From Academia to Industry: Expert Advice from Industry Veterans Who Made The Leap

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It is the age-old question for an early-career scientist: should I pursue a path in academia or industry? Following years of study through graduate school, new scientists may feel the pull to embrace research freedom and flexibility traditionally offered by an academic track, alongside the opportunity to teach and mentor students. Yet they will equally have to weigh these benefits against the challenges of a career in academia: some common examples include burnout from juggling a variety of responsibilities (Kulbatski, 2024), high demand and low supply for tenured university positions (McConnell et al, 2018), and lower compensation (Rothenberg, 2024). This reality helps explain the dramatically uneven employment landscape for U.S. scientists and engineers, with over 71% in industry and only 18% in education (S&E Workers in the Economy, 2019). Even still, the scale tips further, as academic scientists increasingly take the leap away from their careers at universities. In biological and biomedical fields, academic postdocs declined 9% between 2018 and 2022 (Rothenberg, 2024).

Are you a scientist trying to make the transition from academia to industry? Many unknowns can surface in process, rendering this career shift daunting and overwhelming. Landing an interview in the first place requires understanding of the company’s desired qualities in its employees. The expectations in an industry setting may be foreign, including what similar and different skills are required to excel compared to academia.

To help bring clarity to the process, we interviewed two industry veterans. We asked Balaji Boovaraghan, Technical Leader for PCR and Marker Technologies (PMT) at Corteva Agriscience, and Rishi Masalia, Program Director for 39 North, St. Louis’ Agtech Innovation District, to shed light on their workplace realities. They experienced the career transition themselves, accumulating years of experience in both academia and industry along the way. Their responses provide valuable insight into industry uncertainties and critical advice for those considering the career shift.

Pictured: Balaji Boovaraghan (left) and Rishi Masalia (right)

 

  1. What motivated you to pursue a career in industry?

Balaji: My real motivation to pursue a career in industry was to work in applied research that provides tangible solutions to the needs of farmers and consumers. Although the basic laboratory bench and research was exhilarating in academia, I took a leap of faith forward into an industrial scientist position. There is no happiness in the world than to see our ‘fingerprints,’ albeit little, on the products designed for market delivery.

Rishi: I was pretty clear about my vision of being a scientist when I entered graduate school – building something from the ground-up. I am constantly thinking about how to build new initiatives or operations to get science out into the world. I never wanted my science to be locked behind a paywall or buried in a journal – I’d rather convert it into a product that can be used to improve lives and/or livelihoods. This way of working solidified for me early on at LeafWorks, the first startup I worked at post graduate school, when we had just launched and were selling our first product. Seeing small farmers come to our booth at a trade show to thank us for the product and work we were doing to save them money was extremely rewarding. The pipeline from creative thought -> research -> product development -> testing -> sales and marketing -> direct customer interactions is something that gives me joy and something you’ll never see in traditional academia. 

 

  1. What were your biggest challenges in transitioning from academia to industry, and what resources were the most beneficial?

Balaji: Transitioning to industry from academia was not a big challenge for me as I had the fortune of a few friends in other industries who were priming me for the corporate world. During my academic research, I was dedicated to collaborating with other faculty members on their projects that honed my skills to learn and adapt to their ideas and perspectives. Some of them are still my mentors today. Academic laboratories often have the advantage of providing researchers with a multitude of responsibilities at a given time. This has empowered me to manage a large team of researchers in the industry. No one can be fully prepared for all the challenges that would befall in the process, and one needs to take these in stride and keep progressing. As an experienced scientist, I understand how to overcome experimental problems; the challenge is to provide the necessary tools for my team members to execute the task in hand.

Rishi: The biggest challenge was probably not knowing anything about industry, particularly startups – the path I ended up on, before making the transition. University graduate schools and departments are MUCH better about this now, but 12+ years ago when I entered graduate school, staying in academia was THE path, so I didn’t know anything about startups, equity, salary options, negotiation techniques, managing profit and loss statements, etc. I had to learn all of this on the fly at the first company. I made extensive use of online resources, which have multiplied over the years, but for me good ol’ YouTube was extremely helpful. After spending time in industry, I highly recommend reading books (e.g., the Culture Map, Never Split the Difference, The Hard Thing About Hard Things) and finding a mentor who is in a career / position you want. Now, as a way of giving back, I often find myself working with universities or departments to give talks on startups and the plant science industry. This way current students and postdocs can be more aware of opportunities and their own blindspots before leaving academia.

 

  1. What skills from academic training were most critical for use in industry, and what new skills did you need to develop while working in industry?

Balaji: The core technical and people management skills are invaluable in industry. Soft skills such as collaboration, teamwork and networking are often the keys to overcoming challenges. Every project that I undertake demands a customized approach within the strict timeline ensuring that I learn something new every day on the job. Problem solving is one such skill that I developed by listening to my team members and collaborators.

Rishi: Technical skills are fundamental to getting a job in industry. The best training I received during my graduate school was how to think critically and research new problems. We often overlook this, but getting a research-oriented degree forces you to think creatively, quickly, and robustly. Experimental designs are often dictated by constraints (size, space, time, money) and hit roadblocks, where you have to pre-design contingencies and work with others to see a project through. This is no different in industry. Another skill that I have honed over time is how to communicate science effectively to non-scientists and how to distill your science down into its core messaging parts. As industry is so collaborative and team oriented, being able to communicate what you are doing and why it matters effectively is a must-have skill for all scientists wanting to enter industry.

 

  1. How does the work environment compare in industry vs. academia, and what are some overall pros/cons for both?

Balaji: The work environment often depends on the leadership/management style and the resources dispensed by the organization. While academics offer freedom and flexibility, industries offer resources and focused projects with clear directions and timelines. Due to variances in financial resources, academic projects tend to be short term whereas, in industries the projects are longer term due to the nature of product development. While emphasizing basic research in academia could yield research data in flexible timelines, industries normally tend to be structured, team oriented and fast paced.

