Most people who do a PhD leave academia at some point. Chances are, you will, too.
If you already know you want to transition into an industry role or even start your own business it is worth starting to think about two things already now:
What is the niche you want to get into?
How can your PhD become a "product" that showcases your fit to that specific niche?
Here's a three-step framework to figure that out (inspired by a lesson in Justin Welsh's Creator MBA):
Step 1 helps you find your niche by answering the following 4 questions:
What's something you learned well at work?
What are you completely obsessed with? This doesn't have to be related to your work (but it can be)!
What do other people ask you for advice on?
What problem have you solved for yourself?
Maybe you come up with the same thing for several of these questions. Or there's one thing that you feel is worth digging into more deeply.
Take that thing in step 2 and try to relate it to one or several of the three larger areas that people are generally willing to pay money for: Wealth - Health - Relationships.
How does your "thing" relate to those buckets?
For example, maybe you learned in your PhD how to write efficient code. That's an asset that can increase people's wealth.
In step 3 identify how you can prove your relevant skills with your PhD
The first place to look is probably your methods section. Coding, data analysis, experiment design are all sought-after skills. But it's not the only place. Maybe you're an incredible writer. Maybe you've been featured in news outlets and have shown your talent communicating complicated stuff to non-expert audiences. Maybe you've managed people in field campaigns.
Take these skills and link them back to step 2 and you'll hopefully not only know where to start searching for your dream job but also have a list of skills for your applications ready.
The course "Become the CEO of your PHD" will launch in spring. In six modules you will learn how to take ownership and control over your PhD project and shape it so it contributes to your desired career path. If you're interested, DM me and you'll be the first to know when registration opens.