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Introduction to Researcher Careers Beyond Academia toolkit
Visit our toolkit if you are a:
Researcher wanting to explore careers beyond academia
Research organization willing to assist researchers in making an informed career decision
An enterprise willing to connect and get access to talent
Euraxess members who want to join efforts to promote intersectoral mobility
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Navigating your career
Adapting to career changes is a natural and often necessary part of professional growth. Whether prompted by new opportunities, limited career progression, shifting personal goals, or life experiences that challenge your existing career path, transitions can offer a chance to realign your work with what truly matters to you.
This is particularly true for researchers. With diverse and often complex academic journeys, researchers may reach a point where their roles no longer reflect their evolving interests, values, or aspirations.
This toolkit is designed to support you through this transition. No matter where you are in your professional journey, this toolkit will help you take the next step with clarity and confidence.
To gain a clear perspective on where you stand in your career and what you aspire to achieve in your next steps, it's crucial to:
- Identify your interests and motivations
- Understand your unique skills and added value
- Explore career paths for researchers
- Find the right support networks
- Prepare for and secure a role that fits your goals and lifestyle
- Job application tools
Identify your interests and motivations
Before deciding what to do next, it’s important to reflect on why you’re facing a career change and to take time to fully process this transition. In some cases, the decision may have been deliberate and purposeful; in others, it may feel like you’ve been pushed out of the system. Regardless of how it happened, acknowledging the change is essential — and remember, the direction of your next steps is ultimately in your hands.
Techniques such as revisiting past decisions or reflecting on your original goals can help you take stock of your situation and reconnect with your values, interests, and motivations.Helpful resources for this process include:
reflection exercises, and guided questionnaires.
workshops or training sessions on career planning and orientation can also be highly beneficial. Check if your institution offer them. Here it is an example from the University of Linköping.
if you're feeling particularly stuck, check whether your institution offers career counseling or support services — or whether they can help you access them externally.
Understand your unique skills and added value
Academia has its own methods for assessing performance and driving professional development. For many researchers, this has been the only system they’ve known. As a result, they often communicate their value through academic achievements — which are not always recognized or appreciated by employers in other sectors.
Because of this disconnect, it's not uncommon for researchers to struggle to understand or articulate their own value outside academia. This can lead to frustration and a feeling of being unprepared for roles beyond the academic research track.
If you find yourself in this position, it may be helpful to look at your accomplishments not just through academic metrics, but as outcomes of core competencies you've developed. Many of these competencies — such as problem-solving, project management, critical thinking, and communication — are highly transferable and sought after by employers in a wide range of industries.
The key is to identify the right examples that demonstrate these competencies and translate them into language that resonates with non-academic employers.
To help with this, you can use:
The EU Research Competence Framework, which outlines a set of transversal competencies commonly developed during research activities, regardless of your specific discipline. These include skills that are not only relevant, but also highly valued in today’s job market.
Get inspired by innovation experts to understand which competencies are essential for success in the entrepreneurial world, as well as in public-private collaborations. Learning from their insights can help you better align your skills with the needs and expectations of diverse professional environments.
Check the following videos created by the ERA Talent funded project: Mentoring Routes: Unleashing Innovative Careers for Young Researchers - MR2YR developed by the Foundation Edmund Mach
- From Research to Impact: Interview with Alberto Nucciarelli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHEYw8ZunOg
A discussion on innovation and how to transform technology and research results into practical applications that transition beyond academia. - Beyond Academic Research: Interview with Ilaria Pertot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ORlyE-7ug
A testimony from a researcher collaborating with the industrial sector. - Intellectual Property Strategies: Interview with Massimiliano Granieri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hCM3K1WG6s
Insights into intellectual property strategies to maximize the impact of research results in the entrepreneurial world beyond academia, through IP literacy and understanding. - From Researcher to Entrepreneur: Interview with José Luis Mullor Sanjosé
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prgS8aqQll4
A testimony of a researcher who successfully transitioned to entrepreneurship by founding a spin-off company.
