PhD to Industry

Olivia Marsse is a Senior Conversational Designer. Her academic training is in Linguistics and she received her Ph.D. from University of Colorado, Boulder. In this episode, we discuss in conversational analysis, Olivia's transition story from PhD to Industry, tips for PhDs students and much more. If you're an academic interested in opportunities in tech industry, this episode is for you! — Show Notes: [02:02] Intro to Conversational Data Analysis  [03:41] Data Collection Techniques in Conversational Analysis  [09:59] Conversational Analysis: Zoom [13:04] Olivia's PhD To Industry Transition Story [20:58] Academic Skill Set & How to Translate it to Industry [25:11] How to Navigate Rapid Progress of AI [29:17] Collaborative Work [30:36] Jumping into a Senior Role right after PhD [33:13] Biggest Challenge Pivoting: Work Life Balance?! [36:45] Opportunities in Computational Linguistics and/or Conversational Design [38:30] What Academic Expertise Fit Well in this Field? [39:47] 1 Advice for PhDs [41:21] Brownies, White Lotus and Alaska! — Olivia's LinkedIn: here Aditya's LinkedIn: here

Joe Stubenraunch is a user experience researcher in tech. He has been in this position for about six months, before that an instructional designer in the same company and prior to that, he was in academia for most of his career. He got his Ph.D. in History with a focus on late 18th and early 19th centuries British history. Then, he had a very traditional academic path from graduate school to tenure track to tenured, and then, he had a midlife crisis and decided to completely reinvent his life…tune in to find out how he navigates that and lands in tech. If you're a Humanities Ph.D. interested in opportunities in industry, this episode is for you! — Show Notes: [01:09] Joe's background - History Prof to User Experience Researcher in Tech [03:24] Why a Tenured Prof would decide to reinvent their career in tech [08:52] Career options as you grow in seniority: Academia vs Industry [13:26] How to explore post-academic career options and steps to get there [18:21] Core skillset overlap between a Professor and roles in industry [22:41] Background, skillsets, and experiences of an Instructional Designer [25:36] Roles and opportunities for Humanities PhDs [32:27] Total open roles in Tech vs Academia [38:05] Ego, prestige, and how it affects the decision to re-start a career outside academia [43:58] Lightening Round - Food, Video Games, and Travel

Madalina Sucala is Director of Digital Health at AstraZeneca. She began her career as a clinical psychologist, but she eventually realized that she was more interested in research than clinical practice. She completed a postdoc in behavioral medicine and moved to management roles at Johnson and Johnson, before eventually moving to AstraZeneca. She discusses her career trajectory as well as the importance of intentional networking and how that led to her successes. If you're an early career professional or an academic/Ph.D. interested in opportunities in behavioral science or the pharma industry, this episode is for you! — Show Notes: [02:06] Madalina's journey to her Ph.D. [03:27] Pivoting to research as a therapist [05:17] Why industry made sense for Madalina [06:34] Intentional networking and how it led Madalina to industry [09:39] Expectations for an informational interview [12:07] Opportunities in digital health [15:11] Challenges in behavioral science [17:46] Raid Fire - food, show, travel! — Contact: Madalina's Linkedin

Arun Rao is a Senior Hardware Engineer at Google. In this episode, Arun shares his journey from facing difficult times early in his career to how his graduate experience changed his path and ultimately led him to securing an internship and later a full-time position at Google. He also sheds light on the impact of the current economic climate on the Big Tech industry and offers advice to those who are interested in pursuing industry roles despite the market downturn. If you're an early career professional or an academic/PhD looking to transition to big tech/Google, this episode is for you! — Access past episodes and other free useful resources at: https://phdtoindustry.substack.com/ — Show Notes: [00:33] Arun Introduction [02:28] Arun's Decision on going back to Grad School for PhD [05:31] Arun's experience on 2 years working before PhD [10:28] Google Internship [13:56] Breaking into a Full Time Role at Google [15:40] Would Arun redo his PhD? [16:50] Day to Day as Hardware Engineer [18:37] How collaboration is different per phase of projects [22:15] Example of Google Hardware Products [25:34] Hardware vs Software at Google [28:07] Layoff Impacts and If People Should Not Explore Tech Jobs Right Now [33:13] Arun gives 2 Pieces of Advice to Current PhDs [37:11] Lightening Round — Where to find Arun: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raoarunj/ Where to find Aditya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adimahara/

