For researchers, the phrase “leaving academia” is often equated with a sense of loss, and sometimes even failure.
We perpetuate the myth, to each other and in our own heads, of a grinding, boring world outside our ivory towers, without having set foot outside them.
As a former researcher-turned publishing professional and then entrepreneur, I can testify that the world outside academia can be equally, if not more, intellectually challenging and stimulating. And, just as in academia, it also has its share of politics, struggles and frustration.
The grass is not always greener on the other side.
But perhaps that is the wrong way to think about career progression in the first place.
As research funders increasingly emphasise the importance of demonstrating research impact, I would argue that intersectoral movement of talent, from research to industry, government, NGOs and back to academia, is a powerful and immediate way of extending the impact of research.
When we stop thinking of research outputs only as papers, conferences and citations, we begin to see the many other ways our knowledge and skills can make a difference to a better world.
A career transition is therefore not necessarily a departure from research.
It can be a way of applying your skills beyond the traditional academic path, bringing your analytical and evidence-based approach to a wider community, while potentially bringing your industry perspectives back to academia to help the next generation of talent grow.
The research thinking does not disappear. It multiplies.
Skills assessment: start with what you already have
The first step in an intersectoral career transition is to recognise the skills you have already developed.
A PhD or research career is not simply a period spent becoming an expert in a particular topic. The methodology of becoming that expert may be an even more important skillset, one that can be adapted to almost any situation and enable you to make that substantial contribution to your new chosen field.
Regardless of your academic discipline, some common skills among researchers include:
- Analytical thinking: assessing evidence, weighing uncertainty and reaching defensible conclusions based on logic.
- Adaptability: learning new concepts and methods rapidly and turning that learning into something useful.
- Qualitative analysis: identifying themes, interpreting complex information and understanding context.
- Quantitative analysis: working with data, statistics, modelling and numerical evidence.
- Project management: planning and executing complex projects, managing resources, coordinating collaborators and dealing with unexpected problems.
- People management: supervising students or colleagues, coordinating teams and managing competing priorities.
- Communication: explaining complex ideas, writing clearly and communicating with audiences with different levels of expertise.
The next question is:
What kind of research-related skills are potential employers looking for?
The answer may be more encouraging than you think.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 ranks analytical thinking as the number-one core skill, followed by resilience, flexibility and agility; leadership and social influence; creative thinking; motivation and self-awareness; technological literacy; empathy and active listening; curiosity and lifelong learning; talent management; and service orientation and customer service.
You will probably recognize yourself in many of these skills. Analytical thinking? You take it for granted. No one around you will let you get away with anything else. Resilience? That’s your default mode. Leadership and social influence? So many things you need to get done requires soft influence on people around you, talk about leadership skills without leadership authority!
The challenge is not necessarily acquiring an entirely new set of skills. It is recognising what you have, understanding where it is valuable, and learning how to communicate it.
The objective is not to invent a new professional identity. It is to translate the capabilities you already have into the language of another sector.
Rethinking research impact
We often measure research impact through publications, citations, grants or formal impact metrics. These are important. But they are not the only forms of impact.
Research has impact when knowledge changes something: a decision, a product, a policy, a process, an organisation, or ultimately someone’s life.
An intersectoral career can create exactly this kind of connection.
A life scientist may move into a pharmaceutical company and apply research expertise to drug development.
An engineer may move into consulting and use analytical skills to solve industrial problems.
A data scientist may move into government and use quantitative methods to inform public policy.
Social scientists can bring research methods into policy, consulting, communications, market research, public services and organisational development.
These are not examples of researchers abandoning research.
They are examples of research travelling into new environments.
This is why I see career transition as an important form of intersectoral knowledge exchange.
Research impact through people
We often talk about knowledge exchange as something that happens between organisations.
But who is doing the exchange, if not the people? When a researcher joins a company, they take their research experience with them.
When someone moves from industry into academia, they bring knowledge of real-world problems with them.
When people move between research, industry, government and NGOs, they carry ideas, methods, experience and relationships across those boundaries.
That movement creates connections that might not otherwise exist.
It can help researchers understand what problems need solving. It can help organisations better understand the root of problems and develop stronger solutions.
Career mobility can itself be a form of knowledge exchange.
The question is not “what have I published?”
Perhaps the most important shift is therefore not from academia to industry.
It is from thinking: “What have I published?”, to asking: “What can I change?”
- Your research skills may help a company develop a product.
- Your analytical skills may improve a business decision.
- Your expertise may influence policy.
- Your ability to learn rapidly from experimentation may allow an organisation to enter a new area.
- Your communication skills may allow knowledge to move between experts and decision-makers.
These are all forms of research impact.
Your research career has given you a set of capabilities. An intersectoral career transition gives you the opportunity to take those capabilities somewhere new, and connect research with the people and organisations that can turn knowledge into action.
The research doesn’t end when you leave academia. It travels.
Ready to make your research even more impactful?
At ScientifyResearch, we believe that researchers are engines of progress. Empowering researchers means creating more knowledge, more solutions and a better response to the challenges facing society.
If you are considering a transition into an industry career and want to extend your impact beyond academia, we are here to support you, wherever you are in the world. Book your introductory call today.
Are you a career advisor looking to support researchers on your campus? We also offer workshops for universities and research institutions. Contact us to bring a workshop to your campus.