Explore career paths for researchers
To make informed career decisions, it's essential to explore the range of opportunities available beyond academia. The following tools and resources can help you better understand different professional roles and the skills they require:
To understand and experience the daily activities of different job roles, try REBECA PRACTICE. These are role-playing scenario exercises designed to help you explore various professional positions by simulating real-life tasks and responsibilities
Discover a wide variety of roles across sectors and the competencies they require. Check out the Occupations by Sector list developed by the EURAXIND project to get a clearer picture of what’s out there
Be inspired by stories from other researchers who have successfully transitioned beyond academia. These testimonials offer valuable labour market insights, including job profiles, working conditions, required skills, and typical entry paths. More than just facts, these stories show that you are not alone — many researchers before you have made successful career transitions. Explore testimonials from:
- Smart Talk Podcasts, funded by the ERA Talent Project
- Career Stories, gathered during the EURAXIND project
- Career Stories of researchers who transitionedinto Research ManagersandKnowledge Transfer roles, developed by TRACK, funded by the ERA Talent Project
- PhD Career Stories, a podcasr founded by Tina Persson
- Gaining real-world experience in private companies or public administration departments can be especially beneficial for early-career researchers (R1 and R2). Placements can help you:
- Explore new professional roles
- Identify your preferences
- Learn how businesses and public institutions operate
- Build meaningful networks
Check out the MSCA Placement Scheme to learn more about these opportunities.
Find the right support networks for career change
Changing careers—especially transitioning from academic research to new professional paths—can be challenging. But you don’t have to do it alone. Building and engaging with the right support networks can make a significant difference in how confidently and effectively you navigate your career change.
Support can come in many forms: peer networks, professional communities, mentors, and career development platforms. Below are key ways to find the support you need:
LinkedIn is an essential tool for career changers, offering not just job listings, but also access to a wide community of professionals from academia, industry, government, and beyond. You can use LinkedIn to:
- Build your professional profile in a way that highlights transferable skills. Check previous section on Understand your unique skills and added value.
- Follow companies, organisations, and sectors of interest
- Connect with professionals who have made similar transitions
- Engage in conversations around topics relevant to your future career
- Explore job opportunities and receive tailored recommendations
A well-structured LinkedIn profile increases your visibility and helps potential employers or collaborators understand your value outside of academic metrics.
There are many LinkedIn groups and online communities specifically created for researchers exploring career transitions. These groups are valuable for:
- Learning from others' experiences
- Accessing exclusive job opportunities
- Finding encouragement and advice from peers and professionals
- Staying updated on events, webinars, and resources
Look for active groups such as: Research Careers Beyond Academia online community
Mentorship is one of the most impactful forms of support during a career change. A mentor can provide guidance, feedback, and encouragement tailored to your goals. Mentors can help you:
Reflect on your strengths and career aspirations
Identify opportunities aligned with your interests
Navigate job applications and interviews
Expand your professional network
Check if your institution offers mentoring programmes, especially those targeted at early-career researchers or career development. Additionally, several European and international initiatives provide mentoring schemes for researchers, including:
REBECA by EURAXESS mentoring programme
Finding the right support network can give you the insight, confidence, and encouragement needed to take your next steps. Start small: connect with someone, join a group, or attend an event. The more you engage, the more support you’ll find along the way.
Job application tools
When considering a transition from academic research into the non-academic sector, submitting job applications should be your final step—not your first. Many researchers experience frustration or rejection when they jump straight into job hunting without fully understanding how to position themselves for a new professional context.
If you haven’t yet taken time to reflect on your added value, research the roles and sectors you're applying to, or make a clear and informed career decision, even the best-written CV may not lead to the outcome you hope for.
Before you apply, make sure you have:
- Identified your transferable skills and core competencies
- Understood the expectations and language of the sector you're targeting
- Mapped your career goals to realistic job roles
- Explored testimonials, job profiles, and market trends
- Built a support network for feedback and guidance
Remember: job applications are only effective when built on a strong foundation of self-awareness and informed decision-making. Skipping these earlier steps can lead to disappointment and missed opportunities.
