A PhD program is, to state the obvious, tough work. On top of the rigorous demands of the program itself, from conducting original research to writing a thesis and scrounging up additional funding, students also face the challenge of fashioning themselves for a post-graduate academic career. Nonetheless, it’s imperative to lay the groundwork for your academic future as early as possible to better achieve the post-graduate future you want.
To that end, this post will offer some advice for current and prospective graduate students on how to develop a relationship with your advisor, manage your doctoral thesis and prepare for your thesis defense, and think ahead toward your post-graduate life.
Mentorship and Advising
The relationship you have with your advisor is going to vary based on your field of study, PhD program structure, and individual personality and communication styles. But in every case, your thesis advisor is a tremendous resource who will help you shape not only your dissertation, but also your academic future writ large.
Your advisor will work with you throughout many years of a PhD program, so be sure to select someone you have easy and open communication with and can work well alongside. They might not be an expert on every subject that your thesis will broach, but they should be a strong academic match for your larger research topic and able to point you in the right direction of areas that their own expertise might not cover. Create a consistent meeting schedule that works for both of you, and seek advice from your advisor on programs, fellowships, and research or teaching opportunities within and beyond your university that align with your broader academic goals. And, finally, don’t lean on your advisor for everything—they are busy people too!—but seek additional advice from other department faculty, academics you meet at conferences or in social media spaces, and your fellow graduate students.
Writing and Defending Your Thesis
Your thesis is, in many ways, the backbone of your PhD program, the culmination of years of research and your unique contribution to a field of study. Producing a compelling and well-written thesis will not only help you develop crucial skills in research, writing, and revisioning, but will also make you an attractive candidate on the academic job market.
It is likely that you will submit portions of your thesis or related research for publication in academic journals. Having a publication record will, of course, enhance your CV, but even in the case of a rejection, receiving feedback on your submission will contribute toward making your research—and the thesis project it developed from—stronger. Present your work-in-progress at conferences and solicit as much expert feedback as you can. Set aside time every day to do some writing, which will help you develop and refine your own scholarly voice.
As the time draws near to assemble a committee and defend your thesis, don’t panic! You are the expert on your own project, and your committee will be interested to learn, among other things, how you’ve drawn the threads of your unique research tapestry together. What methodologies were most valuable to you, what gaps in the literature have you addressed, and what future research might grow out of this thesis?
After many years of research, you will come to understand who you are as a scholar and what your academic commitments and scholarly priorities are. As you prepare to enter the academic job market, work on developing your “elevator pitch”—a two-minute summary of your thesis and broader research agenda that you can rattle off to search committees, colleagues, and hapless passers-by for a quick yet illuminating rundown of your scholarly profile and the work you’re doing.
What Comes Next?
Finally, it can be a good idea to develop visibility online through social media accounts, a blog, or even a YouTube channel or podcast series (if you’re tech savvy) to help further promote yourself and your scholarship. Consider presenting distilled versions of your research in public-facing forums like the Los Angeles Review of Books or Popular Science. In a crowded marketplace, doing so will not only make you more searchable, but will also expand your academic network and help grow an audience interested in you and your research.
It’s no secret that landing a stable academic job has, for a variety of reasons, become increasingly challenging—but don’t let this deter you from seeking that coveted tenure-track position or other research or teaching job that graduate school has specially trained you for. There is also a bevy of nonacademic and alternative academic (or “alt-ac)” career paths that newly minted PhDs can thrive in, from publishing (hello!) to consulting to government and nonprofit roles and beyond. Use your time, and the considerable skills you acquire, in graduate school to explore your interests and refine your goals, keeping yourself open to the world of possibilities that the intense and meaningful training of a PhD program affords you.
