Career change: “Scientific education needs to be seen as a professional asset”

Skills developed in research can be decisive in a transition to the labor market, says expert

Researchers can use the skills they acquire in academia—such as critical analysis and problem-solving—to gain a foothold in the job market | AI-generated image

How can years of dedication to research be leveraged in a career outside academia? That was the central question of the third meeting in a series of conversations about scientific careers, hosted online by Science Arena on September 30.

The event was attended by Jaqueline Ribas, a specialist in hiring researchers and founder of the consultancy Pesquisa de Impacto (“impactful research”), who discussed strategies and the challenges faced by master’s and PhD holders wishing to transition from academia to the job market.

Ribas shared her experiences and offered practical guidelines on how researchers can make the most of their skills, adapt their résumés, and more effectively communicate their potential to companies, without renouncing the scientific identity they have developed over the years.

With a linguistics degree from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and a master’s in digital product management from Nuclio Digital School in Spain, Jaqueline Ribas founded Pesquisa de Impacto in 2021 with the aim of helping research professionals change career paths by leveraging their skills outside of the academic environment.

Watch the full video below:

Some of the key topics addressed at the event:

1. Responsible use of academic experience in the labor market

The discussion addressed how academic experience should be viewed as a professional experience. Ribas highlighted the importance of changing your mindset and not seeing yourself merely as a student.

Research is work, and academic experience should be valued during the transition—people are not starting from scratch.

The specialist emphasized that switching from academia to the private sector is a change of environment and not necessarily a complete career change. There are many similarities between academic research processes, such as scientific writing and project submission, and corporate research and development (R&D).

2. Valued skills

Many skills developed in academia are highly valued in the job market. Ribas cited several examples, distinguishing them as interpersonal and practical skills:

Interpersonal (soft) skills: resilience, adaptability, flexibility, communication, teaching, and a willingness to solve problems.
Practical (hard) skills: project management (planning, scheduling, deliverables), people leadership (guiding, leading, and supervising, rather than just advising students), team training, technical and scientific writing, bibliographic review, submission of proposals to ethics committees, and proficiency with data analysis tools (statistics, Python, R, bioinformatics).

Jaqueline Ribas, an expert in recruiting research professionals, smiles at the camera, wearing a white coat and an earth-toned scarf, in front of a neutral background. — Jaqueline Ribas: “There is a common fear among newly graduated master’s and PhD holders that they will not be able to find a job because they lack experience” | Image: Personal Archive

3. Strategies for the transition

Researchers need to adopt specific strategies to communicate their value to the market, not least because modern selection processes rely heavily on automated résumé screening systems.

A. Attitude and language: adopt the stance of a “professional researcher,” rather than that of a student. Make sure you know how to use business vocabulary and replace academic expressions with corporate equivalents. For example, say “scientific research/R&D” instead of “academic research” and “leading/supervising professionals” instead of “advising students.”

B. LinkedIn and Lattes: LinkedIn, a social network focused on business and professionals, is the main tool for job hunting. It must therefore be recognized that Lattes (a Brazilian website for students and researchers to share their academic résumés) is designed for academic communication, while LinkedIn is designed to communicate with corporations, including industries.

It is essential to adapt your academic résumé into a LinkedIn profile. This ‘translation’ must focus on your responsibilities and achievements, and not just the topics you have studied.

C. Job hunt: search for openings using broader terms (e.g., genetics) rather than sub-fields or highly specific scientific wording (e.g., germ cell genetics). When looking for a job, quality is more important than quantity: limit yourself to a maximum of five applications per week and tailor your résumé to each of them, so that the skills described in your résumé correspond to the requirements of the position.

D. Interviews: always prepare for job interviews in advance. It’s crucial to be ready for the classic prompt to “tell us more about yourself” (use concise, direct, and compelling presentation techniques, like an elevator pitch). When answering questions and presenting your skills, you can use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

E. Networking: establishing and maintaining a network of contacts is valuable for opening doors and obtaining information about a given field. However, networking alone will not guarantee you a job; you still need to be convincing during interviews. The best approach to networking is to ask others about their careers and avoid asking for a job directly, always maintaining a positive attitude and highlighting your own experience.

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