Resources and programmes developed by EURAXESS members
REBECA Practice
A new tool to explore careers by practicing the tasks that professionals perform regularly at their job positions. You will be able to practice seven different professional roles. Go and check!
REBECA by EURAXESS mentoring programme
Have you ever received an inspiring not-so-expected piece of advice that at some point could change your life? Get information and support from a R&D professional working outside of academia
REBECA Explorer
If you want to go further and beyond, go together. A peer mentoring programme to support navigating your career transition.
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Introduction
Providing support for career transitions and intersectoral mobility not only increases the employability of your alumni but also strengthens your organization’s external connections, enhances intersectoral collaboration, boosts employee satisfaction, and ultimately improves your institutional reputation.
Preparing individuals for career transitions does not mean pushing them out of academia, but rather equipping them with the information they need to make informed career decisions. To offer high-quality guidance and support their networking efforts, it is essential to engage with a broad range of potential employers, including those in the private sector. However, do not overlook public entities—researchers are highly qualified professionals whose skills are widely transferable.
Many of the activities and approaches described in these pages have been piloted by members of the Researchers' Careers Beyond Academia Hub, offering tested models and practical insights for effective implementation.
In the following sections, you will find guidance on how to connect with non-academic stakeholders—potential employers—and how to design and implement activities and programmes that support early-career researchers in exploring and pursuing careers beyond academia.
Connect with non-academic stakeholders
To create good quality activities dedicated to intersectoral mobility is necessary to engage with other sectors, special the private sector. Here we suggest some actions to engage with individuals, organizations and enterprises form other sectors.
To connect with private sectors, it is crucial to map what bridges your organization has or can tend with this sector. These are the possible departments, offices, or networks that we recommend exploring within your ecosystem:
Technology transfer or intellectual property right office
These offices within a research organization are responsible for encouraging, facilitating, advising, and assisting researchers within organizations in exploiting their research results into commercial products. Because of their liaison nature between academic research and industry, they have connections with industry that could be useful when implementing activities for researchers.
Areas of innovation and technology and research parks
These places and organizations are designed to enhance the innovative activity of a specific area. They are also in charge of fuelling knowledge transfer between academic institutions and companies. They foster innovative-based companies and support spin-off processes. They many times support or allocate incubators and accelerators. They create innovation ecosystems, including the primary agents of business, government, academic research organizations, and society.
Check for areas of innovation in your region here
Sectoral associations or networks
It is worth engaging with a local or regional subsection of these networks to signpost your activities and recruit companies or individuals for your activities.
Due to the structure of the academic research system, many of your PhD alumni pursue careers outside academia. Connecting with them and fostering a sense of community around a common theme can be a valuable way to engage with other sectors.
One effective approach to building an alumni community is through social media. Partners of the EURAXESS Research Beyond Academia Hub have created an online alumni network—"Researchers Beyond Academia by EURAXESS: A Journey Towards Research Careers Outside Universities"—dedicated to alumni researchers considering career opportunities beyond academic institutions. The platform aims to promote the exchange of best practices and experiences among researchers who have already transitioned or are interested in transitioning to careers outside academia.
A guide has been developed to support your research organization in implementing this initiative.
As a research organization, you can follow up on the career paths of your alumni researchers. Doing so not only helps map intersectoral collaboration opportunities but also enables the design of targeted career development programmes. In longitudinal studies, such tracking systems can be valuable tools for measuring impact and ensuring accountability.
If you want to learn more about career tracking systems, check out this report from the European University Association: Tracking the Career Paths of PhD Holders
Support services to researchers
Supporting researchers through career transitions is essential for fostering a dynamic and adaptable research environment. Research organizations can play a key role by implementing a range of activities that help researchers make informed career decisions and, if desired, successfully transition to new roles—within or beyond academia.
