, PhD 2020, Romance Languages & Literatures, Cultural Anthropology (Community Impact & Investment, Capital One)
• Alperen Degirmenci, PhD 2018, Engineering Sciences—Electrical Engineering & Computational Sciences and Engineering (Senior Robotics Research Engineer, NVIDIA)
• Gus Domel, PhD 2019, Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering (Partner, Boost VC)
• Jasmine Olivier-McGregor, PhD 2022, Sociology (Research Officer, The Pew Charitable Trusts)
• Vaishnavi Patil, PhD 2026, History of Art & Architecture (Research Associate, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
• Ashim Subedee, PhD 2015, Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Acting Director of Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority)
• Lusia Zaitseva, PhD 2018, Comparative Literature (Senior Data Product Manager, Niche)

Here are key takeaways from their wide-ranging discussion.

As a PhD, you already have highly marketable skills.

• PhDs develop specific technical skillsets. Stephanie Lo draws on the math and data analysis abilities that she developed while doing her PhD in economics to develop quantitative strategies at an investment firm. Jasmine Olivier-McGregor relies on the mixed methods skillset she cultivated as a sociology PhD to perform applied policy research. Alperen Degirmenci focused on surgical robotics as a doctoral candidate, and now he works on robotics at NVIDIA- but his first job at NVIDIA was in autonomous driving, an area that had little overlap with his PhD. So, while technical skills may translate into the workplace, the translation often isn’t one-to-one.

• PhDs possess incredibly valuable functional skills. “A PhD is, more than anything else, a degree in really advanced problem solving,” said Gus Domel. In his experience leading a startup and as a venture capitalist, Gus said he has drawn on that problem solving ability “constantly.” He also emphasized that doing a PhD gives you the confidence and ability to learn new things quickly- a skill that other panelists mentioned again and again as among the most valuable PhDs possess. Translating information and insights between audiences was another key capacity that panelists developed during grad school. Finally, Kacey Carter suggested seeing curiosity as a superpower. PhDs have the curiosity to investigate challenging problems and the tenacity to find real answers.

Begin exploring your career options early, if you can.

• Take advantage of Harvard’s vast ecosystem. Harvard attracts talented people from nearly every field and from all over the world to give talks, perform research, and teach. Panelists recommended attending talks outside your discipline to expose yourself to different kinds of people and career pathways. Many visiting speakers and fellows at Harvard are not academics but rather professionals or artists who can provide glimpses of the sectors they work in. These events also offer great opportunities to connect—Vaishnavi Patil reminded attendees, “You can just go up to them, talk to them, introduce yourself!” Try out groups and clubs devoted to topics you’re curious about, such as the Science Policy Group or the Consulting Club. Pursuing a secondary field can also expose you to possible career paths; Ashim Subedee learned about intersections between science and public policy while completing a secondary field in Science, Technology, and Society.

• Research common careers for people in your field. Some disciplines offer well-trodden pathways into specific careers. Knowing that many art historians become curators in museums, Vaishnavi pursued a research internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after her first year of doctoral study. As an intern, she not only experienced the day-to-day realities of curatorial work but also learned about other museum jobs that she hadn’t known about before, like careers in design and publications.

• Keep an open mind. An industry that you haven’t considered might be an unexpectedly good fit! Since government jobs are often stereotyped as dull, Ashim was pleased to find that working at a federal agency can be exciting. His current job at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) allows him to support cutting-edge innovations in the life sciences. Specific industries also need many kinds of workers and may be hiring for roles you’d never guess they have. Big tech companies, for example, employ not just computer scientists, but also privacy researchers, product managers, marketing professionals, public policy managers, and more. Kacey currently works in corporate philanthropy at Capital One, in the kind of position she wasn’t aware banks had while in graduate school.

• Test out your options and get hands-on experience. As Ashim noted, “At the end of the day, you are never really going to know what a job is going to be like unless you do it,” so getting practical experience can be very helpful as you explore what you might want to do after the PhD. Internships can give you the inside perspective of different career pathways, as can the summer programs and multi-day workshops that consulting firms offer for advanced degree candidates. Alperen said he wished he had done an internship during his PhD because he might have figured out sooner that he wanted to go into industry, rather than academia. After experiencing both teaching and a curatorial internship, Vaishnavi realized that she really preferred the latter, which clarified that she would be happier working in a museum than she would as a professor. Doing an internship or immersive workshop can also help get your foot in the door with a specific organization, while beefing up your resume with practical experience. Contract work is another way to test the waters in a given career and gain work experience. A contract position helped Jasmine discover that she likes applied research, and smoothed her transition into the industry.

Reflect on your interests, skills, and values.

• Zoom out. When thinking about what interests you, don’t just think about specific topics, consider the higher-level issues involved. Kacey explained, for example, that she realized her fascination with medieval Portuguese poetry stemmed from her interest in how people from different cultures try to understand each other. Consider, what about your PhD interests you and where else are those questions being asked? You can also observe your habits.Where are you spending your time and energy? When Lusia asked herself this question, she realized that she kept signing up to organize things and that she had cultivated project management skills that she really enjoyed using.

