Finding your tribe in academia

For the last three years, I have been working with PhDs looking for their first jobs in industry. I met academics at many stages of their academic career ranging from starting PhD candidates to tenured professors — and representing multiple disciplines of science, from STEM sciences to humanities. If I could point to one question I hear from all of them, over and over again, it would be: “How do I best format my resume?” At first, this question sounds legitimate: the way you format your resume clearly matters, as it influences your chances to land the job. But at the same time, it is a misfortunate question to ask. Why is this the case? Well, there is one issue that pops up here: Did you make sure that you are applying for the right job in the first place?

While working with PhDs, I noticed that some of them transitioned to industry much smoother than others. These were the people who spent at least 80% of their job search time on learning about themselves, studying the general structure of the job market, and looking for a group of professionals who think and act alike. In other words, looking for their tribe. After they had found their right tribe, getting a job — either by applying for job offers or by means of networking — was only the remaining 20% of all the effort.