Broaden the view of your skills

When I see that a candle lights up in the eyes, then I shudder! That's what Niclas Lindqvist, one of the coaches who work for Trygghetsstiftelsen, says, especially with customers from the academy. It is always a challenge be between jobs, but with the right support it is easier.

- Regardless of whether you come from a doctoral position or any other job and want to move on in professional life, the start is always to take a skills inventory. What formal qualifications are there, what experiences, personal qualities and driving forces are there?

Niclas Lindqvist states that as a coach it is important to listen, even between the lines. As you may have recently defended your dissertation, you are an expert in a narrow area and do not always see the breadth of your knowledge.

- It is also important to listen with respect, many have had their thorns and may not see the way forward outside the academy, which is a special world. I try to make them see their skills in a new way and to value what they can. Based on that, they can build their resume.

Niclas Lindqvist thinks that a good CV should talk about what you can become and not what you are today.

- Challenge yourself and the reader. The same applies to your LinkdenIn profile. But be balanced in how you express yourself. Save a little on the superlatives and be specific, it gives more hits.

When the CV and LinkedIn profile are ready, it's time to look outwards: What roles are there in the business world that would suit? And it is now that the light is usually lit in the eyes of an academic who, perhaps for the first time, sees a way forward.

- It reveals completely new opportunities when you look at skills instead of titles. The jobs are out there and everyone gets a job, even if it can take different lengths of time.

And if more knowledge is needed in a certain area, there are great opportunities to build on their competence via the Trygghetsstiftelsen.

- Take advantage of that chance, it gives so many more opportunities, urges Niclas Lindqvist.

Coach Niclas Lindqvist's best advice to you who want to go from academia to industry

Look at your skills in a new way with the help of a coach.
Upgrade your knowledge if necessary to reach your goal.
Build a CV based on what you can become.
Write a competitive and balanced LinkedIn profile.
Do not look at titles - search for your skills.
Limit your job search to two, three days a week, devote the resto of your time to things that you feel good about and to network.
Take advantage of the support from Trygghetsstiftelsen and their range of skills development and coaching.

Gunilla Mild Nygren, freelance journalist