Why Employers Are Rushing To Hire PhDs

There was a time when having a PhD was a liability in terms of industry employment.

This is no longer the case.

A recent report by MassBioEd found that while all job listings stayed flat, STEM jobs increased by 5.6% (that is a substantial increase when it comes to job openings). See below figure from the MassBioEd "Annual Job Trends Forecast" (full report linked above).

The acronym STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math and has traditionally been limited to these fields.

However, a recent review by the National Science Foundation has categorized Education, Teaching & Learning, Economics, Social Sciences and most other PhD fields outside of the classical humanities as STEM.

In other words, if your PhD field leverages the scientific method in some way, you're likely trained in a STEM field, and, given the above jobs data, you're in a great position to get hired in industry.

Why A PhD Is Not A Liability

The above data clearly show why industry employers are looking to hire individuals with a STEM background, but why are they specifically interested in PhDs in STEM?

There are several reasons.

However, before we go into these reasons, it's important to understand once and for all that a PhD is not a liability when it comes to getting hired in industry.

Too many PhDs believe that their doctoral degree makes them "overqualified" for an industry job. Most of these same PhDs somehow feel "underqualified" to work in industry as well because they've spent their entire careers in academia.

Neither is the case.

In fact, the same MassBioEd report linked above shows that twice as many PhDs are hired as individuals with Masters degrees, despite there being fewer individuals with PhDs than Masters degrees.

Still, some PhDs believe that there are not enough jobs in industry for them.

These PhDs fall into the trap of trying to match up an industry job title with their very specific academic niche, which is nearly impossible to do and a novice mistake when it comes to executing a PhD-level jobs search.

PhDs are being hired at increasing rates into a variety of industry positions. For example, the above MassBioEd report shows a 25% increase in the hiring of Researchers and Research Associates, as well as a 112% increase in the hiring of Data Scientists. Even positions where hiring has dropped from the previous year, such as Project Manager, remain popular in terms of hiring PhDs over individuals with Masters degrees.

Why Industry Employers Want To Hire PhDs

There are many reasons why employers are rushing to hire PhDs beyond those discussed above, but the following 3 reasons stand out from the rest. 

1. PhDs are skilled innovators.

There’s a difference between discovery and understanding. 

By definition, a Masters degree of any kind requires the recipient to master a field. On the other hand, a PhD requires the recipient to add to a field. 

You cannot simply repackage, or memorize and regurgitate information to receive a PhD. Instead, you must identify and organize new, cutting-edge knowledge that no one else in the history of the world has ever discovered. 

Innovation is extremely valuable in industry. In today’s world, companies must either innovate, acquire other innovative companies, or die. This is especially true in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. 

2. PhDs are experts at resolving conflict.

Imagine walking into a room and having your project, your logic, your career, your hopes, and your dreams mercilessly picked apart by 5 people. Now, imagine doing this every few months. Imagine also that these 5 people are doctors at the top of their fields.

Welcome to the life of a PhD. PhD students have one of these "Shark Tank meetings" every few months before they graduate. (They're called thesis committee meetings.)

Postdocs and associate professors continue on to have lab meetings, advisor meetings, tenure track meetings, journal clubs, and many other variations of these Shark Tank meetings.

As a result, PhDs have been trained in conflict and conflict resolution. PhDs have learned how to navigate difficult relationships and how to respond professionally to hostile attacks. They know how to work together with very dominant personality types in very tight quarters for several years at a time. 

Not everyone has the ability to work with 5+ other extremely demanding people who are all working on different projects in a 10-foot by 10-foot box called a lab for 5+ years at a time? 

This in itself is an achievement and makes PhDs very valuable in industry where managing difficult personality types, including your own difficult personality, is crucial to getting large projects done on time and on budget. 

3. PhDs are doctors of learning. 

A PhD stands for a doctor of philosophy. Philosophy is the study of knowledge and the nature of knowledge. This means that PhDs are literally doctors of learning and knowing how to learn.

Almost anyone can do what they’re told. Some people can learn new information after being told what to learn. Very few people can determine what they need to learn on their own without being told, and then take it upon themselves to go ahead and learn it.

PhDs can often learn anything faster and better than anyone else because they have been trained in learning at an expert level.

Do you think that just anyone can decipher a complex peer-reviewed journal article about some obscure protein or algorithm that only 12 other people know exist?

Of course not, but PhDs can.

Likewise, any PhD can learn how to understand a profit and loss statement, or a complex business case study, or an intellectual property legal document. Not only can they learn to understand these things, they can learn how to make strategic decisions based on their understanding. 

Industry employers know the true value of PhDs. Their only concern is whether or not a PhD is able to communicate their value effectively.

Do you have a PhD?

If so, are you interested in an industry career?

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 wait list for the Cheeky Scientist Association.