Science PhD graduates have many marketable skills that can land them an alternative career. Medical writer Chandra Louise tells Natasha Loder

Two years ago, Chandra Louise was, in her own words, yet another science graduate with undefined career plans. By the end of 1995 she had landed herself a job as a medical writer, with a "leading contract pharmaceutical company", and was keen to share what she had learned.

She is now the author of a book on the subject Jump Start Your Career in BioScience and runs career workshops in the United States, where she lives and works.

Louise has strong opinions about career issues for PhD graduates. "It makes no sense that so many highly trained people know nothing about their career options." Job seeking is difficult at any time, she says, but more so when people do not know what their options are.

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Louise says the problem of finding a new career without knowing your options seems to be without geographical boundaries. Most PhD graduates in the United Kingdom and the United States end up with the career choice of chasing dwindling short-term contracts, or locating a job outside of their specialist area. If graduates have spent the past four years studying the reproduction of water fleas, they could be forgiven for believing that there is nothing in the world they could do better.

They would, however, be quite wrong, says Louise. A PhD, and not just one in science, bestows a huge variety of transferable skills that graduates need to be aware of if they are to land a job outside of their specific area of training.

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PhD graduates, says Louise, tend to be good analytical thinkers, highly numerate, strongly computer literate, both good team and independent workers. She says they have highly developed IT and research skills, strong technical writing skills, good problem-solving abilities, independent thinking and decision-making skills, and excellent oral and written communication skills. In addition, they are likely to have a detailed technical knowledge of a particular area and the ability to apply this faculty to another subject.

"They have the most valuable skills already," says Louise, "they just need to change their thinking and realise them. There are a lot of career paths available for people fresh out of school (university)."

If a graduate has written any form of grant proposal, the skills learned can be extrapolated to business development, marketing and even to raising venture capital.

"A graduate has already asked for money. Raising venture capital is no more than asking for money from the private sector. It's the same skill," says Louise.

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Of manuscript writing, she says: "Graduates are qualified to work in scientific writing, technical writing, marketing and business development." It seems there is a positive way of looking at everything. "Even when graduates are simply goofing off with friends they are doing a bit of networking," she says.

Combined, these skills are an impressive package for a potential employer - even alone some can land a graduate a job.

But there are limits. The ability to write a thesis or construct a logical argument is not always enough. In some jobs existing skills need boosting with either some form of experience or an additional qualification.

Transferable skills are a graduate's best marketing and sales tools and make them an attractive proposition in many fields, says Louise. But determining their skills is only the first step. She says that once graduate have figured out what they can do and what they would like to be doing, they can begin to narrow down on potential areas of interest, and possible new careers.

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