From Scholar

to Dollar

ANNA HARRISON

ANNA HARRISON

From Scholar

to Dollar

2

for scholars everywhere

Creator: Harrison, Anna, 1973, author.

Title: From scholar to dollar : in 15 easy steps / Anna Harrison.

ISBN: 9780992562908 (ebook)

Subjects: College graduates--Employment--aust. Career development--Australia.

Dewey Number: 650.140994

forewordCompleting a higher degree is a journey that often ends in high levels of dissatisfaction. You work intensely for years, only to find that you lack the skills necessary to land your dream job.

Instead of blaming the system, or discrediting the value of higher education, you can take control of your post degree destiny.

By following the 15 simple steps outlined in this book, you can arm yourself with the auxiliary skills needed to make your transition from scholar to dollar both seamless and successful.

I wish you an enjoyable journey in your personal transition from Scholar to Dollar!

Anna Harrison

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why do you need

this book?

a degreealone nolongerguaranteescareersuccess

Today, the acquisition of a degree, even a higher degree such as a Masters or Doctorate, is no longer enough to guarantee career success. In fact, according to many recent media accounts, pursuing a higher degree has been cast as a waste of time1. This is both worrying and inaccurate.

As a society, we collectively benefit from the investment made by each scholar in pursuing an education. Education has been, and always will be, the key weapon that we have against prejudice, hatred and war. Unfortunately, the global trend is towards reducing, rather than increasing, the amount of higher education pursued by each individual.

A major cause for the decreasing popularity of higher education is the perceived negative return on the time and cost of such degrees. Potential scholars feel that after completing their coveted degree, they will emerge without the skills required to guarantee career success. For the most part, they are correct.

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your key to post degree successEducational institutions are in the market of teaching scholars a specific set of skills. As the rank of the degree increases, the range of skills taught necessarily decreases. In order to complete a Doctorate, for example, you are trained to attain world-class competency in a very narrow skill set. The trouble is, that to succeed in life post degree, you need a broader range of skills.

Unfortunately, the teaching of these auxiliary skills lies outside of the curriculum of most tertiary institutions.

This book is your roadmap to acquiring the auxiliary skills needed to succeed post degree. By following the 15 simple steps outlined in this book, you can ensure that your transition from scholar to dollar will be both seamless and successful.

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will Ihave time

to learn auxiliary

skills?7

YES!

By its very nature, the process of completing a higher degree is all consuming. It requires hard work, brilliance and discipline. Many scholars become so entrenched in their research that the idea of taking time out to develop additional skills will seem impossible.

Fortunately, the natural ebb and flow of the research process provides the ideal environment for the development of auxiliary skills. Regardless of the nature of your research, there are bound to be times of lower-intensity: times spent waiting for approvals, or feedback, or participants to respond, or materials to arrive. These lull-periods are the ideal opportunity to work on developing these critical skills.

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what if I want a

career in academia

?

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The auxiliary skills described in this book are essential to master, regardless of whether your post degree career path leads to an academic or industry position (or a combination of the two).

The reason for this is that today there is no difference between the skills required to excel in academia, and the skills required to excel in an industry environment. The gap between academia and industry has become insignificant.

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The traditional view of industry as a profit driven ecosystem and academia as a research driven ecosystem is no longer true. In the current economic climate, corporations depend on research to maintain a competitive advantage2. Similarly, academic institutions face growing pressure to be financially sustainable, if not profitable. As a result, the skills needed to succeed in academia have become the same as those needed to succeed in industry settings.

the same skills are needed to succeed in both academic and industry settings

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you will need to

become a professor in CEO’s clothing

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The golden age of academia ended several decades ago. The academic bubble burst when faculties were required to become profit centers. At present, many academic departments are profit driven — they are effectively corporations which hold a special tax status and have the capacity to award degrees3. Academic institutions have become indistinguishable from many other large corporations.

Despite this change in climate, the perception of what it is to be an academic has not changed. Most early career academics still hold on to the notion that their career progress will be evaluated on the basis of the number (and quality) of their publications, the quality of their teaching and the enthusiasm with which they approach the various administrative activities they are asked to perform. Although the pursuit of grants is encouraged, it is not seen as essential to career success.

