Why aren't you hiring PhDs?

If you are an #HR professional, you are under a lot of pressure to quickly make good hires in a world full of applicants. Let me persuade you that hiring a PhD who is fresh out of graduate school for an entry or even mid-career position is a smart move.

First let's talk about what a PhD has gone through before their resume lands on your desk. You're all familiar with professional degrees but PhDs are very different.

1. Every PhD has gone through a rigorous selection process to get into their program comparable to getting into a top 10 business school. Truth be told, many professional degree programs are revenue centers for universities and admission requirements can be flexible. Doctoral programs are different because full time PhD admissions slots usually come with a 4-6 year funding package.
2. PhDs are frequently full time students who receive funding. In return, they work as teaching or research assistants to the faculty, often teaching intro level courses or executing research at the direction of a faculty member.
3. PhDs in the US spend from four to ten years as students. During the first 2-3 years, they enroll in graduate coursework where they are expected to consume 100s of pages of dense material, summarize it in class, and produce a 20-30 research paper worthy of presentation at an academic conference. PhD students routinely take 3 such courses simultaneously every quarter or semester.
4. At the same time, PhD students are expected to apply to present their work at conferences in front of rooms filled with PhDs and other grad students, attend conferences, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and apply for competitive grants.
5. At the end of this period of coursework, PhD students take what are commonly known as comprehensive qualifying exams. These are usually administered by faculty advisors with expertise in the areas studied by the student. Students must pass these exams to move on to ABD (All But Dissertation) status.
6. Now comes the hard part. For the next 2-8 years, a PhD "candidate" (student with ABD status) is working on their dissertation. A dissertation is a novel contribution to human knowledge. It sounds like a big deal because it is. However, the vast majority of these contributions are small and barely noticed. Nonetheless, it is hard. A dissertation has to demonstrate to the experts represented by a PhD candidate's "committee" who are a group of PhDs themselves that the research and analysis conducted is rigorous and error free.
7. PhD candidates spend 2-8 years independently designing, conducting, and analyzing research in their field. They become project managers and develop expertise with the research tools relevant to their work and field whether they are in the Humanities or the hard sciences. They reach out to peers around the world to compare and share knowledge.
8. At the same time, they continue to work as assistants, apply to present at conferences and workshops, submit to publication, and apply for grant funding so they can continue their work.
9. Finally, having written a dissertation demonstrating original knowledge that might be a 100 page mathematics or a 450 page history of White House computers, they must defend it before their committee. A dissertation committee is recruited by the PhD candidate for valuable mentorship, insight, and professional development. Now however, they pick through the dissertation looking for problems or weaknesses. Defenses can be public or private depending on the program. In the end, the vast majority of dissertations are "accepted with revisions" meaning that the PhD student needs to edit their work to the specification of their stakeholders (the committee).
10. We're not quite done. Having earned a PhD and walked through their hooding ceremony, PhD's have to navigate the job market. For many PhDs, an academic career is the only job path they've considered. That road is very hard. While the promise of tenure is the brass ring most PhDs reach for, only 10% ever manage to grasp it. Most newly graduated PhDs hold on to contract faculty jobs or postdoctoral fellowships but the truth is that far more PhDs are granted than are openings in academia. The roles that do exist pay poorly and often have minimal benefits. Sometimes PhDs hold down multiple part time teaching positions to make ends meet.

So back to the title, and let me ask you why you aren't hiring a PhD for entry-level or even mid career positions? Are you looking for a self-directed learner? Are you looking for someone with communication skills? Perhaps someone who works hard, has excellent time management skills, and has project management experience? Sometimes a PhD is hired for their specific domain expertise but often they are hired for the wealth of skills they bring to an organization. The truth is a PhD will be mastered in 3-6 months, most roles requiring a 4 year degree and 1-3 years of experience. That's the kind of ROI that makes any HR department look good.