Tina Manoharan is Vice President (VP) of AI & Digital Innovation at Philips. In this episode of PhD to Industry, Tina shares her journey from PhD to industry, career advice, and lessons on building great digital health and AI based products. If you're an early career professional or an academic/PhD looking to transition in the med tech, AI or digital health software industry, this episode is a must-listen! — Access past episodes and other free useful resources at: https://phdtoindustry.substack.com/ — Show Notes: [01:08] Tina's introduction [02:27] The PhD journey [07:00] Tina's career journey from PhD to VP [11:16] Importance of a clear vision & flexibility along the journey [13:31] Data and AI in Healthcare [16:30] How to create valuable data/AI healthcare product [20:25] Challenges in Healthcare Technology [22:54] How adoption of Healthcare AI may look in next 10 years [25:15] Spicy Indian food & Jack Ryan... [27:13] Tina's 1 piece of advice — Where to find Tina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tina-manoharan-123707/ Where to find Aditya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adimahara/

In this episode, we welcome  Jenn Horonjeff, the founder and CEO of Savvy Co-op to discuss her inspiring journey from environmental medicine PhD to founding Savvy Co-op. We also explore trends, challenges and opportunities in the patient engagement space. We also hear about the story of the hospital gown on stage at JPM conference... This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in charting their own path post grad school and also for those interested in the intersection of healthcare, technology, and patient engagement. Jenn's insights and expertise are invaluable for PhDs, healthcare professionals, digital health entrepreneurs, and patients alike. Join us as we delve into Jen's inspiring story and deep dive into fascinating world of patient engagement with one of its leading advocates. Visit https://phdtoindustry.substack.com/ for show notes and other valuable resources/articles for free. — Show Notes: [00:03:04] Jen's Path to PhD [00:06:17] Jen's motivations for her PhD [00:08:08] Jen talks about whether starting her company, Savvy, right after PhD was planned or not [00:09:52] What's Jen's advice for academics exploring potential opportunities they can pursue? [00:14:29] Business Model of Saavy as a Patient Onwed Coop [00:16:48] Aditya's positive experiences using Savvy Platform [00:17:36] Story of the hospital gown on stage.. [00:20:18] Despite business benefit, why do we still lack patient inclusion in product development? [00:24:05] Whats the next 5-10 year hold for patient engagement space? [00:26:25] What is the regulatory view on patient engagement? [00:28:43] Jen shares examples of what companies are doing good work to engage patients [00:29:58] Rapid Fire - Jen shares favorite food, TV show, and travel destinations! — Where to find Jen: Jen's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhoronjeff/ Savvy Co-op Company: https://www.savvy.coop/ Where to find Aditya: Newsletter: https://phdtoindustry.substack.com/ Website: www.phdtoindustry.com Aditya’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adimahara/ — Thank you for tuning in, subscribe if you want to listen to more business leaders like Jen in the coming weeks.

Welcome to "PhD to Industry," the podcast that aims to help individuals looking to break into industry and the business world. I'm your host, Aditya, and I interview business leaders, industry professionals and recruiters and extract insights and actionable advice to help you break into industry and design a fulfilling career of your own. In is the first episode, I discuss why I decided to start this podcast, what listeners can expect from the podcast, my story about my own career journey so far and few examples of upcoming episodes. More Resources: Weekly Newsletter: www.phdtoindustry.substack.com Aditya’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adimahara/ Website: www.phdtoindustry.com Show Notes: [0:00] Welcome to Phd To Industry - what is the show about and what you can get out of it [2:06] State of the current job market, especially in tech and academia [3:27] My personal journey from PhD to Product lead in Health Tech [7:00] What can you expect from the show?