Pitching a PhD to Your Employer

A PhD isn’t just a gateway to an academic job. Like me, many people use their PhD skillset to further their professional career. Dr.-CEOs include Jack Welch (General Electric), Larry Page (Google) and Dieter Zetsche (Daimler).

But a PhD takes time – and that may mean time away from your work commitments. So, if you are thinking of following suit, how do you sell your PhD aspirations to your employer?

Having helped others do exactly this, I’ve found several winning strategies that can get you management support (and perhaps even money or time off!).

Many forward-thinking employers encourage their staff to set out development objectives. Goal-oriented employees tend to be more motivated and productive. Have you considered how a PhD could fit into your development? It can be used to develop a broad range of valuable skills. To give a few examples:

• Analytical / Research
• Technical / Subject matter expertise
• Project management
• Entrepreneurship (after all, you are independently developing a new, innovative research initiative)

The acquisition and pursuit of these skills can also be worth highlighting when applying for jobs (just be clear that you have the necessary time management skills and self-discipline to manage work and study).

When did you last read up on your company’s strategy? Long-term strategic objectives can be very compatible with the long-term and deep study you do in a PhD. Particularly if your degree relates to your work.

Possible touchpoints could include:

• Long term focus: a PhD can help understand structural drivers, that operate beyond a quarterly reporting cycle
• Industry leadership: PhD research can better unearth the dynamics driving your sector, and hence what makes for competitive advantage
• Client servicing: PhD-level analysis of your services or product can help ensure it retains its value proposition towards your clients

Be sure to relate these outcomes to your own specific field and profession. My degree was focused on the structural drivers of the corporate debt markets. This is of clear importance in my work as a corporate debt originator.

Most business have challenging, intractable issues. Concerns that would take many, many hours to study properly. What are these issues within your industry?

What if you could offer to do a deep-dive into this issue – through part of your PhD? This should help you get your employer buy-in. What’s more, you can use your findings to build your profile within the organisation.

Don’t lock away your research findings, or confine them to an academic journal. I offered my employer periodic updates on my findings. This can take many forms:

• E-mail communications
• Specific slides / materials
• Training course

Companies generally highly appreciate in-house trainers – they are more affordable and quite often more impactful than external trainers.

Where appropriate, you can offer to also share this with your clients. This can turn your research into valuable marketing materials for your firm.

There is no one-size-fits-all degree within most industries. Employers who are serious about attracting a diverse range of talent should look to support diverse learning opportunities. Could your PhD not be an excellent case study?

You should definitely consider pushing this argument. If colleagues are aware the organisation is supporting you becoming a Dr., they should feel empowered to further their own learning agenda. And that typically improves staff morale and retention.

You’re not a 21st century corporate if you are lacking a corporate social responsibility agenda. And such a strategy typically includes community engagement and links with educational institutions.

A PhD can be a unique, long-term way of information exchange between a business and a university. Emphasise this angle. Explain the ways you are intending to build ties with students at your new campus, i.e. through guest lectures when you are visiting.

Such visits could of course also potentially be used to support your firm’s recruitment drive.

6 actions, 1 overriding message: PhD-employees are valuable assets to many firms. For me it has enhanced my analytical and problem-solving skills, allowed me to deepen my client dialogue and made a more credible representative of my employer. So dare to ask: how could a PhD help you professionally?

Arthur Krebbers completed his PhD in 2016 before going on to found the PartTimePhD.com website to advise and assist other students.

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