Sometimes grad students become so immersed in the world of academia that they don’t realize how many opportunities there are to apply their knowledge and experience to careers in other fields. For instance, the ability to identify problems and potential ways to solve them, manage large projects (like a dissertation), and review and analyze large amounts of data are all transferable skills that are quite valuable in the public and private sectors. These skills are also more unique than you might think.

Jonathan DeBusk, who received his PhD in Sociology from the Graduate Center in 2012, has put his skills to work as a Senior Strategy Consultant at IBM. He recently spoke with us about his career at IBM, and about how his graduate training helped prepare him.

Check out the full interview with Jonathan here.

And to hear more from Jonathan–and from three other PhDs who have also built successful careers outside of the academy–you can watch the video from our 2013 panel on Careers in Research and Evaluation.

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