jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Advertise a Job
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • Free CV Templates
    • Cover Letters with Examples
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Career Progression Stories
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
    • Working From Home
  • Women in Higher Education
  • FE Career Advice
    • FE CV & Interview Tips
    • Working in FE
    • Managing your Career in FE
    • FE Jobs Profiles
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Job Profiles
      • Biological Science Jobs
      • Health and Medical Jobs
      • Engineering and Technology Jobs
      • Computer Science Jobs
      • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
      • Professional Service Jobs
        • Business Development Manager Jobs Profile
        • Chef Jobs Profile
        • Civil Service Jobs Profile
        • Email Marketing Jobs Profile
        • SEO Jobs Profile
        • Office Admin Jobs
    • Vlogs
  • Webinars
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Dubai
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Work in Vietnam – Country Profile
      • Work in Uzbekistan – Country Profile
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • PhD and Studentship Advice
    • Before your PhD
    • During your PhD
    • After your PhD
    • PhD advice
    • Studentship Resources
    • PhD Vlogs
  • Need help advertising a job?
  • About jobs.ac.uk
  • Ask A Professional
  • Academic Spotlight Interviews
  • Menu
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • Free CV Templates
      • Cover Letters with Examples
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Career Progression Stories
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
      • Working From Home
    • Women in Higher Education
    • FE Career Advice
      • FE CV & Interview Tips
      • Working in FE
      • Managing your Career in FE
      • FE Jobs Profiles
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Vlogs
      • Job Profiles
        • Biological Science Jobs
        • Health and Medical Jobs
        • Engineering and Technology Jobs
        • Computer Science Jobs
        • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
        • Professional Service Jobs
        • Civil Service jobs
    • Webinars
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Work in Egypt – Country Profile
        • Work in Ghana – Country Profile
        • Work in Kenya – Country Profile
        • Work in Nigeria – Country Profile
        • Work in South Africa – Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Work in Canada – Country Profile
        • Work in the United States of America – Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Work in Bahrain – Country Profile
        • Work in Brunei – Country Profile
        • Work in China – Country Profile
        • Work in Hong Kong – Country Profile
        • Work in India – Country Profile
        • Work in Japan – Country Profile
        • Work in Kazakhstan – Country Profile
        • Work in Malaysia – Country Profile
        • Work in Qatar – Country Profile
        • Work in Saudi Arabia – Country Profile
        • Work in Singapore – Country Profile
        • Work in South Korea – Country Profile
        • Work in Turkey – Country Profile
        • Work in United Arab Emirates – Country Profile
      • Dubai
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Work in Denmark – Country Profile
        • Work in Finland – Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Work in Germany – Country Profile
        • Work in Ireland – Country Profile
        • Work in Italy – Country Profile
        • Work in the Netherlands – Country Profile
        • Work in Norway – Country Profile
        • Work in Russia – Country Profile
        • Work in Spain – Country Profile
        • Work in Sweden – Country Profile
        • Work in Switzerland – Country Profile
        • Work in the United Kingdom – Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Work in Australia – Country profile
        • Work in New Zealand – Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs
    • Need help advertising a job?
    • About jobs.ac.uk

Tips For The Transition From Academia To Industry

from Academia to Industry

Changing your career path from Academia to Industry can be stressful, from deciding what changes you want to make to deciphering how to show potential employers that you have the skills to excel in a role in their organisation. Often those who have developed their transferable skills as part of an academic career can feel their qualifications and expertise are highly specific and so translating their skill set to a career outside of academia can seem like a difficult and daunting experience. So here are my top tips to help along the way:

