For PhDs and postdocs, especially international ones, working out what comes after academia, and how to build more than one path into industry at once.
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Key takeaways • Leaving academia isn’t unusual, it’s the norm. Only about one in five to six PhD holders in Germany stay in the science system long-term, and unemployment among PhD holders stays low the whole way through. • Feeling like you’re starting from zero is normal, not a sign you made the wrong call. It fades faster than it feels like it will. • Study how other academics from your field already made this move. It’s usually more useful than generic career advice. • Outside IT, the job market is more fragmented. Company websites, personal contacts, and niche networks often turn up more than LinkedIn or Stepstone. • If you’re an international PhD, check the German language requirement in your specific field early. In some fields it decides whether a role is realistic at all. • Run two or three strategies at once, with a clear sense of when to activate each, instead of betting everything on one path. |
You’re not the only one leaving academia
If you’re wondering whether leaving academia means you’ve somehow failed at the thing you spent years training for, the numbers say otherwise. According to a study accompanying the 2021 Bundesbericht Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs, published by the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), only about one in five to six people with a doctorate in Germany end up working in the science system long-term. Most move into other sectors with good employment prospects.
Unemployment among PhD holders stays very low in the years after graduating, around one to two percent, and ten years on, PhD holders tend to earn noticeably more than non-PhD academics: between 13,000 and over 20,000 euros a year more, depending on field and sector.
You’re also not on your own as an international academic. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), around 212,400 people were working on a doctorate at German universities in 2024, and one in four of them held a foreign nationality. This is a well-populated path, not a niche one.
None of that means the search is quick or simple. It means leaving academia is the more common path, not a consolation prize, and that the skills a PhD gives you translate into real, measurable value once you’re on the other side.
It’s normal to feel like you’re starting from zero
Moving into industry can feel like stepping back to the bottom of a new hierarchy, even though you’re bringing years of specialized expertise with you. You go from being the expert in a narrow, deep field to being the newest person in a room that runs on different rules.
That discomfort is a normal part of the transition, not a sign you made the wrong call, and it fades faster than it feels like it will in the first few months. The fastest way through it is usually the same thing that helps with the practical side: talking to people who’ve already made the jump, so the unfamiliar starts to feel like a learning curve instead of foreign territory.
Start by learning from the paths already made
You’re not the first to make this move
Even if industry feels completely new to you, you’re not the first person from your field to make this transition. A few concrete ways to use that:
- Look at the footprints that have come before you: where and how have other academics from your field adapted.
- Identify which companies tend to run research-like operations, or employ people with an academic background.
- Reconnect with people you’ve already crossed paths with, rather than only reaching out cold.
- Ask how someone else’s path evolved, or what problems are emerging in their sector right now. Most people enjoy talking about their own career, and it gives you information you can actually use.
Coaches sometimes call these informational or learning interviews: useful for gathering perspective, and for quietly signaling that you’re open to opportunities, without it feeling like a job pitch.
Speak the language business speaks
When you put together a CV or application, remember that companies think in terms of impact and achievement, not process. Describe your past research using the kind of objective, KPI-based language a hiring manager would recognize from their own world, not the language of a conference abstract.
Academic framing: “Investigated the effects of X on Y across three experimental conditions.”
Industry framing: “Designed and ran three parallel experiments, cutting the time to a validated result by X%.”
What Marina learned from placing a PhD chemist: build more than one path
According to Marina Matveevskaia, a coach at Fired Up who recently supported an international PhD chemist through her job search, one finding stood out clearly.
German matters more than most people expect. Among the roles she and her client looked at, around 85% required German. English-speaking roles exist, but the pool is a lot narrower.
The market for scientific roles is also less straightforward than something like IT, where platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Stepstone show a large share of open positions. In science, the paths are more fragmented, so it’s worth looking beyond the usual job boards:
- Company and university websites.
- Personal contacts and your existing academic network.
- Niche job boards specific to your field.
- Research networks and adjacent organizations.
Going straight from academia into industry isn’t always the most realistic first move either. A postdoc connected to an industry collaboration can work as a bridge, especially for someone with valuable expertise that doesn’t exactly match what a company is hiring for right now.
It also helps to stay open about what comes next. Depending on the person, that might mean:
- Lab-based roles
- Project management
- Scientific publishing or editorial work
- Applications support
- Regulatory work
- Continuing toward an academic career after all
Three strategies, running at once
For the PhD chemist Marina worked with, they built three strategies in parallel rather than betting on one:
- The closest, most promising path: a postdoc at an international university in Germany, in a program run jointly with an industry partner. She passed two interview rounds and is waiting on a final decision.
- An existing opportunity as an editor at a scientific journal, where she had already passed the first interview and had a strong lead.
- A backup: using her academic network to find another postdoc, while restarting the industry search immediately rather than waiting for the postdoc to end, and widening it to other European countries.
The point isn’t to pick the “right” one in advance. It’s building a few real options with clear timelines, and being honest with yourself about when to activate each one.
The bottom line
Moving from academia into industry, especially as an international PhD in Germany, works best as a portfolio, not a straight line. Studying how others in your field made the move, translating your work into language a hiring manager understands, and keeping two or three paths open at once are concrete places to start.
If you’re navigating a career change at any stage, our guide on how to change careers walks through the broader process. If you want structured support while you run these strategies in parallel, job coaching is built for that, and it’s fully AVGS-funded if you’re registered as job-seeking in Germany.
Want to talk through your own situation with a coach? Book a free intro call and we’ll figure out next steps together.
FAQ
Do I need to speak German to find an industry job in Germany after my PhD?
It depends heavily on your field. In one Fired Up client’s search, around 85% of relevant roles required German, though English-speaking roles do exist, particularly in international teams, research-heavy startups, and some engineering or tech companies. It’s worth checking this early rather than assuming your field works like IT.
Should I do a postdoc before trying to move into industry?
Not necessarily, but it can be a useful bridge if you have valuable expertise that doesn’t quite match what companies are hiring for right now, especially a postdoc connected to an industry collaboration.
How long does the transition from academia to industry usually take?
There’s no single timeline. It depends on your field, language requirements, and network. Building more than one strategy in parallel, rather than waiting on a single application to land, tends to shorten the wait.
