Career planning is often overshadowed by the demands of research, leaving many PhD students unprepared for their next step. In this instalment of Exploring Academia, Isabelle Kohler reflects on why PhD students should start planning their next career move early – and shares concrete tips on how to do it. She also calls on universities to step up, take responsibility, and provide accessible, affordable career development resources for their PhD students and postdocs.

Earlier this year, I attended an interactive panel session during a conference, focusing on career options after a PhD or postdoc. Though it didn’t entirely surprise me, something struck me. At the beginning of the session, the moderator asked the audience whether they already knew with certainty what their next post-PhD step or post-postdoc step would be. More than 95% seemed to not be certain about their decision of what they would do.