I think the big question comes before you start a PhD: what is the subject matter you’ll work on? This choice has a tremendous impact on what you can possibly do afterwards. I would advise graduate students to develop a larger vision of where they want to go. This should be a vision that you believe in. The path to your vision is not likely to be linear: in fact, it’s likely to be more of a zigzag. But if you pursue your own vision, I strongly believe you can get there. This is a basic groundwork to success in almost anything: trust in yourself and do the hard work.

Look at others who have already transitioned to an industry and examine what they did in their career. Create a network, get exposed, and test your assumptions before you make a major move. See if the corporate world is something for you, because frankly, not every brilliant mind is captivated in that world.

Be fast with your PhD, be effective. Whenever possible, publish your research and utilize it as a springboard for the future. I think we should contribute wherever we can, as PhDs are such a group of intelligent, powerful people.

Take full advantage of all Princeton has to offer. Princeton has resources and content that never came as easy to me anywhere else. And while graduate school is a busy time, you will likely have ample time during your studies to connect yourself with the key stakeholders of the worlds that you want to enter.

Steve Jobs once said: “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?” Can a PhD make such a dent in the universe – or at least in one’s own life? Certainly as numerous PhDs have created such a dent as Curie’s “Research on Radioactive Substances” (1903) awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics; Shannon’s PhD titled “A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits” (1937), the groundwork for digital technology, or Sutherland’s “Sketchpad: A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System” (1963), which led to the first graphical user interface program.

Regardless, whether the PhD leaves a dent in the universe, or simply in one’s own trajectory, all PhDs have in common to be original innovative thought leaders, unique research discoverers and/or even successful industrial implementors. It is the depth of a PhD research, the intense and unique encounter with a subject matter, the determination to finish against all possible odds the project, that makes a PhD an academic, personal and – if applied – perhaps even a commercial success. 

Don’t take the back seat in your career path, take the front seat. Make a name for yourself and amplify the social causes you care about – this way you make YOUR dent!

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