Introduction to the Research Stage
Determine which career you'd like to try next

In academia, you had to take time and do research in order to learn your field. The same thing is true of non-academic careers. Each professional career field is highly specialized, with its own discourses, theories, practices, and tools. You’ll need to spend time reading yourself into a new career field and building a community of professionals who can help you in your job search. But in spite of this fact, one of the biggest mistakes many PhDs make in their non-academic job searching is that they begin applying for jobs without doing much research.

The lessons in our Research Stage will help you avoid making this common mistake, and this lesson gives you an overview of this stage. From networking to writing a resume that highlights the skills employers are looking for, the lessons in our Research Stage will show you how to gather information about career fields that interest you. That way, as you move towards making an informed career decision, you can be confident that you’re speaking the language that employers in your chosen field want to hear.