Beyond Academia

Connecting PhDs with the world

Beyond Academia is a non-profit organization run by UC Berkeley graduate students with the goal of empowering graduate students and postdocs to expand their career options beyond the traditional academic track. It accomplishes this career education through a series of events, including an annual conference, workshops, tutuorials and lectures that connect connect academics with those who have made a transition to industry.

Our events
Our mission

Events

Beyond Academia Conference 2019

February 28 - March 1, 2019

Our flagship conference is a two-day event with close to 100 PhD speakers who successfully transitioned from academia to industry.

Professional Profile Clinic

January 30th, 2019 from 4pm-7pm

Bring your resumes and CVs for critiques by a professional portfolio coach.

Public Sector Fellowship Workshop 2018

September 25th, 2018 from 4-7pm

Are you interested in careers in government and policy? Do you want to learn more about postdoctoral fellowships for PhDs interested in government positions?

What I Wish I Did In Grad School 2018

September 5th, 2018

Join Beyond Academia, a student organization committed to helping PhDs navigate their post-grad employment options, for a panel discussion about what we wish we had known when we started here.

Careers Reception 2018

April 25th, 2018

The Careers Reception is a networking event designed for PhDs and postdocs who are interested in learning more or applying to work outside academia by talking to representatives of companies and organizations directly. All of the participating representatives are interested in hiring PhD holders.

Beyond Academia Conference 2018

March 1 - March 2, 2018

In 2018 we held our sixth annual conference, with over 300 attendees and keynotes from Eric Chulze and Susan Basalla May!

See all our events

Our mission

To educate people in academia on their non-academic career options

Many grad students feel academia is their only career option. We help people explore all their options in an honest and low-pressure environment.

To help PhDs see how their skills and knowlege translate outside of academia.

PhDs acquire highly valuable skills during their training, but often people think the skills only apply to academia. We help people see beyond this.

Our values

Academia-positive

We're not against academic careers. We just want PhDs to know it's not their only option.

All disciplines

We work for all PhDs, regardless of their field: Humanities, Social Science or STEM.