Unfortunately, this view is completely wrong.

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in reality, the criteria pyramid is almost exactly inverted In order to excel in academia it is no longer enough to

be a brilliant researcher. You will also need to become a professor in CEO’s clothing and develop the auxiliary skills to create your academic identity, communicate the value of your research and sell your ideas to fund further research. Fortunately, these skills can be acquired (in 15 simple steps).

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…or a CEO

in a bowtie

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Just as there is a need for academics to develop skills traditionally associated with the corporate sector, there is an equally strong need to transfer the skills and culture of research into corporate settings.

Traditionally, corporations strove to gain a competitive advantage to create barriers to entry for competitors. With increased competition and shorter time to market, however, these barriers to entry are becoming eroded faster than in the past. As a result, corporations must continually innovate in order to maintain their market share.

Innovation is no longer a one-time process, it is something that must be done systematically in order to create a steadily producing innovation pipeline of new and improved offerings2.

In order to maintain an innovation pipeline, a culture of innovation is needed within the corporation. Unfortunately, corporations have not traditionally excelled in creating environments which reward exploration, research and blue-sky thinking. This type of intellectual exploration has been performed within our academic and research institutions.

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research thinking is needed to fuel the innovation pipeline…

As both the academic and corporate ecosystems adapt to reflect changes in the complexity and competitiveness of the outside world, we too must adapt in order to thrive in these new ecosystems.

The convergence between academia and industry brings with it new opportunities for a new type of higher degree graduate.

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There is currently an acute need for people who possess both a higher degree education, and have the auxiliary skillset to translate the value of research into business terms.

Our education institutions do a good job of ensuring graduates emerge with the research based skills. This book provides a simple roadmap to filling the skills gap needed to successfully transition from scholar to a successful career in both academic and industry settings.

Like most things in life, the more you practice something the better at it you become. The art lies in knowing where to focus your efforts… and in making a start!

…business thinking is needed to

fund research projects

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your roadmap

to post degree

success…19

STEP 1learn to

articulatevalue

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your value proposition is the answer to “why should I care” about your work

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Learning to articulate the value of your work, from the perspective of your audience, is the most important lesson that you can take away from this book.

The value proposition of your work is the answer to “why should I care” about your research. It is the answer to the question of “how will your work help me [make more money | get promoted]?”. It is not the answer to the question of why YOU think your work is interesting, or why you are interested in your work, or why you think someone else may be interested. Your value proposition is the bridge that connects your work to someone else’s revenue stream.

It is a common mistake to assume that your audience cares about your work, and therefore leave this question unanswered. Don’t make this mistake. It is your job to communicate the value of your work — don’t leave it to your audience to guess.

it is YOUR job to articulate the value...

do not make your audience

guess

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Imagine if you walked into a shop that sold items packaged in black boxes. The shop keeper, rather than telling you what was in each box, said instead:

“I worked hard on the contents of the box, so you should buy the item”. Needless to say, you would not buy a black box, would you?

Make it your responsibility to articulate how your work can help solve someone else's problem.

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always eschew obfuscation…in favour of clarity and simplicity

Articulating the value requires the ability to look at the problem from the perspective of your target audience.

Articulating value does not mean talking about how many graduates or publications your project produced. Value needs to be articulated in the currency of the recipient: dollars saved, dollars earned, new ideas developed (future earning potential or market share preservation potential).

A correlated misperception is that there is a connection between complexity and value. Academic training, and specifically academic writing, sometimes leads to the abstraction and obfuscation of ideas. The ability to express value in simple terms is critical, and should be considered a feature, not a downfall.

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STEP 2develop

an elevator

pitch

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your pitch should articulate your value proposition…what do you do, and why should I care

The idea of the elevator pitch was popularized in the Silicon Valley during the dot com boom. The essence of the elevator pitch is to distill your work into a few sentences — approximately what could be delivered to a potential investor during a chance encounter in an elevator.