These activities can be offered individually or integrated into comprehensive career development programmes, depending on the organization’s capacity and resources. They address multiple aspects of career management and support, including:
- Career information
- Career awareness and motivation
- Career exploration
- Career management skills
- Career adaptability
- Career planning and implementation
- Transferable skills
- Job hunting and application processes
- Commercial and business acumen
- Networking
By offering support across these dimensions, research organizations can empower researchers to navigate their career journeys with confidence and clarity. These activities can be implemented based on the specific career development areas your organization chooses to focus on, ideally, based on the needs of your researchers.
Activities to support career transition
Several key aspects should be considered when implementing training
Pedagogical methodology: There are various methods for facilitating learning, ranging from traditional lectures to interactive workshops. Approaches may emphasize peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, expert-led instruction, gamification, or hands-on learning. Choosing the right mix can enhance engagement and learning outcomes.
Quality assurance: As a research organization, it is advisable to establish a quality assurance process for the training you offer. This can include a system for evaluation, certification, or formal recognition of participation. You can find relevant recommendations from the EU Council.
Engagement and Promotion. Researchers are often deeply focused on their work and may not prioritize career development activities, especially if they perceive training sessions as potentially irrelevant or time-consuming. Therefore, it's essential to invest in strategies that boost researcher engagement, along with effective promotion and clear communication of upcoming training opportunities. Using programme ambassadors, centralizing your training offerings (at least in terms of promotion), and maintaining clear, accessible training calendars can help raise career awareness—particularly among early-stage researchers. This enables them to plan their training activities more strategically, aligning them with their long-term career goals.
Dimensions of career transition that are suitable for training are:
Career management Skills (Reference to ResearchComp: Manage personal professional development) Training focused on developing career management skills helps early-stage researchers learn how to self-assess, understand labour market information (LMI), and use tools to independently manage their career development. These sessions aim to increase participants’ awareness of their career choices and openness to opportunities for further learning and career advancement.
Commercial and business accumbent (Reference to Research Comp: Show entrepreneural spirit, Manage intellectual property rights, Promote the transfer of knowledge, Promote open innovation). This type of training focuses on business, innovation, and intellectual property (IP) concepts. It introduces researchers to result exploitation, entrepreneurial thinking, and how business environments function.A strong example of such training is the MR2YR - Mentoring Routes: Unleashing Innovative Careers for Young Researchers programme, implemented under the third-party funding call of the ERA Talent Project by Fondazione Edmund Mach.
Highly transferable skills (Skills in demand by non-academic employers). Many in-demand skills can be developed through training, ranging from soft skills such as effective communication (ResearchComp: Communicate to the broad public) and active listening (ResearchComp: Interact professionally) to technical competencies like data management (ResearchComp: Manage research data) and programming. It is advisable to provide a clear list of available training offers. However, participants will benefit most from this type of training if they already have a basic level of career management skills.
The purpose of providing LMI to early stage researchers is to facilitate:
- Their market knowledge and expand their career perspectives
- Their reflection on their interest and extrapolation into world beyond academia
- Their planning to fill the gaps of skills and expertise
Labour national or regional administration provides LMI; however, this information is very broad for researchers, and it is advisable to gather reliable and relevant information, curate it and present it in a meaningful way to researchers. Here there are some examples.
- https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors
- https://www.imaginephd.com/job-families
If you want to know more about how to present LMI, please check this toolkit of CEDEFOP
Career testimonials and stories showcase the career paths of former academic researchers who have transitioned into roles outside of academia. These narratives serve as a form of labour market information (LMI), offering insights into job profiles, working conditions, required skills, and entry routes. Beyond factual information, they also provide emotional and contextual elements that can resonate more deeply with the audience—making them engaging, inspiring, and effective in motivating researchers to explore careers beyond academia.
These stories can be delivered in various formats, such as:
Individual stories: Shared through podcasts, blog posts, videos, or animated cartoons.
Shared stories: Involving multiple narrators exchanging experiences and impressions during career panels, roundtables, or group discussions.
