I’m a firm believer that people who have PhDs or who are in the process of getting them have so much to offer the world. Yes, the typical career pathway for those getting doctorates is academia. But if that isn’t for you or you’re unsure about it, there is no need to restrict yourself. People with PhDs can do all sorts of things after they finish their degrees. But part of making that happen is leveraging the knowledge and skills you gain during the PhD for other fields and industries. That can be hard, there’s no doubt about it, but there are plenty of resources available to aid you in those efforts.

Depending on what you’re doing your PhD in, one of the ways to show the world you have knowledge that is of interest is by writing op-eds or other pieces of work. These can help demonstrate what you’re working on has practical connections and can make a difference in one way or another. The broad areas of my PhD connect to the politics of U.S. foreign policy, grand strategy, and Anglo-American relations. Those are broad fields, but it helps to show I have the background to write on topics related to them.

PhDs have so much to offer the world – the first step is for us to believe that ourselves and begin that path toward making a difference.

Last December, I wrote a piece for The Washington Post connecting my research to contemporary American politics. Over the past two months, I’ve written some other pieces as well on U.S. policy toward North Korean nuclear proliferation and American use of sanctions and economic warfare as tools of statecraft. These pieces have helped me garner other opportunities outside academia, which has helped me build my network and show I can work on more contemporary areas of American foreign policy.

This is just one example. There are many others you can and should take advantage of if you are interested, like working with research organizations, doing internships, or consulting with companies. LSE has some great resources to help with that through LSE Careers if you are interested. I highly recommend you checking those out. The point though is that you should show the world you can create value for them. PhDs have so much to offer the world – the first step is for us to believe that ourselves and begin that path toward making a difference.