How Humanities PhDs Can Be Proactive Earlier in Their Grad School Journeys
When you’re deep in a humanities PhD, it’s easy to believe that your next career step will fall into place naturally—finish the dissertation, land a postdoc, maybe a tenure-track job. For years, that’s exactly what the system was built to prepare you for. But today’s reality looks very different.
Between tightening academic job markets and shifting student expectations, humanities PhDs are increasingly charting their own paths—often outside the university altogether. The good news? The skills you already have—analysis, writing, research, teaching, project management—are exactly what employers need. The challenge is learning to see them that way before graduation.
That’s where proactivity comes in.
From Dissertation to Design Thinking: Our Own Journeys
Both of us—Charlotte and Natalie—started out with the same academic dream many PhDs share. We each earned doctorates in French Literature from Princeton, with dissertations steeped in theory, creativity, and linguistic precision. Natalie’s research explored the intersection of mathematics and literature in the Oulipo movement; Charlotte’s examined postwar French Holocaust testimony.
We loved the research, the community, the intellectual rigor, but we also began to notice something unsettling: very few people around us were talking openly about life after academia. The occasional “alt-ac” panel might appear once a year, often framed as a plan B. Career conversations were reactive, not proactive—something you did after your defense, when panic set in.
When we each made our transitions—Charlotte into EdTech sales and leadership, Natalie into higher-education management and instructional design—we realized how much easier the process would have been if we’d started exploring earlier. That’s part of what led us to create UnlimitEd Outcomes: a company dedicated to giving PhD students the structured, practical tools we wish we’d had.
What “Being Proactive” Actually Looks Like
Being proactive isn’t about abandoning your academic path—it’s about expanding your options. It means making small, intentional moves throughout your PhD that open doors later, rather than waiting for those doors to close. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Start Career Conversations Early: Don’t wait until your fifth year to visit the career office. Even in year one or two, you can start informational interviews with alumni who’ve left academia. The earlier you build a network, the more authentic those relationships will feel when you need them later.
Think of Your Dissertation as a Project, Not Just a Text: Every dissertation involves project management, research design, stakeholder communication, and data synthesis—skills every employer values. Start framing your work that way now.
Document Your Wins as You Go: Instead of trying to remember your accomplishments at the end, track them in real time. Did you organize a symposium? Teach a new course? Manage a grant? Those belong on a résumé, not just a CV.
Get Curious About Parallel Industries: Whether it’s publishing, policy, EdTech, or consulting, start exploring how people with your skills contribute in those sectors. Shadow someone, join a professional association, or attend a webinar. The point is to gather data—about the world, and about yourself.
Invest in Practical Training: Learn a tool or framework outside your disciplinary comfort zone—project management, instructional design, UX research, data visualization. The earlier you start integrating applied skills, the more confidently you’ll market yourself later.
Fun fact: being proactive is probably something you’re doing already! During their respective PhDs, we both worked on the side for various EdTech companies, creating content, teaching workshops, mentoring students, and more. These were all experiences that not only helped us earn some extra money on the side (let’s face it, most PhDs are underpaid!), but that also turned into experiences on our résumés and talking points in interviews.
Why the “Earlier the Better” Mindset Pays Off
Proactivity isn’t just about employability—it’s about agency. When you start exploring early, you stay in control of your narrative. Instead of feeling like your degree boxed you in, you learn how to use it as leverage.
We’ve seen this time and again in the students and institutions we work with: those who begin reflecting on their strengths, values, and interests in year two or three make smoother, less painful transitions when it’s time to leave academia (or reimagine their role within it).
The Next Step: Building the Tools We Needed
That’s exactly why we’re building UnlimitEd Outcomes. Our goal is to make this kind of proactive exploration scalable and accessible through short, modular eLearning courses that help PhDs identify their strengths, translate their experiences, and navigate the job market with confidence.
We’re designing the kind of curriculum we wish had existed when we were writing our dissertations—a bridge between the intellectual richness of the PhD and the practical realities of today’s professional world.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a current PhD student reading this, you don’t need to have everything figured out right now. But you do have to start somewhere—and starting early makes all the difference.
Ask questions. Take notes on your strengths. Say yes to one opportunity that feels slightly outside your lane. Those small steps will compound into something powerful: clarity, confidence, and the freedom to design a career on your own terms.