Why Should You Do A PhD? - career-advice.jobs.ac.uk.
I Have My PhD, Where Do I Go From Here? This article focuses on a difficult time in every academic’s career: what to do immediately after getting a PhD. Congratulations, you have had your viva and your PhD has been awarded, it feels as though you are at the end of a huge journey.
If you are a PhD student who wants a non-academic career, take the plunge and fight for experiences that will increase your career prospects. This includes undertaking various internships related to your desired professional career and learning how to write non-academic CVs and cover letters.
The route you take will depend on your interests, the funding and opportunities in your subject area and the job market at certain points in your career. The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has made a study of academic careers pathways in Europe.
Having previous teaching experience will certainly help your application, and universities often make teaching opportunities available to PhD students. Getting your work and name well-known is an excellent step into an academic career, so try to get articles published in high-quality journals and actively engage with other academics through collaborations and conferences.
What does this mean? It means the reason most PhDs do not get PhD jobs in industry is because they lack the information they need to get these jobs. They also lack information on which non-academic career options are available to them and which of these positions fit their goals and lifestyle.
Your choice of PhD topic can give you a slight head-start in a particular career path if it matches well to the work done in that position. However, choosing a topic (as opposed to a discipline) that does not match your later career path does not harm you, except to the extent that it forfeits this small advantage.
For those looking to pursue a career in academia, then a PhD is an essential qualification which will allow them to both continue their research, and to teach University students. Those wishing to pursue a career within this field should try and gain teaching practice throughout their PhD by giving lectures and seminars to first year undergraduates.