With the surge of jobs for PhDs in STEM, recruiters have started to look for different kinds of non-academic skills in candidates. They look for individuals who not only perform well in academia but can also survive the blows of the corporate world.
Per a LinkedIn survey report, 92% of respondents say that soft skills are more important than technical ones. Flexibility drives the commercial world. Even to thrive in a PhD program, one has to strengthen certain skills.
For academic skills, one can seek help from multiple resources, such as supervisors, peers or dissertation writing services. However, for soft transferable skills, an individual has to put in personal efforts. This article sheds light on the essential skills for PhD students that assist them in achieving their academic objectives.
Read on to learn further about it.
What 9 Skills Should a PhD Student Have?
The PhD transferable skills are exactly what the name shows they are. These are the skills that one develops in addition to the technical skills during the doctoral journey. Not only this, these skills are so diverse that one can use them anywhere, irrespective of the field.
In the corporate world, transferable research skills for PhD students are needed. It is because if you already have those skills, your employer will not have to train you for them. Ultimately, you can use them to make significant contributions to your career.
Are you feeling curious to know what those skills actually are? Well, let’s put an end to your curiosity. Here we go!
The following image shows the top 9 critical skills for PhD students.
Now that we have named the key skills for successful PhD students, let’s discuss them in further detail.
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Accelerated Learning
The quest for ascertaining knowledge runs thick in the veins of PhD researchers. They are often bestowed with quick comprehension skills of different technical things. Also, their inquisitive mind is linked with their accelerated learning ability.
Being a PhD student, one has to read all kinds of relevant articles and attend different conferences. It ensures that the candidates understand the technical protocols, procedures and methodologies of work. The accelerated learning capacity is one of the most sought-after research skills for PhD students.
Furthermore, their quest for knowledge and their quick learning skills makes these students ideal candidates for various research roles. Per a study by the Higher Education Policy Institute, 81% of PhD students feel confident that their degree is preparing them well for research careers.
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Time Management
During the PhD journey, one has to gain new information for designing a hypothesis. However, it is important to show the hypothesis in the form of a tangible experiment. To the readers, such experimentation talks about the feasibility of one’s work.
Some of the biggest challenges that students face during this phase arise due to their poor time management skills. The failure to manage time also leads to unnecessary physical and mental exhaustion.
So, time management is one of the best research skills for PhD students that they must master. The concentration on the maximisation of productivity within the stipulated time is one of the most needed skills for doctoral students.
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Data Analysis
One of the most crucial research skills for PhD students is data analysis. As this contributes directly to a deeper understanding of the subject, students consider it a key component of their research.
It also means the skill of looking at your data with an objective lens. When you have sharp data analysis skills, you can achieve the following three objectives:
- Grasping different patterns through the data
- Forming the logical conclusions
- The production of new hypotheses
Although there are several tools available for the analysis of data, human discretion and judgment are still required. This skill assists the PhD students find a contextual relevance to the analysis.
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Project Management
Project management is one of the most crucial research skills for PhD students. A successful research experiment goes hand in hand with the excellent planning of doctoral-level projects. As simple as it may sound, management skills are not confined to the doctoral degree only.
In fact, these skills start from the very beginning of your research and go up towards the final submission of the work. Different stages of the project, as huge as a PhD dissertation, require custom planning and organisation of ideas.
So, such candidates have a special value in the eyes of the employers. This is because employers seek people with transferable PhD skills. Since doctoral students can visualise and manage an entire project, they become an ideal match for different jobs.
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Communication Skills
The development of good communication skills is another important expertise needed for doctoral students. It is necessary not to just ensure that you convey the research properly but also to build on your professional relationships.
Effective workplace communication leads to smooth interactions with one’s seniors and peers. Also, it assists you in building long-lasting connections in academia. As a PhD student, you will be required to convey your research work through multiple channels.
You will also be expected to appear at different conferences for both formal and informal interactions with other researchers. Hence, it’s important to polish one’s communication skills when in academia. A PhD student must learn how to deliver their research summary through different modes of communication.
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Collaboration With Fellow Researchers
The doctoral students have to work in groups to achieve the common goals. When you work with a fellow researcher to achieve academic goals, it demonstrates your ability to collaborate.
Employers in the corporate world seek candidates who are team players. This is because the people who can collaborate can generally make more contributions to the group’s success. Working in a team and collaborating with them successfully assists in the quick achievement of goals.
Also, it shows the willingness of the students to embark upon a continuous quest for knowledge along with the fellows. As a PhD researcher, you can also collaborate with expert dissertation writers online to craft a masterpiece of academic research.
