7 Things That Will Keep Your Career Alive In The New Economy
Isaiah Hankel, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Cheeky Scientist
The new job market is different, and you have to adapt to get hired.
This can be challenging...
But adversity reveals character, which is why tough times are so important for professional development. A lot of changes are happening, and it's difficult to adapt to such a new job market.
Most people will resort to negativity – you’ve probably already noticed this on social media and elsewhere.
Instead of revealing your capacity to be negative, PhDs need to be better than that - you can handle ambiguity, uncertainty, hardships, and all kinds of other challenges.
A study from the Journal of Traumatic Stress defines “adversarial growth” as a “process of struggling with adversity...that propel[s] the individual to a higher level of functioning than that which existed prior to the event.”
The study also found that “optimism, cognitive processing, and positive affect were consistently associated with adversarial growth.”
Right now, success is all about staying positive, looking at the data, and making a decision based on the best available information.
Let's talk about making positive, informed changes to your job-search strategy.
Follow these 7 steps to get a job in the NEW hiring market - if you stick to the old ways, you won't be successful. Period.
1. The economy is different now - adapt to it.
The new economy demands more personal interactions in business.
You have to go back to networking - in a recession, the way you get hired is through employee referrals.
There's an oversupply of job candidates, and companies can simply say to their employees, Hey, we're looking for someone for this job. Let us know if you know anybody.
In the recession of 2008, at least 70% of industry roles were filled through referrals.
That’s why networking will save your career right now – I can’t understate the importance of this point. In spite of these data, some PhDs might say, I'm in academia, so I'm going to be protected in my job search or I'm going to be protected in my postdoc.
But you won’t be protected because that’s not what the economic landscape looks like.
Many institutions are letting go of all their postdocs.
They're letting go of their TAs too.
Those 2 groups go first, and then adjunct professorships, part-time contractors, etc.
In 2008, a lot of tenured professorships were forced out – they were encouraged to leave during the financial crisis.
What’s left after that?
Usually, it’s the PhD students because they're the cheapest, and then they have a lot of work dumped on top of them.
2. Understand the employer’s new perspective.
When things are very good and the hiring market is up, employers will hire with intent to maximize their business.
They might bring somebody on because they want to expand and begin new initiatives.
But all of that changes in a recession.
People go from chasing pleasure to avoiding pain, including employers.
During a recession, an employer’s greatest concern is risk mitigation.
They're looking to avoid job candidates who are nervous or negative.
They will reject candidates who seem risky in any way, which is why it's so important for you to have the right behaviors during your networking. Practice looking at where the opportunities are and how you can come across as a solution-focused candidate.
This will serve you immensely during the recession.
3. Emphasize risk control.
Cheeky Scientist trains PhDs on risk mitigation in many of our programs
EVERY company wants to mitigate risk - they want to cut expenses and make sure they don't bring on somebody who disrupts their current team's productivity.
A disruption in productivity creates a disruption in profits.
This means that when you're interviewing, you have to come across as a stable, positive person.
You need to look like somebody who will learn how to do things the right way.
Don't come across like a “loose cannon” who tries to do everything on their own.
A lot of PhDs make this mistake regardless of whether they're in a recession or not. They want to hit the ground running and prove themselves.
So they use language like, I want to figure things out on my own or I'm a self-starter or I have a lot of initiative.
Steer away from that and instead say, I want to do things the way that the company does them. I want to learn the process correctly. I want to make sure I don't skip any steps.
Ask questions about regulations and company culture so that you come off as someone who wants to integrate smoothly and not take any risks.
4. Project management and change management are a very big deal right now.
Change management and project management do very well during recessions
Right now, project management—especially virtual project management—is one of the careers that is really taking off right now.
There is no project management in academia—not really.
Academia doesn't have a real process with a hard structure or timeline to follow. Industry is about money, though, which means that employers expect strict, efficient project management.
Time, resources, and money are invested into a company's projects, which means that wasted time = wasted money.
In industry, you have to understand how budgets, timelines, and milestones connect to each other to form the scope of a project.
Change management is just the “people” side of project management.
It's managing people's emotions.
When a company gets rid of half its team members, some people lose their friends.
When a company downsizes to a smaller office or a lab, people wonder, How am I going to get everything done in this small space?
In an interview, you're going to get a lot of questions on change management.
Show employers that you understand project management – find ways to work them into your resume and LinkedIn profile.
