You stayed in school and you earned your doctorate; just like all the well-meaning people in your life told you to.
Putting those earned doctoral initials on your resume should now bring you a plethora of career opportunities, right?
That’s how it should work RIGHT?
Well…
If you’re like the hundreds of doctorate-holders I’ve spoken to over the last year, then you know that jobs and opportunities don’t just come pounding at your door simply because you added a terminal degree to your resume.
Yet, for decades, instructors and professors told us that all we needed to do was put our heads down, get good grades, do our work, publish those papers, attend this or that professional conference and surely, our work would “speak for itself” and we’d have our pick of work and opportunities.
That advice worked twenty years ago.
The job market has changed.
Yes, research and publications CAN get you far. But contrary to what you've been told so far, working hard in a little corner will not get you noticed and it is not a guarantee you will land a career you like or which pays well.
In fact, according to an NPR report, at least 70% of careers (likely some of the careers you are looking for right now) are never posted online.
But those positions are getting filled.
Everyday.
How is that happening?
I’ll get to that in a minute. First let me introduce myself, and tell you why you should even bother listening to me.
Hello! My name is Dr. Gertrude Nonterah.
I received my PhD in Microbiology and Immunology in 2015. Shortly after that, I started a postdoc-mostly because I didn’t know what else there was to do or how I would get there.
What I knew for a fact was that, I didn’t want to remain in academic research.
And even when I learned that there were careers outside academia, I didn't know where to get started.
My initial attempts at landing a career outside academia fell flat.
Crickets. Zilch. Nada.
I had a PhD.
I was smart.
I had published papers in high impact peer-reviewed journals.
I had the skills these jobs were advertising for.
I applied to MANY jobs. So why was everyone ignoring my application?
It wasn’t until I built a personal brand using LinkedIn that I saw a dramatic turn in responses to my job applications.
Building a personal brand landed me in a well-paid, non-academic career.
“But I thought my professors and advisors said all the work I was doing would put me ahead?”
Oh, those amazing academic achievements may count for something, but let me tell you right now, that is not the whole story!
Back to the previous question: how are 70% of all roles being filled when those roles are never posted online?
They are being filled by individuals referring people from their networks they feel will be best suited for those roles.
Which means that if you’re focusing ALL of your attention on applying for jobs online, you’re scrambling with everyone for 30% of the job market.
That’s bad news.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Especially for an academic like you.
One of the most powerful ways for you to land on people’s radars and be a part of the network of individuals who can refer you to career and extra-career opportunities is to build your personal brand.
Building your personal brand online as a PhD student or doctorate-holder in 2022 and beyond is a must.
More specifically, building an intentional, wildly visible personal brand and thought leadership presence on LinkedIn can pour fuel on your career-search and career-building efforts.
Building my personal brand on LinkedIn as an academic not only opened job opportunities, but has allowed me to speak at institutions like:
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of California-Irvine
- The American Academy of Religion
- University of Southern California and
- The University of Oxford
In addition to that, I’ve had the honor to be interviewed on various podcasts to share my work.
Get started now!
The content I create on LinkedIn regularly gets hundreds of views, likes, comments and shares which in turn, brings in more opportunities for jobs (even though I have one!), to speak, collaborate or be interviewed.
And you want to know that best part of all this? When folks send me messages like the ones below sharing how I've helped them turn their careers around.
It’s your turn.
These can happen for you as well.
You have an area of expertise.
You’re a genius in your own right.
You can land a well-paid and fulfilling career.
And if you want to be a thought leader in your field who makes lasting impact, you can do that too.
But I understand if you're not sure how to get started.
It's why I created The Branded Scholar Bootcamp.
The Branded Scholar Bootcamp is a no-fluff 2.5-hour self-paced course designed to kickstart your impactful personal brand on LinkedIn that brings you more opportunities than you know what to do with.
In the Branded Scholar Bootcamp, here are examples of what you can expect to learn:
- How to use the tactic that Pixar uses to create powerful content - to create LinkedIn content that gets liked, commented on and shared
- How to set up your LinkedIn profile so it attracts the attention of recruiters
- Uncover the power of a little-used feature on LinkedIn that can take your profile from bland to brilliant
- How to network effectively and build relationships through LinkedIn
- How to turn your thought leadership on LinkedIn that into great opportunities beyond your career.
Check out the rest of the curriculum below.
Course Curriculum
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StartLinkedIn Premium or No? (8:31)
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Start7 CRITICAL areas of your LinkedIn profile you MUST pay attention to (2:12)
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StartOptimizing Your Top Fold (10:30)
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StartWhip Your About Section Into Shape! (6:04)
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StartLinkedIn Featured Section and WHY You MUST Use It (4:22)
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StartThe Experience Section: Make The Most Of It (4:15)
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StartShould You Add Skills and Endorsements To Your Profile? (4:35)
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StartCreate a LIVING RESUME (10:00)
When you enroll in the Branded Scholar Bootcamp, you also gain access special bonuses I created just for this course:
- 30 attention-grabbing headlines I've used over the years to get people to read my content
- 30 content ideas - one idea per day for a month.
- A Google sheet that will help you track the demographics, psychographics and growth on LinkedIn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to get started? Click on the ENROLL button below to get started NOW.