Have you read Navigating the P.I.V.O.T? If you have, it would mean the world to me if you could leave me a rating and review on Amazon. This helps people who are making a decision to get the book make an informed one. Thank you.
After being laid off in 2018, it took me almost two years to find another job.
In 2025, I was affected by a mass layoff. This time, I got another job in less than 3 months.
What was the difference?
It certainly is not the job market.
In 2018 and 2019, I submitted my resume everywhere I thought I would have a “shot.” I kept thinking, “Surely, with a PhD, somebody will WANT to hire me.”
That thinking cost me dearly.
Since 2020, I’ve seen myself as a problem-solving independent consultant instead of a job-seeker.
When you see yourself as an independent consultant, you demonstrate through your resume/cover letter/LinkedIn that you’ve solved, or can solve the problem that the person who fills a TYPE of role is hired to solve.
This means you should be aware of the problem that needs to be solved.
I work in scientific communications.
Why do companies need a scientific communications professional?
They need one so they can sell more of whatever they are selling. Yes, I have to create application notes, write peer-reviewed papers, direct video campaigns, etc, etc.
But the ULTIMATE goal of ALL of that is to sell more of whatever they are selling.
So when I create my resume/cover letter/LinkedIn, I show them how I can help them sell more of what they sell.
For most PhDs, when I explain it like this, it seems simplistic, maybe even crass. I’ve been told so.
Cynicism aside, if you can do the research and boil down the reason a company will want to hire for the kind of role YOU WANT to one or two sentences, it becomes easier to convince them that you are the person to hire, because you will start communicating that way.
I write about thinking like an independent consultant versus a job seeker in Chapter 4 of Navigating the PIVOT.
Until next time.
Gertrude Nonterah, Ph.D.
Creator of The BoldPhD.com | Author of Navigating the P.I.V.O.T.