Other industries speak slightly different ‘languages’ to academia, and therefore it’s your job to ‘translate’ what you’ve done during your postgraduate degree into language, skills and achievements that the employer will understand. Dr Sean McCarthy, Managing Director of research training company Hyperion Ltd., describes the difference between academic language and culture, and industry language and culture, thus:

Academia	Industry
Students, academics	Clients/ stakeholders – i.e. people who use or benefit from our work and have some involvement or interest in it
Research and teaching	Products, processes and services
Academic freedom	Legal and financial rules and regulations
Research questions, hypotheses	Mission and strategy
‘Turning money into research’	‘Turning research into money’

It is important that you explicitly show how your academic and extracurricular experiences demonstrate that you have the skills and qualities the employer is seeking. Here are some examples of how you might ‘extract’ transferable skills from different things you’ve done during your postgraduate degree:

Academic essentials	Skills employers might look for
Producing a dissertation / thesis	- Designing and/or managing a project - Collecting data - Analysing sources / texts / results - Self-motivation - Creative problem-solving
Teaching	- Verbal communication skills - Conveying complex information in an accessible way - Engaging audiences - Presenting
Writing articles	- Written communication skills - Reviewing and editing - Tailoring communication to a specific audience
Dealing with your supervisor	- Building professional relationships - Negotiating and influencing

NEXT: Job descriptions ➜