They can be structured in different ways:
Facilitated: Guided by interviewers using structured questions.
Non-facilitated: Self-narrated stories, where individuals reflect on and share their own journeys.
You can present these testimonials through multiple channels, including roundtable events, written materials, and podcasts. Here are some good examples:
Networking events/Career Fairs is a format meant to provide researchers with a possibility to explore employment and collaboration opportunities beyond academia and get insight into what is it like to work for a non-academic employer. At the same time, it should provide employers with a possibility to present their activities within the researchers’ community and gain access to research talent pool. The format combines panel discussion, and companies’ presentations and one-to-one meetings if the R2B matchmaking component wants to be added.
Here it is an example of Career Fair with R2B matchmaking events piloted by the Research Careers Beyond Academia EURAXESS Hub.
Why Organize a Career Fair with or without an R2B (Research-to-Business) Matchmaking Event?
Organizing a career fair, with or without an R2B matchmaking component, brings numerous benefits to both researchers and institutions. Here’s why:
It’s a Highly Valued Activity among Researchers
Researchers increasingly recognize the importance of exploring career options beyond academia, but they often lack direct access to non-academic employers. Career fairs provide an excellent opportunity for them to:- Discover a wide range of career paths outside academia
- Meet multiple employers and stakeholders in one place
- Engage in direct conversations about real job opportunities
Mobile Researchers Benefit the Most
International (mobile) researchers are often less familiar with the local job market and have limited networks in their host countries. Career fairs offer:- Access to local labour market insights and employment opportunities
- A chance to build connections that support their decision to stay after their PhD or postdoc
- If organized in cross-border collaboration, access to opportunities across Europe—supporting the creation of a unified European labour market for researchers
Brings Non-Academic Employers Closer to Talent Pool
These events help bridge the gap between research institutions and the non-academic sector. Through career fairs, EURAXESS can:- Offer employers access to a pool of highly skilled researchers
- Help employers understand the value of hiring PhDs
- Build long-term partnerships for future collaboration
- Gain insight into different organizational cultures and how to effectively engage with them—knowledge that can be shared with researchers
Access to talent to SMEs and startups.
Startups and small companies often lack the resources and visibility to recruit top research talent. By participating in EURAXESS-organized events, they gain:- Direct access to the researcher community
- Increased visibility and potential to attract high-quality candidates
- Support in developing recruitment channels tailored to their needs
Builds Collaboration with Other Stakeholders.
Unless your institution already has strong networks outside academia, you’ll need to collaborate with other actors to reach your target groups. These might include:- Internal units (e.g., technology transfer offices, career development centres)
- External networks (e.g., Enterprise Europe Network)
- Other stakeholders (e.g., innovation agencies, chambers of commerce)
- These collaborations not only support event promotion and planning but can also lay the foundation for sustainable, long-term partnerships.
- Benefits of Adding a Matchmaking Component to your Careers Events
Including one-on-one matchmaking sessions significantly increases engagement. Here's why:- Scheduled meetings allow researchers to prepare in advance and approach conversations strategically
- Discussions are deeper and more targeted compared to random interactions at booths
- Researchers can practice professional communication with employers and refine their approach to networking outside academia
- The likelihood of building lasting, meaningful connections increases
How to Organize a Career Fair with an R2B Matchmaking Event
If you're interested in learning how to plan and execute a Career Fair with an R2B matchmaking component, please consult our:
In an intersectoral mentoring programme, early-stage researchers are paired with researchers (or professionals close to research) who are currently not working in academic research activities.
Why run an intersectoral mentoring programme?
An intersectoral mentoring programme not only connects people and provides labour market intelligence (LMI) to early-stage researchers but also excels in fostering career awareness and career management skills. Mentors serve as role models, offering valuable information, professional development, support, and preparation for future opportunities.
Researcher Careers Beyond Academia Hub members run an intersectoral mentoring programme: REBECA by EURAXESS mentoring programme, and you can explore the details of the programme and results.
