Our Live Training & Workshops

Free the PhD would love to visit your campus or institution!

How Can We Help?

We work closely with individual students, Graduate Student Councils, Career Development Offices and Academic Departments to host engaging, motivational and actionable workshops and trainings for your talented technical students, PhDs, postdocs and other technical or research trained professionals. If your trainees or constituents are struggling to find the jobs of their dreams, together we can give them the tools and support they want.

Free the PhD has appeared at:

Sample Free the PhD Career Transition Workshop Topics

1. Freeing the Definition of a PhD – Address the common fears and misconceptions about what opportunities are available for PhD-trained researchers outside of academia, including “wasting” your degree, and not getting enough intellectual stimulation in a 9-5 job.

2. Career Functional Dissection and Job Title Matching Activity – Use interactive Free the PhD Job Title/Career Card Deck in small groups to explore common job titles, determine the underlying function of the role, and research open job listings of interest.

3. Career Path Matching – Find Your Strengths – Partner exercise to determine personal strengths, interests and preferences.

4. Gathering Job Intelligence – Small group “Career speed-dating” exercise with Micro-Consulting Cases (FTP Card Deck) prompts to identify roles of interest and missing skillsets.

5. Leveraging LinkedIn – Connecting to Learn – Interactive exercise where participants will evaluate a partner’s LinkedIn profile, and reach out to 5 new connections to seed their network.

6. Preparing For A Lifetime of Success – Close with stories of PhD career path results. Demonstrate 2 take-home career-building exercises (Clear Communication Drills & How to Identify Opportunities).

7. Interview Bootcamp – Use Free the PhD Interview Prep Card Deck to grasp key aspects of interview success, particularly tailoring answers appropriately for hiring managers and effectively addressing common biases against PhD job candidates. Practice mock interviews with partners.

8. Q&A and Networking

What Do Participants Say?

"This was really helpful and comes from a person in professional practice who is more of a near-peer :)"

"Really got me thinking about all the nuances there are in looking for a job."

"I thought the topics were very useful and will help me think critically when looking for jobs."

"This workshop was more engaging and involved than others I’ve been to. Kept very general for all research areas, yet very helpful on an individual level."

"This was such a nice breath of fresh air and a positive change in perspective that was really motivating and encouraging in a particularly grueling atmosphere."

Our Program | For Institutions