Academic life and the labor market: what skills do companies value?

Science recruitment specialist explains how academic experience shapes professionals who can lead, communicate, and innovate, and why companies need them

Editorial staff

A Black woman with curly hair works on a laptop at an office desk. Behind her, a white man wearing glasses is holding a clipboard and looking at her screen. It is a modern office environment with shelves, office supplies, and decorative plants.

Academic experience provides researchers with broader training than it often seems. More than just a period of study, working as a researcher should be considered a career in its own right, with technical and interpersonal skills that are directly applicable to the job market.

In an interview with Science Arena, Jaqueline Ribas, a specialist in hiring research professionals and founder of the consultancy Pesquisa de Impacto (“impactful research”), explains what these skills are and how to showcase them in selection processes.

Watch the full interview with Jaqueline Ribas on Science Arena:

Interpersonal skills

Referred to as soft skills in the corporate world, these attributes include resilience, adaptability, communication, teaching ability, and a willingness to solve problems.

“In Brazil you need to be resilient, because there are many challenges. So, [researchers] are people who are truly passionate about, and believe in what they do, with a very strong purpose, and they proactively seek funding,” said Ribas.

Ribas also highlighted how scientists are oriented toward problem-solving. “Researchers have the desire to solve problems, make an impact, and create new solutions in their DNA,” she says, adding that this set of attributes is valued in selection processes, where soft skills are assessed with the same level of attention as technical skills.

The specialist noted that the research routine is intrinsically demanding: involving laboratory analyses, data processing, and reading and producing complex texts. Completing a thesis or dissertation requires rigorous planning and self-discipline, skills that are directly transferable to the corporate world.

“This process of thinking outside the box, being able to interpret scientific information and transform it into something tangible is part of being a researcher—and companies need professionals like that.” — Jaqueline Ribas, founder of Pesquisa de Impacto

Practical skills

These skills include project management, leadership, and team development. By refining them throughout the course of research, researchers gain experience in planning, meeting deadlines, and managing deliverables—skills that are all highly valued in the private sector. For this reason, Ribas advises candidates to make this experience clear during selection processes.

Researchers are also able to lead and supervise teams. For those who consider their research predominantly solitary, Ribas suggests an exercise: think about coauthored articles and the complexity of coordinating collective work of that nature.

Another competitive advantage is technical writing, including bibliographic surveys and data analysis, an increasingly sought-after skill outside of academia.

To read the full content on scientific careers and the importance of your experience for the labor market, see the interview in this piece from Science Arena.

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