The elevator pitch is your answer to the question “so, what do you do?”, and implicitly “how does what you do help me?”. The elevator pitch is not something traditionally associated with academic research, but it ought to be.

The elevator pitch is quite literally the most important 100 words that you will write outside of your thesis. These 100 words not only communicate the value of your work, they will ultimately define your post degree identity.

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words become actionsactions become habitshabits shape character

character becomes destiny

...choose your words with careadapted from Lao Tzu

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Investing time in refining your elevator pitch will pay dividends, as will rehearsing it. You never know who you will meet, and when your pitch will come in handy — Aunt Beryl’s first cousin may just be the past director of the largest consulting firm you are trying to get a job at. The world is small.

It is important that your elevator pitch communicates your value proposition. It is not enough to say WHAT your research is about, you need to articulate WHY it is important or potentially interesting to others. Your pitch needs to articulate your value proposition, in simple, everyday language.

Refine your pitch and commit it to memory. The story you start to tell yourself about your life will shape your post degree destiny.

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STEP 3take

yourself seriously

think and act like who you want to become... not like the student you are right now

The nature of the higher degree process will make you question your self-worth on many levels: is the research significant enough? Interesting enough? Am I as brilliant as my colleagues? Will I ever finish this degree?

Historically, the academic process had imbued students with a deep sense of humility and subversion to the incumbents in the field. Although it is natural to admire the work of others with awe and to pose these questions, it is equally important to recognize our own potential.

Each of us is perceived by others through the image we project. By taking yourself seriously, and thinking of yourself in the role you wish to have AFTER you graduate, you will find that others begin to see you as worthy of having that role.

Start to take yourself seriously and others will too.

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STEP 4use

words to shape

concepts

naming abstract concepts will make your research accessible and easier to understand

Our early relationship with the world is formed through the association of words to tangible objects: a cup, a mountain, a teddy bear.

In contrast, the output of many Masters and Doctoral works is a set of highly specialized and abstract concepts. The intangible nature of these concepts makes it very difficult to explain, and to understand the outputs of such research.

As children, we assign names to the tangible things around us. As adults, we assign names to the less tangible things in our lives: love, happiness, sadness, hope. However, it is rare to apply these same strategies to give form and tangibility to research outputs.

Everything around us once started as a concept: your phone, your shoes, your jacket, your car, your coffee cup. All these objects once started as dreams. The dreams became articulated though words and designs. Words make concepts real.

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don’t be afraid to invent words or phrases to give your work shape and form

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STEP 5dress well,look

good

if you wear nice clothes, you will always look good

Clothes may not maketh the man, but they do maketh the first impression. And they continue to reinforce that impression at each subsequent interaction.

People are visual, and influenced by first impressions. It is nature’s way of dealing with complexity. You can fight it, or embrace it and make it work to your advantage.

Dressing well and looking the part is an EASY, totally overlooked, and yet critical part of creating your post-degree career identity. Remember to dress like who you want to become post degree, and not like who you currently are (starving student).

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STEP 6learn to

write clearly

Writing well is an essential skill to develop. The written word is the main conduit through which we communicate our thoughts and ideas to the outside world.

The written word persists far longer than the spoken, irrespective of the medium in which the words are produced. Each and every piece of writing you create shapes your professional identity: email, facebook, academic papers, twitter updates and presentation slides. Take your writing as seriously as you take yourself.

Writing well is not a skill that one is born with. It is a skill that needs to be practiced and takes time to develop.

Irrespective of your starting point or whether you are writing in your native tongue, you can improve your writing if you know what to focus on.

As part of your Masters or Doctoral degree, you will be required to produce thousands of words in the written form. It is worthwhile to invest time into writing these words with clarity and focus. In doing so, you will find that you can re-purpose elements of your thesis or dissertation into various formats: blog posts, expert opinions, general media pieces and academic publications.

The key is to learn to write smarter.

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make clarity your core value...

…always write with purpose

1. Keep all writing simple and to the point. Ensure that the value of your piece (WHAT and WHY) is explicitly articulated. Do not leave this as guesswork for your audience.