How to organize a career fair with an intersectoral mentoring programme?
If you’re interested in learning how to organize an intersectoral mentoring programme, please refer to this.
A peer mentoring programme is a collaborative model where individuals at similar stages in their careers come together to support each other’s personal and professional development. Unlike traditional mentoring, which typically involves a more experienced mentor guiding a less experienced mentee, peer mentoring is built on partnerships between equals. Each participant takes on a dual role—acting as both mentor and mentee—creating a dynamic, co-mentoring environment where everyone learns from and supports one another.
This approach is grounded in mutual respect, shared experiences, and a deep understanding of each other’s challenges and aspirations. Group-based peer mentoring model highlights the psychosocial support function of mentoring. It fosters a sense of collective commitment among participants, who help each other strengthen their career management skills and navigate their professional paths.
Researcher Career Beyond Academia Hub has tested a group-based peer mentoring: REBECA EXPLORER, where participants reflect on their career values, explore opportunities, define goals, and plan actionable steps. More details about the programme can be found here.
Real-world experience in a private company or across different departments of public administration can be an excellent opportunity for early-career researchers (R1 and R2) to explore new professional roles, discover personal career preferences, understand the ways of working in business and public administration, and build meaningful networks. Research Performing Organizations and Universities can offer placements and internships, whether or not they are linked to PhD or postdoctoral programmes. To implement such actions, strong collaboration with companies and a substantial budget are required.
Examples of such programmes include:
- Career Service Internship Programme run by Karolinska Institute
- Non-academic MSCA Placement Scheme
- EURAXESS Internship Programme for Refugee and Displaced Researchers in Europe, a joint initiative by Researcher Career Beyond Academia members and Refugee Hub members
Hub tested resources for RPOs and Universities to implement actions
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For EURAXESS Members
EURAXESS Researcher Careers Beyond Academia Hub
The EURAXESS Research Careers Beyond Academia (REBECA) Hub is a network of EURAXESS members connected to offer services for early career researchers to facilitate their career transition to non-academic careers. In this way, it contributes to the permeability of research talent among non-academic research jobs and employers, including industry and businesses.
The extension of EURAXESS services can pose an asymmetry of different types and levels of services provided by EURAXESS members. Depending on the capacity of EURAXESS members, some will restrict their services to welcoming and informational services, while other can engage with other non-academic services to provide career development opportunities and activities.
By clustering EURAXESS services in cross-border hubs, it strengths the services, creates a one-stop shops for researchers, and provides the possibility to engage other external stakeholders. This last point is of special relevance to engage non-academic actors when providing services dedicated to increase the employability of early stage researchers.
To be updated soon
This Hub has been creating toolkits for you, to be able to implement some of the activities we have piloted. Here are some of them:
Within the local arms, EURAXESS REBECA Hub members will:
- Network to engage other multiplier and enabler organizations
- Engage non-academic researcher employers
- Deliver career development support
- Disseminate of results and promote activities
- Engage researchers including non-academic researchers
- Create or join a Community of Practice
You can benefit from the next EURAXESS Cascade Funding and Study Visits to implement your activities related with this Hub.
If you want more information, please contact the REBECA Hub Leader, FECYT, at euraxess-spain@fecyt.es.
There are two levels of participation:
Implementation of an activity
Activities related to increase the transition of early-stage research form the academic sector to other careers have space in this Hub. You can check the activities listed in the section For organization the activities suggested to "Support to researchers" to get inspired, although innovative ideas are more than welcome.
Collaboration in an activity
From the three activities so far implemented in this Hub, we have elaborated a guide on how to collaborate in such activities. It is worth highlighting that through some of these actions, you will engage with non-academic stakeholder providing you with a good basis for developing further activities and services helping researchers to explore careers beyond academia; in other words, expanding your network.
Find the ways on:
- How to collaborate in an intersectoral mentoring programme
- How to collaborate in an R2B matchmaking event
- How to collaborate in an online alumni community platform
