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So I left #postdoc, and I left #adjunct and went into #industry. There are two things I wish I knew when making this transition, and I hope it may help you...
...I didn’t know what buzzwords to put on my resume to make it reflect, in #industry terms, my skills. For #STEM academics, I’ve learned that a lot of what we do includes systems engineering, and project management...
...now this may be obvious to some of you, esp the E part of #stem, but I didn’t know this. I recommend looking up buzzwords for sys eng and project management...
...for example, I did some work on testing code that had been written to search for #GravitationalWaves. My resume became stronger when I said “algorithm interoperability assessment”...
...and I think a lot of us don’t realize how much a grad thesis requires established project management skills. Use these buzzwords...
...if you don’t know how to do this, use twitter! Reach out! Ask around your dept if anyone knows ppl who have left for industry and ask if they can help with resume. Most have lots of “lessons learned” (another buzzword) to help...
...I found the transition to industry engineering not difficult. Lots of good, tricky problems to solve. I felt challenged just as much as academia. The struggle was the resume reflecting my interests properly. Hope this helps!
The other thing I learned about going into #industry is salary negotiations. This one is tricky, but I hope some of my advice helps...
...industry knows what #postdocs make, and they know they can short change you. There are lots of websites that can help with what salary you should be earning...
...don’t short change your PhD, that should earn you a lot more. Also in the US there are federal protections for you asking others about their salary. If someone from the company is helping you get hired, and your comfortable, as them...
(ask* them). It sounds weird, but I really screwed myself in not knowing what I should earn, and the woman who was hiring me for the team said she wished I had asked her. The salary part was done higher at the company...
...salary is a tricky one, but you deserve the right amount. A PhD deserves the right salary. Good luck to all, and let me know if you need help (@drerinmac)
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