I don't know what I want to do after my PhD
Explore your options early and cheaply, so the decision rests on evidence rather than worry.
In short
Start here, today. Write down five moments from your PhD so far when you lost track of time or felt quietly proud. For each one, note what you were actually doing: teaching, analysing, writing, organising, persuading. Add them to Wins and Accomplishments. This takes about 20 minutes.
After that, work through these steps. Choose one to jump to it.
Step by step
Tick each step as you finish it. Open a step for the how.
0 of 6 steps done
Take a skills inventory
Go through your Wins list and write the skills behind each item. The Vitae Researcher Development Framework gives you a detailed vocabulary for researcher skills, from knowledge and research practice to working with others and wider impact. Most people find they have more to offer than they assumed.
Try a structured career tool
ImaginePhD, built for humanities and social sciences, and myIDP, built for the sciences, are free tools that ask about your skills, interests and values and suggest career areas to look into. Treat the results as a list of things to investigate, not a verdict.
Have a few informational interviews
Find a handful of people with PhDs who now work in roles you're curious about, through alumni networks, LinkedIn or your department. Ask for 20 minutes to hear how they got there and what the work is really like day to day. The guide on building your network has a short message you can adapt.
Run small experiments
Before committing to a direction, try it in a small way: an internship, a short consulting project, a policy brief, a course you teach, an article for a general audience, a volunteer role. A few weeks of real work tell you more than months of wondering.
Book a career centre appointment
Most universities have career advisors, and some have advisors specifically for graduate students and postdocs. They can help with self-assessment, finding people to talk to and turning a CV into a resume when you need one.
Keep notes and revisit them
Keep a short running note of what you learn about each option and how it felt. Every few months, read it through. Patterns show up over a year that you'd never spot in a single week.
Is this you? Signs to look for
- When people ask about your plans, you change the subject.
- You assumed you'd become a professor, and now you're not sure you want to or whether it's realistic.
- You have no idea what PhDs in your field do outside universities.
- Exploring other options feels disloyal to your supervisor or your discipline.
Why this happens
In most countries, universities award far more PhDs each year than there are new permanent academic posts, so most graduates end up in a wide range of careers: government, industry, nonprofits, consulting, research organisations, schools, their own businesses. Many supervisors followed the academic route themselves, which can make the other routes almost invisible from inside a department.
Not knowing is normal, and thinking harder rarely solves it. Career clarity usually comes from information and experience: talking to people, trying things and noticing what you enjoy. Both take time, which is why it helps to start well before your final year.
Exploring doesn't take you away from the PhD. Managing a long project, analysing complex material, writing for different readers and explaining hard ideas simply are skills you're building already. Looking at careers helps you see them.
Worth a look (6)
- ImaginePhDFree career exploration for humanities and social sciences PhDs.
- myIDPA free individual development plan and career explorer for science PhDs.
- Vitae Researcher Development FrameworkA detailed map of the skills researchers develop, useful for describing your own.
- Versatile PhDHelps PhD students and graduates explore careers beyond academia, with real career stories, job search guides and forums. Access is usually through your university's subscription.
- THEunijobsUniversity jobs around the world from Times Higher Education, including academic, research and professional roles, which you can filter by country and field.
- UN Young Professionals ProgrammeAn entrance exam that can lead to a first professional job at the UN, for young graduates from countries on that year's participating list. Exam subjects and countries change every year.
More on careers in and beyond academia in the resource library
When to bring someone in
Your university's career centre is the obvious first stop, especially if it has advisors for graduate students. A committee member or a postdoc in your group can be a good sounding board, particularly if your supervisor has only worked in academia. If worry about the future is affecting your sleep or your work, the counselling service can help.
Find the right person, or talk to Ify