2. NEVER, ever, write an email in a hurry or when you are angry. Always assume that your email will be forwarded or cc’d to a wider audience and write accordingly.

3. Keep emails to one paragraph in length — no one has time to read more than that. Ensure that you articulate the value (WHAT and WHY) early and succinctly.

4. Pay attention to punctuation, grammar and spelling in ALL forms of writing, even in emails. Each piece of written work contributes to your professional identity. Take yourself seriously: LOL’s and YOLO’s do not belong in professional correspondence.

5. Academic writing is notoriously boring and unreadable. Do not be afraid to break this trend. It is perfectly acceptable, if not preferable, to write about difficult

concepts in a clear and simple manner. Make use of metaphors, analogies and assign names to difficult concepts. There is elegance in simplicity.

6. Keep each pieces of writing focused on one main idea. Resist the temptation to put everything you know into every piece of writing. Break it up into logical components.

7. Keep blog pages to a length of 300 words. If your post is longer, break it into two or more pieces.

8. When creating presentations, focus on “what do I want the audience to learn?”. Ensure that each slide addresses the key goal. NEVER include slides that are illegible (such as tables of 10pt numbers), or slides that you “don’t have time to cover in this talk”.

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eight tips for writing smarter

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STEP 7learn to

speak effectively

you do not serve the world by shrinking, but by shining

Effective presentation skills are essential to career success. Where written words shape our identity, the spoken word provides the opportunity for that identity to shine. It is our responsibility to enable this: keeping the fruits of research in the shadows does not do the world any favors. To share your knowledge and work with others, it is necessary to learn how to speak well.

Like writing, speaking effectively is a skill that improves with practice. It is also a skill that everyone can learn, even those who face the challenge of overcoming language barriers. Speaking in a non-native tongue may be harder, but it is not a show-stopper. The audience is interested in learning about your ideas and work, irrespective of what accent the ideas are delivered in.

The thought of learning to speak effectively can be overwhelming for many people. However, with the right focus, you can improve — and grow to enjoy — your moment in the spotlight.

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1. Begin by writing an outline and transcript for your presentation. Focus on the length of your talk: a 15 minute talk should only cover ONE concept; a 30 minute talk at MOST three. Keep focused on “what do I want the audience to learn?”.

2. Articulate the value. Tell the audience, explicitly and up front, why your work is important and why they should listen to your talk. Don’t make the audience guess.

3. Eliminate unnecessary detail. Tell the audience only what they need to understand the WHAT and the WHY. They can read the detail in the paper.

4. Delete slides that “you don’t have time to cover”. A 15 minute presentation should have no more than 15 slides. Starting with a deck of 30+ slides guarantees that your talk will run over time. The opportunity to deliver the WHAT and WHY will be lost.

5. Represent your results visually. Make use of photographs, infographics, words, colors, metaphors. There are many examples of outstanding slides on the internet: use these as a guide for your own presentations.

6. Expect to be nervous before a talk: it is natural to get nervous about things that you care about. The key to overcoming stage fright is to be aware of it and embrace it.

7. Give yourself time to breathe. Arrive at the venue early, familiarize yourself with the equipment and allow a few minutes to BREATHE before starting your presentation. Breathing deeply will settle your nerves and lower your voice to a confident level.

8. Rehearse your talk OUT LOUD. This will help to fine tune the length of the presentation. Becoming familiar with the sound of your own voice will also help to reduce nervousness on the day.

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eight tips for smooth talking

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STEP 8learn to network

efficiently

If you are like most humans on this planet, the sheer thought of networking with strangers is likely to send you into a vortex of anxiety punctuated by moments of cold sweats and night terrors. Remember, however, that when you look around the conference room, you are in the company of those who feel exactly as you do.

Many scholars write networking off as unimportant, classifying it in the category of irrelevant small-talk with strangers. They view networking as a distraction from their main research goals. This perspective is entirely career limiting.