Rishi: Startups are different from both big company industry and academia, so I’ll touch upon startups as they are my core experience. The academia life of a graduate student and/or postdoc revolves around research and scientific projects. In industry there is more collaboration, more team meetings, more check-ins, so that the projects are green lit and continuously assessed to make sure they stay on track and on-budget. I’ve found that deadlines are a much bigger concern in industry than academia, and timelines of projects are measured in months not years. Further, the currency of academia is publications, whereas in industry, it is the sales, so industry projects tend to maintain scope with strict phase gates to help get products built and assessed on time.

The biggest difference between startups and either industry or academia is that you get to wear a lot of hats. Startups have smaller teams, and still require all the necessary components of a bigger company – so you find yourself doing things you are not directly trained in. This can be a great learning experience and gives you a more holistic picture of how companies operate. On the flip side, at a big company you have a narrowed focus and if you are hired as a scientist, you spend most of your time doing science – something you’ve been trained at extensively.

A big pro of academia is increased job security, though this is also changing over time. Faculty can secure tenure, while academic contracts for postdocs and research scientists tend to be yearly. Most industry jobs are “at will”, meaning that employees can leave or be let go at any time. Job performance and the financial health of the company are factors in these decisions. This risk amplifies for startups, which often fail or fold for a variety of reasons including financial, leadership, market competition and timing, and of course plan ol’ luck.

 

  1. What advice do you have for individuals trying to land a job in industry (application and interview tips, etc.)

Balaji: First, research the company and the positions to appropriately craft your resume and be honest when summarizing your accomplishments and technical skills needed for the job. Be conscious of the fact that the hiring manager will have just a few minutes to glance through the resume. Second, upon landing the interview, prepare to elucidate your skills and experiences to meet the needs of the job. Provide examples of how you managed challenging situations such as customer relations, troubleshooting issues, collaborative projects, initiative you undertook that increased the sales/project success etc., in your current or previous role. Third, emphasize your willingness to learn new skills at a moment’s notice, an indication of your adaptability in a dynamic industry environment. Last but not the least, highlight your industrial experience, if any, as an intern, or a contractor, or as a participant in an industry-academia collaborative project.

Rishi: There are a lot of tips you can find online, but here are a few that I recommend:

  • Your resume/CV should describe what you did at your job through the lens of outcomes and metrics. As a hiring manager, don’t simply tell me that you worked on drought resistance in cultivated sunflower seedlings, instead tell me about specific projects you oversaw, the collaborations you were involved in, and how this resulted in publications (major outcomes).
  • Going on the job market is an exercise in marketing and storytelling for your work. During cover letters and interviews you should be weaving your experiences on various projects and collaborations together into a cohesive story. Remember to be pitching your work in a way the company hiring will find compelling.
  • Be yourself during interviews. Hiring managers can tell when you’re forcing it. If you get nervous during interviews, practice with friends.
  • In an interview ask questions, particularly about culture and the team.

 

  1. Outlook: how do you envision the relationship between academia and industry scientists evolving?

Balaji: Driving scientific advancement requires further collaboration between academia and industry, as global challenges demand bold innovation. I see a future where universities and corporations form results-driven partnerships, particularly in industry-funded research to rapidly accelerate product development. I see expanding industrial postdoctoral opportunities as a key to this much needed shift. These programs enrich research and deliver tangible benefits across the board. With companies’ global presence expanding academics’ tools, seamless data-sharing, and aligned intellectual property strategies will ensure a more dynamic and efficient pipeline for market-ready solutions.

Rishi: A constant collaboration between academia and industry is the bedrock for continued scientific exploration. I envision stronger partnerships where academic institutions and industry work together to accelerate technology transfer, ensuring that cutting-edge discoveries are translated into real-world solutions more efficiently. Programs such as joint research initiatives, industry-funded fellowships, and startup incubators will play a key role in fostering these connections.

 

References

Industry scores higher than academia for job satisfaction. (2021). Nature, 600(7887), 8–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03567-3

Kulbatski, I. (2024, October 23). Why Are Successful Scientists Leaving Academia Mid-Career? The Scientist Magazine®; The Scientist Magazine. https://www.the-scientist.com/why-are-successful-scientists-leaving-academia-mid-career-72266

McConnell, S. C., Westerman, E. L., Pierre, J. F., Heckler, E. J., & Schwartz, N. B. (2018). United States National Postdoc Survey results and the interaction of gender, career choice and mentor impact. ELife, 7. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.40189

Rothenberg, E. (2024, April 1). US scientists are leaving academia. That’s bad news for drug companies | CNN Business. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/business/scientists-drug-companies-academia/index.html

Science and Engineering Labor Force | NSF – National Science Foundation. (2024). Nsf.gov. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20198/s-e-workers-in-the-economy

 

 

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About the Authors

Aditi Bhat

Aditi is postdoctoral researcher in Haney lab at University of Pittsburgh and a 2025 Plantae Fellows.  She currently investigate the diverse role of receptor-like-kinases in regulating plant autoimmunity. Outside of lab, she like exploring new areas through food and hikes taking copious pictures along the way! You can find her on X: @jumpy_botanist.

Stephanie Temnyk

Stephanie is part of Corteva Agriscience’s PCR and Marker Technologies team, and a 2025 Plantae Fellows.  Stephanie’s research background involved characterizing chloroplast-targeted genes; in fact, these were originally implicated in peptidoglycan production of the cyanobacterial plastid ancestor. Her interests always drew her to the genetic crop improvement space. You can find her on X: @STemnyk.