Alternative careers are opened after a PhD : Leaving the bench to advance public knowledge of current research by science writing, applying your research knowledge to protect public health with regulatory affairs or public security with biodefense, and serving the scientific community through policymaking, science policy.

In my experience both as a scientist and as a coach helping other scientists, I’ve come to know very well three obstacles or roadblocks that might have a huge impact on your scientific career, the decisions you make, and your overall satisfaction. These three roadblocks are : the definition of scientific success, the impostor syndrome, and feeling like a failure.

Après sa thèse, Pauline Grondin, docteur en chimie âgée de 30 ans, a obtenu plusieurs postes en CDD dans le secteur privé ou dans l’enseignement. Mais elle peine à décrocher un emploi en CDI. Elle revient sur son parcours et les raisons de ses difficultés d’insertion.

With interest not just in science but also in its applications, Jing Fung Tan chose to study chemical engineering for a bachelor’s degree at the University of Melbourne in Australia. After that, as a Ph.D. student at the same university, he introduced a commercial slant to his research designing star-shaped polymers for use in paint coatings and drug-delivery systems. The stringent conditions necessary to produce the star polymers made commercializing them difficult, so he developed an easier-to-scale-up approach for industry. The work led to a provisional patent application, which he helped draft. That experience helped him secure a patent attorney traineeship, at Griffith Hack in Melbourne, immediately after finishing his Ph.D. in 2009.

Pierrick Auvray, intervenu lors de la rencontre entreprises-docteurs que j’avais mentionnée ici a bien voulu nous accorder un entretien pour approfondir les liens entre son expérience de chercheur et celle de manager. Voici quelques passages de cet entretien qui peuvent alimenter notre controverse.

In a highly competitive economy, companies need to stay ahead of their competition if they are to stay afloat. To this end, companies routinely scan all the public information they can find about competitors, including annual reports, scientific papers, regulatory filings, and social media. They talk with key opinion leaders and utilize other primary sources of information. Placed in perspective, this information is a sort of early warning system for companies in competitive markets, helping them to navigate the waters of the business world. The field is called competitive intelligence (CI).

Becoming a self-employed writer is a dream career for many academics, particularly those in the humanities. Writing is what we do, after all. Surely we can claim that particular expertise after all those years spent alone with a laptop? And having your own business is tremendously appealing because we’re not used to working for someone else or being in an office for the traditional 9-to-5 shift.

Les organisateurs de la journée d’étude « À quoi sert la géographie ? » m’ont invité à une réflexion post-doctorale et à une définition des conditions de la réussite d’une création d’entreprise. Ils m’ont clairement signifié leurs attentes : décrire mon parcours et la création de la société Alternimpact, puis citer un exemple d’étude pour un client, afin de cerner les enjeux de la demande sociale de géographie. Les organisateurs souhaitent donc du concret. La difficulté est de ne pas tomber dans des considérations personnelles ou de retracer une évolution de carrière par dates, mais bien, en partant d’un cas, d’une expérience personnelle, de faire apparaître des éléments-clefs pour la création d’une entreprise dans le domaine de la géographie.

Those who prefer organizing ideas to working at the bench should consider a career in technical writing.

Principal investigators can show their postdocs how to make the most of their job search — and that can help both parties.