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Attention to the Details
One of the essential research skills for PhD students is the ability to pay attention to the details. As a researcher, you can understand that it’s possible to miss the mistakes in the blink of an eye.
That is exactly why, all the PhD students must be attentive towards the details of the project they are working on. They should learn to run the papers through a fine-tooth comb and be attentive to the detection of mistakes.
Also, if you are someone who’s keen towards the details of projects, the employers will count on you for the detail-oriented tasks. That means you become perfect to supervise the assignments that need critical reviews and corrections.
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Digital Literacy
One of the best research skills for PhD students that can benefit them greatly is digital literacy. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) focuses greatly on the selection and use of appropriate digital software and tools.
Using the digital skills, the PhD students can perform the following tasks:
- They can refine their media literacy and master the usage of infographics, animation, coding, audio, and videos.
- They can analyse and find authentic digital data sources.
- The students can collaborate better with others in digital environments.
Apart from these obvious benefits, the PhD students can develop a positive digital identity online. Furthermore, they can manage the digital reputation and assist students in maintaining the work-life balance.
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Perseverance
The last on our list of important research skills for PhD students is perseverance. It’s because a doctoral journey is not smooth and comes with a lot of failures and uncertainty. There might be times when you completely lose faith in all your skills and abilities.
Perseverance always pays off. Although many doctoral students find it challenging to show consistency, it’s a fact that consistency guarantees success. It’s the ability to persevere through the tough moments that make a student victorious in the end.
That being said, acquiring these PhD skills before or during your journey may seem daunting. However, the good news is that all these transferable skills can prove instrumental in assisting you to carve a fulfilling career beyond your dissertation work.
What Are the Academic Goals for PhD Students?
The College of Business (Oregon State University) specifies the learning objectives for PhD students in detail. Here are the academic goals a PhD student must bear in mind at all times:
- The development of substantive information in one’s area of specialisation.
- An understanding and concern for the implementation of ethical standards in research and business.
- The mastery of methodological and analytical skills is needed for the conduction of research.
- The demonstration of the ability to communicate the research results in an effective manner.
- A demonstration of the ability to teach at least the courses at the college level in one’s dedicated field.
- The design of the original research in one’s specific field.
- The demonstration of the ability to work effectively with people from different backgrounds.
All in all, it is all about having specialised knowledge and research skills for PhD students during the course of your degree. Also, you must ensure that you have enough evidence to support your beliefs and arguments.
What Are the 6 Research Skills?
As per the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, there are the top 6 methods for research that work really well.
We have briefly discussed the methods here in detail:
- First off, you should define the information problem at hand.
- Then, you have to brainstorm the range of possible existing sources.
- The location and access of the sources come next.
- Here, you view, read and hear the information accessible within a source.
- In the fifth step, you organise the information from different sources.
- Lastly, you modify and edit your completed project with care.
How Can a PhD Student Be Productive?
For a PhD student to be productive, one should be able to work through the evenings and nights. You may even have to read and review articles and research papers in your free time. The entire journey of PhD requires the dedication and focus of the student. So, if you want to achieve success and stay productive, you will need to invest as much time as you can in the doctorate grind.
We have a couple of tips to help you keep productive during the journey of achieving your doctoral degree. Here are the key factors that improve the research skills of PhD students:
- Focus on the bigger picture and think like a project manager when working on your papers.
- Take it all easy on yourself and set realistic goals for work.
- Use Google Sheets and Excel to keep track of important dates and store the data analysis information.
- Take notes during the research process and keep all the records for the experiments that you conduct.
- For the effective management of time, you should follow the Pomodoro technique.
- Find yourself an accountability partner who keeps your productivity details in check.
- Do not underestimate the importance of taking a rest on time.
- Take regular breaks and treat yourself to achieving small goals or bigger milestones.
If you feel tired at any time or face academic burnout, you can buy dissertation online from credible sources. Academic writing services exist so that students can benefit from them whenever necessary.
Conclusion
By now, we have discussed in detail the research skills for PhD students that they must develop during their doctorate. Many doctoral students find it really challenging to develop these attributes. However, every student must find their own way of honing the skills that help them beyond their PhD.
So, the next time someone asks you ‘What skills do you bring to this role?’ enlist all the transferable attributes we have mentioned in the article. You should brush up on your PhD faculties to assist you in making the right career switch. Bear in mind that your degree isn’t a liability for you. In fact, it is no less than an asset if you correctly figure out its value.
Almost all careers need employees to concentrate on certain topics and achieve a said goal. You can fulfil any goal by demonstrating and actively utilising the skills you learn during your doctoral journey. We hope this article helped you find answers to your questions.
