For PhDs & postdocs

PhD career paths beyond academia

Only ~10% of life-sciences PhDs end up in tenure-track roles. Here are nine careers where your training pays — what the work looks like, how your skills translate, and what to do in the next 30 days.

Run a skill-gap analysis Translate your CV for industry

Industry Scientist (Biotech / Pharma)

R&D

You enjoyed bench work but want clearer ladders, real budgets, and salaries that match your training.

Typical comp: $110k–180k

Skills that translate

Experimental designAssay developmentCross-functional collaborationMentoring trainees → managing reports

First moves (next 30 days)

→Cut CV to 2 pages, lead with impact bullets, not techniques.
→Target Scientist I / II at companies whose pipeline matches your thesis.
→Get 5 informational chats with alumni who made the jump in the last 2 years.

Computational Biology / Bioinformatics

Data

You wrote scripts to analyze your own data and found you preferred it to the wet bench.

Typical comp: $120k–200k

Skills that translate

Statistical reasoningPython / R fluencyPipeline thinkingReading primary literature

First moves (next 30 days)

→Ship a public reproducible analysis on GitHub (Snakemake/Nextflow, tested, documented).
→Pass a SQL + algorithmic-thinking screen — practice 4 weeks on LeetCode easy/medium.
→Apply to 'Computational Biologist' and 'Bioinformatics Scientist' roles, not 'Data Scientist'.

Medical Science Liaison (MSL)

Commercial

You're a strong communicator who likes deep technical conversations with experts.

Typical comp: $160k–220k

Skills that translate

Conference presentingLiterature synthesisTeaching seminars1:1 stakeholder relationships

First moves (next 30 days)

→Identify 3 therapeutic areas adjacent to your thesis (mechanism overlap counts).
→Reach out to current MSLs on LinkedIn for shadow days or info chats.
→Apply directly — most teams hire PhDs/PharmDs/MDs with no prior MSL experience.

Life-Sciences / Strategy Consulting

Advisory

You like ambiguous problems, fast pivots, and being the smartest person in many rooms — briefly.

Typical comp: $165k–230k base

Skills that translate

Structured problem solvingSlide-making (your thesis defense)Synthesizing fragmented evidenceResilience under deadline

First moves (next 30 days)

→Case prep — 6–10 weeks, partner with another PhD candidate.
→Target life-sciences practices at MBB, ZS, Trinity, L.E.K., Putnam, Clearview.
→Apply in Sep–Oct for the next year's PhD recruitment cycle.

Regulatory Affairs

Compliance

You like rules, precision, and writing that has to be exactly right.

Typical comp: $95k–160k

Skills that translate

Writing for skeptical readers (Reviewer 2)Citing precedentManaging version chaosProject coordination

First moves (next 30 days)

→Take the free FDA SBIA learning courses, then RAPS RAC fundamentals.
→Target 'Regulatory Affairs Associate / Specialist' roles.
→Smaller biotechs hire PhDs straight in; large pharma usually wants 1–2 years' RA exposure first.

Science Policy / Government

Public sector

You think the bottleneck on impact is funding, regulation, or public understanding — not the next experiment.

Typical comp: $80k–140k

Skills that translate

Translating jargon for non-expertsSynthesizing competing evidenceLong-horizon planning

First moves (next 30 days)

→Apply to fellowships: AAAS S&T Policy (US), Royal Society Pairing Scheme (UK), JSPS (JP).
→Write 3 short policy briefs on your specialty — publish them on a personal site.
→Volunteer for a learned society's policy committee.

Science Writing / Medical Communications

Communications

You're the labmate everyone asks to edit their drafts.

Typical comp: $70k–140k

Skills that translate

Plain-language explanationSource evaluationHitting word counts under pressure

First moves (next 30 days)

→Build a clip portfolio: 6–10 pieces on a personal site or Substack.
→MedComms agencies (Nucleus, Oxford PharmaGenesis, Fishawack) hire PhDs into Medical Writer roles.
→For journalism, pitch The Scientist, STAT, Chemistry World — short news first.

Venture Capital / Business Development

Finance

You're as interested in why a company exists as in the science it runs.

Typical comp: $130k–250k+ (carry)

Skills that translate

Diligence = literature review with a deadlineReading clinical data criticallyNetwork from your scientific cohort

First moves (next 30 days)

→Read Bruce Booth's Life Sci VC blog cover-to-cover; subscribe to Endpoints, STAT, BioPharma Dive.
→Source 3 startups you'd invest in and write a one-pager for each — share with VC contacts.
→Target science roles at biotech VC (Atlas, Flagship, Third Rock), or BD at a clinical-stage biotech.

Teaching, EdTech & Curriculum Design

Education

You loved TA'ing more than the dissertation.

Typical comp: $60k–130k

Skills that translate

Curriculum design (your courses)Assessment writing1:1 student support

First moves (next 30 days)

→Liberal-arts colleges and community colleges hire PhDs as teaching faculty — no R1 grant pressure.
→EdTech (Coursera, MasterClass, Labster) hires PhDs as content leads.
→Build one polished public lesson (YouTube + worksheet) as a portfolio piece.

Make your skills legible to non-academic hiring managers

Three tools researchers use most:

CV → industry rewrite

Reframe academic CV in industry vocabulary.

Skill-gap analysis

See which non-academic skills to add next.

Personal goal tracker

Turn a pivot into weekly milestones.