A Note From David

I created TurningScience because I'm very worried. 

I'm worried about the PhD scientists who are about to graduate and are looking for industry jobs. I'm worried because I know that the thinking and working habits that they have learned in academic research don't work well in the corporate world. And when their thinking and working habits don’t work well, they are not as productive as they can be. Their managers become frustrated, the new employee suffers, the company suffers, and the world misses out on the full potential of that scientist. 

People working in industry have stereotypes about PhD scientists, and like most stereotypes, stereotypes about PhDs are based in truth. These stereotypes come from the academic thinking and working habits PhDs often bring with them into the corporate environment, because that’s what they were trained to do.

But I can help change that.

Things that PhD scientists need to learn are not difficult, and it does not take a lot of time to point them in a new direction. They simply need someone to help them understand how the industry game works, and why they need to think and work differently in their new industry job than they did in their advisor’s research lab. The most challenging aspect is changing the thinking and working habits that they picked up as graduate students. PhD scientists can handle that, but most don’t know where to go to get the advice they need on what to change.

Recent reports of predatory tactics by a well-known firm in the industry career training space have shown just how desperate some PhD scientists are to receive industry career guidance. They’ve heard from colleagues how challenging it is to demonstrate employability to an industry hiring manager, and they want help. They realize that they need help. But most university career departments are only equipped to provide career guidance for academic careers, or perhaps generic job-hunting resources such as resume writing and a few interviewing skills. 

These are not enough. The guidance they need has to come from people who have worked in industry and understand the private sector game. 

And that’s where TurningScience comes in. I’ve worked in industry for more than two decades, hiring and managing PhD scientists and helping them learn the game. 

Teaching early-career scientists how to play the private sector game is so important, I wish I could get my How to Be More Employable in Industry workshop to every science PhD candidate on the planet. I wish I could get it to them now, before they graduate and head out to look for their first job in industry. It's that important to their success. It’s that important to the world.

– David