5. Update your profiles with “avoid-pain” language.
To get hired in a recession, you have to use different wording that demonstrates you’re not a risky candidate.
You need to use more “avoid-pain language” – instead of focusing on how you’ll help a company get somewhere, you want to focus on how you're going to help a company avoid risk and pain.
Companies want to avoid risk right now, and this should be your guiding principle throughout your job search.
Risk avoidance comes across in your speech, your resume, and your LinkedIn profile. You want to show them that you're going to help the company avoid risk, not move toward it.
Companies are not keyed into words that have to do with going after pleasure.
They're keyed into words that have to do with staying away from risk.
You need to show them that you are the least risky candidate in your vocabulary—in the keywords on your resume and your LinkedIn profile.
For example, you can write that you always stay on budget, that you always hit your timelines, and that you always communicate openly with your superiors.
Write that you never take matters into your own hands, that you communicate effectively with your cross-functional team members, or that you're flexible enough to do whatever the company requires.
Write that you can make changes easily.
Indicate in every possible way that you will help to avoid any kind of disaster or setback.
6. It's okay to be opportunistic (in this specific way).
Let’s talk about some of the career paths for PhDs that are surging right now.
Right now, medical writing is through the roof.
We are in an era of information kind of warfare – which news reports are correct?
Which data accurately represent science and world affairs right now?
Your PhD gives you significant credibility.
You know how to seek out and evaluate information – you know whether or not it's credible. Things like sample sizes and trends are part of your domain.
It doesn't matter whether you're a social scientist, a life, a chemist, physical scientist, engineer, or even a humanities PhD – you know how to research information, analyze it, and use it.
Right now, with so many people working remotely, medical writer careers are needed.
That's the only way people can communicate—through online content.
Medical writing should be your number-1 career safety net.
Obviously, medical affairs and regulatory affairs positions are increasing right now…
That’s because there's going to be an explosion of drugs and clinical trials, especially in the sectors of infectious disease, antivirals, etc.
For years to come, this is going to be top of mind for companies. To get hired, PhDs have to go where the opportunities are.
Be flexible in the types of jobs you're looking for.
Medical science liaison positions are hot right now.
Application scientist positions (like MSLs but for biotech companies) are hot too.
In the past few weeks, I’ve seen application scientists get hired under various job titles.
Analysts of all kinds are getting hired in a variety of industries:
- Quantitative analyst
- Business analyst
- Business intelligence analyst
- Competitive analyst
- User experience analyst
- R&D analyst
- Lab analyst
- Quality control analyst
- Quality assurance analyst
PhDs are getting hired to do what all PhDs can do: analyze information and data.
“Analyst” is the hottest word right now for PhDs.
You need to include this word throughout your LinkedIn profile and your resume so that it makes it through the ATS software.
You have to think about the new landscape and be opportunistic – tap into what’s hot right now.
7. Tap into your humanity.
Nobody's responding to me.
I can't get any of my messages out.
Nobody will follow up with me about the job.
Since the recession began, I've been getting messages like this from PhDs.
But at the same time, I've seen a lot of PhDs’ networking scripts…
Here’s what they tend to look like:
- I was talking to you about a job.
- Why won't you respond to me?
- Am I still having the interview?
Don't do this.
This is a time where you can really get in touch with your humanity.
We PhDs have always wanted to better humanity.
The world is going through a tough time.
Maybe some of you have noticed that now, when you're outside and you see somebody else, you practice social distancing.
You're far away from each other, but more people are actually waving at each other.
It's almost like they're happy to simply see another human being. In some ways, in person, people are being kinder.
That's something that you can tap into as well.
Start identifying with the tough time that people and businesses are having.
When you’re networking, ask about how the other person is doing. Ask them how they're handling all of this craziness.
In your subject line, ask, How are you holding up during the lockdown?
We are social people.
Even the strictest introverts among us are social people.
Right now, showing humanity is your best way to get a reply and get the conversation going again.
You don't want to be unprofessional, but get them to reply to you by showing them, Hey, I'm human too. I understand what's going on. I really want to know how this is affecting you.
Are you a PhD?
If so, what have you changed about your job-search process since the recession began?
Tell me in a comment below.
To learn more about transitioning into industry, including how to gain instant access to industry career training videos, case studies, industry insider documents, a complete industry transition plan, and a private online job referral network for PhDs only, get on the waitlist for the Cheeky Scientist Association.