Networking is an important component of an effective transition post degree. It is through the establishment of human contacts that opportunities are created and the pool of knowledge is expanded. The problems that remain to be solved are generally too complex to be tackled by people in isolation. Working with others, expanding your professional network and getting to know the leaders in your field on a personal basis will hold the key to your career success.

The good news, of course, is that efficient networking is once again a skill that can be refined with practice.

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if you love networking then…you are probably an alien

1. Expect that networking will place you outside of your comfort zone: talking to people you already know and are comfortable with is not networking, it is socializing.

2. Connect with the people who hold the positions you aspire to have.

3. Master the art of instant rapport. You have about 10 seconds to convince a stranger that you are worth talking to. The EASIEST way to do this is to offer compliment: “Hi, I loved your talk, can you tell me more about…”.

4. Research your networking targets and come prepared with questions. This will keep conversation flowing. All people love talking about themselves and their work.

5. Learn to make effective introductions. Say one interesting thing about each of the people you are introducing: “John, this is my colleague Frans. Frans is at MCI, and was just telling me about his research into…”

6. Prepare an exit. There will be times when you strike out: if it is not working, make a polite exit. Life is short and there are plenty of other strangers in the networking sea.

7. Exchange business cards and follow up with an email after the meeting or conference. If appropriate, send a LinkedIn invitation.

8. Remember people’s names. A good way to do this is to over-use their name in the first three sentences of conversation.

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eight tips for working the room

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STEP 9articulate your goal

without a clear goal, you are likea blind man looking for a light switch in a well lit room

Articulating your career goals will enable you to recognize opportunities that come your way. Without a specific goal in mind, it is easy to get distracted by the complexity of life.

Life provides us with everything we need to succeed, however, it is our responsibility to take advantage of these opportunities. A clear goal will help you to recognize these openings from the background noise of life.

Having an explicit career goal will also direct you towards asking the right questions and networking with the right people who can help you along your path.

Do not postpone setting a career goal for fear of getting it wrong. Set a temporary career goal, and refine it over time. Having a goal is more important than having the “perfect” goal.

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STEP 10remember

that heroes are

human

The idolization of high profile academics is a right of passage for all scholars, especially those pursuing a Masters or Doctorate degree. It is natural to feel intimidated by the sheer brainpower and publication record of leaders in your field. So much so, that we often forget that the heroes we idolize are human, and really not much different to us (publication records aside).

As with all people, academic heroes fall into one of two categories. The first category, the approachable heroes, having attained dizzying career highs, will be happy to share their knowledge and experience with you. These academics are secure enough in their career that they do not feel threatened, and live by the creed that knowledge shared multiplies.

The remaining 1% of our heroes are, unfortunately, insecure assholes. Don’t be discouraged by your encounters with this minority group. Brush it off, and move on.

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everyone who is someone was at one timeno-one

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STEP 11don’t be afraid to

help others

if you light a lamp for somebody,it will also brighten yourownpath

adapted from Buddhist saying

One of the unfortunate side effects of the changes in the academic ecosystem has been the gradual deterioration of academic collegiality. Where in the past, colleagues would openly discuss research problems and solutions over sandwiches in common rooms, they now all hide in cones of secrecy and silence. The pressure to secure grants has eroded the free exchange of ideas.

Although it may seem counter intuitive, resist the temptation to isolate yourself and your research. Actively help others with the things you have learned. Connect people who have similar interests. Be generous with your time, share your passion and ideas.

Helping others is an authentic way to build your network. It is also a good way to give back something to the common good. As research problems become more complex, collectively, we all have a lot more to gain from active collaboration and co-innovation than insularity.

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STEP 12accept

imperfect-ion

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by the universal laws of balance... life is made up of 50% success and 50% screw-ups

A common trait of many higher degree scholars is a very well developed perfectionism streak. This characteristic fuels the determination that is needed to keep going through the hard and discouraging parts of the research process. Of course, perfectionism is also responsible for relentless self-criticism when things go wrong.

Any journey into unchartered waters carries with it the promise of success, and the risk of failure. In making a successful transition post degree, it is important to build up a tolerance to imperfection, failure, and the possibility that things will go wrong.