• Shift your focus from content to skills. Getting a PhD requires specializing, but you’re unlikely to get a non-academic job that requires your hyper-specific content expertise. Inventory your skills and then research roles that require those abilities. Take advantage of the resources offered by MCS, and consider booking an advising appointment via Crimson Careers. If you’re exploring opportunities beyond the academy, meet with Caroline Rende. If you’re weighing postdocs and academic careers, book an appointment with Laura Stark. Caroline and Laura can help you reframe your experience for yourself and for potential employers. Multiple panelists found MCS advising very helpful.

• Think about what you value most. Do you want to be in a specific place? Make a certain amount of money? Travel a lot for work or not travel at all? Research different roles to see which ones match your values and priorities. For example, Stephanie observed that companies in finance are currently emphasizing time in the office, which might be a deal-breaker for an applicant seeking a remote position. As part of career advising services, MCS offers a self-assessment that includes a values-ranking exercise and an inventory of your transferable skills and interests. Schedule an appointment with Caroline or Laura through Crimson Careers to begin the process.

Network, network, network.

• Many jobs are filled without a public posting. These hidden positions are filled, instead, through referrals, so making connections with people in your target industry or industries is essential. Kacey stated that she’s never gotten a job that was posted, and MCS advisors Caroline and Laura said that held true for them, too.

• There are lots of ways to connect. Panelists reported networking through clubs and events at Harvard, and also recommended using the Harvard Alumni directory and LinkedIn to identify people in jobs and industries that interest you. Informational interviews can help you understand a given field, role, or organization better and can establish connections with professionals who might pass along job listings or recommend you for positions in the future. When you reach out, “make yourself interesting,” Ashim advised. Highlight any similarities with the person, such as attending Harvard or getting a PhD, and make clear why you want to talk to them. Would you like to hear about how they made the transition from grad school to the corporate world? Do you want to know more about what a specific role involves?  Do you admire a project they’ve been involved in? Let the person know why you’d like to connect with them, specifically.

• Networking can be intimidating, but most people want to help. If you will be attending a conference or event where you want to network, Vaishnavi suggested reviewing the list of attendees in advance, if possible, and reaching out to people who interest you to ask to meet up. That way, you won’t have to muster the courage to approach strangers in the moment. But even if you’re cold emailing, networking gets easier with practice. Most people love to talk about themselves, and it is often time constraints, rather than a willingness to help, that stops people from offering career advice. If one or more people fail to respond to you, don’t get discouraged—others will be happy to chat.

• Make it easy for people to help you. Prepare for informational interviews by researching the person, their role, and their organization and making a list of questions to ask. That way, you can make the most of your limited time together. It’s okay to ask about salaries in a given position or industry, which can help you know what to expect and can give you the confidence to negotiate. Just inquire about the standard salary range for a role, rather than asking a specific person what they make. Practice talking about yourself in a way that will make sense to the person you’re networking with. How can you best explain your background, interests, and goals to someone in a given field? At the end of an informational interview or an informal chat at an event, you can also ask the person if they know anyone else you should talk to and see if they are willing to make an introduction. If you’re connecting through LinkedIn, Kacey suggested asking, “Do you mind if I flip through your contacts and identify a couple of folks you might introduce me to?”

Try not to panic.

• It’s never too late. If you don’t start looking into academic careers until the end of your doctoral program, don’t beat yourself up. You’ve still acquired lots of marketable skills, and you can still explore a range of possible careers. As the panelists kept emphasizing, PhDs are experts at teaching ourselves new things quickly, and you can learn about new careers and discover how to network in a short amount of time.

• You don’t have to do everything. Stephanie noted that she never went to consulting club, and yet she secured a job with Boston Consulting Group after finishing her PhD. While the panelists offered many “A+ tips,” Stephanie reassured attendees, “If you do two out of the five or ten tips that you wrote down, you’re doing great.”

• You’re choosing your next step, not locking in the rest of your career. Most panelists’ career journeys have not been linear. Stephanie went into consulting, then transitioned to finance—working in securities finance research, at a fintech company, and finally at an investment firm. Lusia taught writing through the Expos program at Harvard before moving into product management. Kacey went from user research and product strategy to corporate philanthropy. Of course, you might find a role or organization that you love and decide to stick with it. Just don’t worry that your first job out of grad school has to be your career for the rest of your life.

While the panelists admitted that there has been upheaval in the job market in many fields, all reported ongoing hiring in their industries, and all insisted that PhDs possess skills that non-academic employers want and need. Finding the right job for you takes time and effort, but the end result can be incredibly rewarding. As Jasmine told attendees, “There are so many meaningful ways to use your skills outside of an academic setting.”

Jocelyn is a researcher, writer, editor, and educator with over a decade of experience in media and academia. Learn more about her work at Jocelyn Sears | About.

By Caroline Rende

Caroline Rende Associate Director of Graduate Career Exploration

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