"I had no interest in the subject I was proposing to study. I was creating myself and my life to meet the requirements of academia," says Shore. "And then I realized that I would have to start from scratch and begin a more traditional job search with a traditional resume."
Shore is not alone. From recent graduates to tenured professors, thousands of scholars are fleeing the ivory towers of college and university employment to seek positions in the private sector.
And the exodus is increasing. Around 70 percent of current graduate physics students are seeking nonacademic jobs, up from about 45 percent a decade ago, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2001 Best Graduate Schools guide.
A Tale of Two Resumes
Making the transition from an academic job search to a corporate job search requires a new resume and an understanding of what skills non- academic employers are looking for.
"Traditional job searches put much more emphasis on hard, transferable skills," says Danielle Rogowski, a Ph.D. candidate in Communication and Rhetoric from Wayne State University who currently works as an Account Executive at a software development firm. "I had to switch from thinking theoretically to thinking practically, and my resume reflected that."
When searching for academic jobs, scholars write a curriculum vitae (CV), the "resume of academics." A CV is a comprehensive list of every class taken, conference attended, paper published, course taught, committee organized and anything else that remotely relates to one's scholarly aspirations. When it comes to CVs, the rule is: The longer, the better.
When searching outside of the academic arena, however, all of that scholarly sweat has to be condensed down to one page. Traditional resumes should never exceed one page. They contain brief bullet-point sections which outline work experience, education and skills. When it comes to resumes, the rule is: The simpler, the better.
The process of converting a CV into a resume involves five steps:
1. Prepare Yourself Emotionally
Before beginning the technical process of writing a resume, you must tackle the emotional side. Most of your proudest accomplishments -- publications, conferences, accolades -- will have no place on a resume. The mere thought of removing the things you worked so hard for can be difficult to accept -- and can lead to panic.
Dr. Susan Basalla, co-author of What Are You Going to Do With That?: A Guide to Career-Changing for M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s, interviewed hundreds of academics searching for non-academic employment. She found that the biggest impediment her interviewees faced when writing a resume was an overwhelming sense of panic. They feared that their previous academic experiences would have zero value outside of academia.
"Many feel, 'I wasted my time, what did I do it for?'" says Basalla.
Basalla assures that such concerns are perfectly normal: "Of course you feel stressed about it. It's a major change in your life."
So leave your ego at the door and realize that employers won't care much about your dissertation or thesis. The good news is that they will care about the skills that you built while writing all those papers.
2. Cut, Cut and Cut Again
CVs are notoriously long. A seasoned professor's CV may pass 30 pages. Even a standard Ph.D. candidate will have a CV several pages long.
Since your resume should only be one page, the easiest way to begin the editing process is to cut as much as possible out of your CV -- your lists of conferences attended, coursework taken, articles published, classes taught, organization memberships and anything else that is only relevant to academia.
After cutting, you may find yourself staring down at a nearly blank piece of paper. If the panic starts to surface, remember that many of the skills that belong on a resume were never on your CV. You'll add them later.
Once you begin building your resume, you'll find -- as most people do -- that your problem will be cutting down your resume, not filling it up.
3. Highlight Experience, Not Coursework
A CV focuses on your abilities. A resume, however, should focus on the employer's needs. Your resume should be custom-tailored to every position for which you are applying. It should show that you can fulfill the position's requirements better than anyone else.
Many recruiters believe that academics are just "glorified students" - - it's your job to help them make the mental leap and realize that you have a unique and invaluable skill set. Several tricks can help you transform academic experience into professional experience.
Emphasize behavioral competencies.
As a scholar, you have many valuable skills: Researching, writing, management, team building, multitasking and public speaking.
Dr. Robin Wagner, Associate Director for Graduate Services, Career and Placement Services at the University of Chicago, emphasizes that even teaching experience has tremendous value.
"Listening, sympathizing, summarizing important things, presentation style ... Teachers speak in front of large groups every day. That's a fantastic skill," says Wagner.
Other behavioral competencies that many Ph.D. students and recipients can showcase:
- Mathematics: Especially advanced mathematics, statistics and high-level analysis
- Research skills: Fieldwork, surveys, library and Internet research
- Comprehension: Reading complex materials and translating them into understandable segments
- Computer skills: Microsoft Word and Excel are commonly used on campuses. Any Internet skills should be emphasized as well.
CVs often overflow with embedded facts and descriptions. Resumes, however, are meant to transfer as much information as possible in a short amount of space. Your resume should never spend more than a line or two on any particular fact.
Use sentence fragments with as few words as possible to make your point. Use action verbs. Eliminate articles and pronouns. Do whatever you can to stuff as much information on that one page without making it look busy or sloppy.
"I got a fantastic response to my resume when I used bullet points, verbs and fragments and took out the adjectives and adverbs," says NYU graduate Shore.
Put the most important information at the top.
If the top of a resume doesn't grab recruiters' attention, they'll never get to the bottom. While CVs are always chronological, a resume does not have to be.
Different resume styles allow you to emphasize the experience the employer is seeking. For instance:
- A chronological resume highlights your latest work experience. Your most recent major work experience is listed first, and the timeline moves backwards as you go down the resume.
- A skill-based resume highlights the skills that best suit the position you are seeking. Instead of listing specific jobs and experiences, write a bullet-point list of relevant qualifications at the top, with a simple list of your work experience at the bottom.
4. Use Non-Academic Experience
Some of the activities at the very bottom of your CV -- such as being a member of the Graduate Student Council, organizing a conference or being the treasurer of a volunteer organization -- may be the most attractive aspects of a resume.
"Always keep a bart outside," author Basalla says. "Volunteer, internship, temp, whatever."
While technically not part of your coursework, these activities often mirror the organization and activities of corporate workplaces. So emphasize your leadership roles in student organizations, point out your part-time job experience and discuss volunteer work and internships.
"Helping organize scholastic conferences or workshops shows managerial, organizational and people skills," says Wagner.
5. Have A Non-Academic Friend Read It
When you have finally condensed your CV into a resume, have a non-academic friend read it for relevance and clarity.
Whatever your friend doesn't "get," a recruiter or human resources staffer probably won't "get" either.
Leaving the Safety of School
Just because you have decided not to stay in academia doesn't mean that your Ph.D. work was a waste of time. You acquired more skills than you may realize: Logic, research, organization and writing skills.
The transition from an academic to a non-academic job search can be scary, but with over 13 million U.S. residents between the ages of 18 and 65 in the holding graduate degrees, according the latest U.S. Census Bureau numbers, many people do it, and successfully.
Film buff Amy Shore is currently the Manager of Proposal Strategies and Communication at KPMG, a top accounting firm in the U.S., and she is pleased with where she stands today.
"It wasn't an easy transition," says Shore, "but I know that I made the right choice."