The easiest way to do this is to change your expectations. If you accept that, on balance, you will get 50% of the things you try completely wrong, then it is likely that you will come out pleasantly surprised.

Being a scholar is the perfect time to experiment, to get things wrong and to take chances. Separate your identity from your failed attempt: keep focused on your goal, expect that some leads will fizzle, get over it and move on to the next item on the list.

Above all, be kind to yourself and do not get discouraged by discouragement.

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STEP 13create a

virtual identity

Each of the steps outlined in this book so far help to develop specific skills that you will need to make a successful transition to your post degree career. Refining each step, or skill, is like creating a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. The next step is to assemble all the pieces into your post degree identity.

Your virtual identity will define how the outside world sees you. Creating a consistent, authentic and compelling identity is imperative to making a successful transition. In theory, a prospective employer should be able to learn everything they need to know about your professional achievements by googling you. The information they find virtually will lend credibility to what is written in your job application and resume.

An excellent way to anchor your virtual identity is to start a blog. During the course of your research, you will have written thousands of words for your thesis. You can easily re-purpose this writing into a blog format.

A professional blog will allow you to share your growing expertise and passion with a wider audience.

In conjunction with a blog, it is a good idea to connect with peers on social media channels such as Twitter. Become a regular contributor, help others and share your research. All these elements will assist in creating your post degree identity.

Lastly, consolidate your virtual presence by updating your LinkedIn profile. Ensure that you have an appropriate professional photo. Edit your list of experience and education to reflect only what is relevant to your new career goals.

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STEP 14define

your own business

model

The final component of making a successful transition from scholar to dollar is to define a business model that will fit in with your life. The model you choose will depend on your specific life context: do you have dependents? Can you travel to take your dream job? Is your work patentable? Do you have debt?

The options for tailoring a business model to suit your life vary in terms of the autonomy they provide and the risk they entail. In addition to full-time employment and contracting, you also have the option of starting your own business, or creating a cashflow portfolio that encompasses a hybrid mix of all these options.

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By following the steps in this book, you will have established yourself as a leader in your chosen field by the time that you are ready to graduate. This will place you in a good position to negotiate a work-life balance to suit your needs. The key is to find a niche that is narrow enough to make yourself stand out, yet big enough to generate a steady stream of opportunities.

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find a niche small enough to make you stand out, yet big enough to generate a steady cashflow

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STEP 15start

today!

Start today. Not tomorrow. Don’t wait for the environment to be perfect and for the stars to line up. Starting early gives you a longer ramp-up period. It also allows you to make your most awkward mistakes while you are relatively unknown.

You need time to try things out, to get things wrong, to refine your message, perspective and identity. You need time to establish yourself, to grow your network, to learn to speak and learn to write.

The key is to start thinking about how to fit the pieces of your post degree identity together, and work on this incrementally. If you begin a blog today, by the time you graduate you will have a 3+ year track record. This is something you cannot make up overnight.

The steps described in this book are not rocket science… but, the auxiliary skills take time to refine. It is not enough to read and understand the lessons in this book. It is necessary to put the lessons into practice.

The only way to do that is just to start. Today.

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references1. The Disposable Academic, The Economist, 16

December 2010

2. Transient Advantage, R. McGrath, Harvard Business Review 2013

3. Many thanks to Prof Simon Kaplan, Director at NICTA, who pointed out the similarity between academic institutions and corporations.

“Very inspirational and uplifting! The 15 tips can be applied to any field, and I love how simple the message is but at the same time real pointers on what to actually do (not just theory)… and by the end you feel like you can really do it!”

Evona Fingleton, Graphic Designer transitioning to a career in Nursing

“BRILLIANT! LOVE IT! So relevant — easy, succinct, enjoyable and packed with pertinent advice.”

Workshop attendee

“Clear, beautifully written, really well designed and focused.”

Dee Bradshaw, Professor at JKMRC and winner of the 2013 UQ Award for Excellence in Supervision

“I wish I had read this when I was doing my own PhD!”

Tania Steinmuller, Author

62www.FromScholarToDollar.com