  1. Recognise the transferable skills you have: An academic career is challenging and utilises a wide range of transferable skills that are immensely desirable to many employers in a range of fields, yet often academics don’t take the time to recognise this! Many academics work both independently and as part of a research team, do a lot of problem-solving, data collection, data analysis, managing people, making decisions, planning, presenting and using different forms of media to communicate their ideas. Being an academic is also quite a creative role, as not only do academics formulate research questions based on scientific knowledge, they also have to interpret results which may be unexpected! Such a diverse and comprehensive skill set is something many employers dream of!
  1. Think about how you can demonstrate your transferable skills in a relevant way: It is important to think about the type of job in industry you are applying for and what transferable skills would be most desirable to a potential employer in that industry. Then see how you can match up your experience in those skills using examples that are most relevant or transferable to a job role outside of academia. For example, if an industry role involves presenting information to the shareholder, an academic could talk about their experience in presenting a range of diverse information to different audiences from fellow academics to school children.
  1. Don’t undersell yourself! In my own experience, many academics can be quite humble about their experience and skill set. Whilst this is a likeable quality, in an interview situation, it can sometimes mean that a potential employer does not get a sense of the capabilities of the person they are interviewing. This isn’t to say that arrogance or over-confidence is necessary, but an awareness of your suitability and an eagerness to explain this with palpable examples is required as the person who interviews you is likely to have never met you or worked with you before, so they don’t have that sense of what you can do or how good you are at doing it.
  1. Seek out industry contacts: During an academic career, you’ll inevitably work alongside a range of people who may move on to different places of work or make changes in their career direction. Have a look through your network of contacts to see if any of them have made a move similar to the one you are considering. Can you can gain some insight from their experience– do they have any advice on making the transition having experienced it? They might be able to offer you the opportunity to shadow them at work for a day or visit to see the facilities and meet a few colleagues. These types of activities can help to give you a better appreciation of what a job role in that industry would be like and what an employer in that area might require/expect from an employee.
  2. Just because you don’t fit all the job criteria doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply! Most positions now advertise a set of criteria required from any applicant. Whilst some criteria such as certain qualifications may be essential, other criteria are desirable but not always necessary. Many roles now offer training for candidates transitioning from other areas of work and regulations/operating procedures you may be unfamiliar with from an academic background can be assimilated quickly. After all, a key skill of an academic is the ability to take in lots of information and interpret and use it! If your attitude to learning and change is positive and you can convey this to a potential employer, they should have the same position attitude in return in helping you to adapt.

Good luck!

What did you think of our article? - please rate

0 / 5. 0


Share this article

Emma Monaghan

Emma recently completed a PhD investigating bacterial infections in farm animals and is now working as a Senior Research Technician in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick. Her current role involves investigating the causative agents of a bacterial infection called footrot in sheep. Prior to her PhD, she completed a research masters and undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences with Microbiology at Warwick.

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

  • Good leadership and teamwork lead to success

    Keeping your team motivated in challenging times

  • mature lady looking over paper work planning for retirement

    How to prepare for retirement

  • A man working from home using a laptop and calculator to analyze business activities.

    Get Creative with a Limited Budget

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

two + 11 =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

EDI button for Article

Latest Jobs

  • PhD Studentship: Data Fusion of X-Ray Imaging with Magnetic Induction Tomography

    Mathematics, The University of Manchester

    Location: Manchester

    Salary: £19,237 for 2024/25


  • Lecturer in Civil Engineering

    University of Galway

    Location: Galway

    Salary: £55,339.90 - £88,282.55


  • Student Support Coach (Employability and Progression)

    Student Services, University of Huddersfield

    Location: Huddersfield

    Salary: £31,916 - £38,592


  • Student Support Coach (Care Experienced)

    Student Services, University of Huddersfield

    Location: Huddersfield

    Salary: £31,916 - £38,592


  • Enhanced Support Team Student Support Coach (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic - B.A.M.E)

    Student Services, University of Huddersfield

    Location: Huddersfield, Hybrid

    Salary: £31,916 - £38,592 pro rata


  • Chemical Engineer - KTP Associate

    Chemistry, University of Leicester

    Location: Leicester, Hybrid

    Salary: £37,000+ per annum + £2,000 training package per annum


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025