Andrew and his team are responsible for helping organizations manage petabytes of unstructured data, and realize the potential of Qumulos file data platform and solutions for their business needs. Tech companies are fast-paced, ever-changing environments. So its a mix of both. Job titles in this category range from conversation designers to editors to content strategy leaders. Ready to get started on applying to jobs? The Graduate Division is committed to expanding the diversity of Berkeleys student body, and supporting students from all backgrounds, especially those from underrepresented groups, in their academic, personal and professional journeys. Thanks for listening. There are many functional roles for non-technical backgrounds. Ive personally dabbled in coding and I have a little bit of technical proficiency, but probably would not be hired to be writing any code. That is not always the case. In my own case, personally, I mean, like, I, I took a tremendous, like, I enjoyed tremendously, the PhD program, I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to go through it, and to interact with smart people and read books and teach amazing students and do the research and writing and all that. Then look for opportunities to test those roles. So so why should we continue to do a PhD, if were just going to go into a sector that doesnt require that for for the formal job as a qualification for that job? Without technical skills, being an entrepreneur in tech requires fostering partnerships to build a vision into a reality.
To explore more non-academic job possibilities for Humanities Ph.D.s, check out, (register for free as a UC Berkeley student). And so if you had to go pick up your kids, and you just had to be offline, or you had to go take your kids to something or whatever, you know, you didnt actually log that as a pandemic day your manager just understood, and you got your work done. Here are five tips for the job search from Humanities Ph.D.s already working in the tech world: To explore more non-academic job possibilities for Humanities Ph.D.s, check out Imagine PhD (register for free as a UC Berkeley student). In the first few years, I was still kind of had had some articles going and, you know, conference speaking, and all that. Um, funding is important, right and and actually providing that material support so that the students have the opportunities to go in these different directions. But at its core, the idea of spending multiple years on a sustained, you know, project, commitment, research is compelling. Until then, stay safe. Brand-marketing directors, social media managers, and corporate communications directors are some common job titles that Humanities Ph.D.s hold. If a company is interviewing you, its because they understand your potential value. What these roles have in common is that they are responsible for writing and editing content for companies, sometimes internally, and sometimes in more customer- or client-facing roles. This is something that comes up frequently, because not only do we see our audience as graduate students, but we hope that theres a number of faculty administrators who are listening to our podcast as well. definitionally, they just havent havent done that theyve learned that in other respects, maybe practical or on the job, or through an MBA program or some some other way. If youre a student or an academic or a higher education professional listening to this episode, please consider subscribing and following us on your favorite podcast streaming channel. It turns out there are a variety of non-technical roles in the tech industry for Humanities Ph.D.s. And then part of what I do is actually kind of rolling up my sleeves and sort of doing projects myself personally, going back in time when I was finishing my PhD. Entrepreneurship: Without technical skills, being an entrepreneur in tech requires fostering partnerships to build a vision into a reality. Thanks so much, Maggie. You know, it may not be a surprise to you or to this audience and our listeners, but Humanities PhDs bring a tremendous amount of skills, insights, perspectives, diverse perspectives to whatever they do, whether thats in tech, or someplace else. And, you know, to be clear, it sets us apart, other professionals in the tech industry can do that as well. Center for International & Professional Experience, First Generation and/or Low Income Students, General Management & Leadership Development Programs, Applying to Graduate & Professional School, Whats It Like to Work at a Tech Company as a Humanities Ph.D.? UC Berkeley, Why Silicon Valley needs humanities PhDs The Washington Post, 16 Tech Careers You Can Land No Coding Required Forbes, How to Find a Job in Tech with a Humanities Ph.D. UC Berkeley, How these humanities graduates are finding jobs in Silicon Valley PBS, PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures hired as Senior Associate, Executive Communications at Google Versatile PhD, English PhD hired as Education & Training Manager in a Software Company, Art Historian Hired as Manager of Arts Content at PBS TV Station, GPE, McDougal, or other graduate fellowships in Yale organizations, Yale College Center for International and Professional Experience, Virtual internships with real companies at, Job simulations for humanities PhD students with. In my case, that was more of the Tech experience. Previously, he served and go to market leadership roles at Splunk and Box. Before we sign off, we have a request for you. And so I would say to current PhD students, you know, to consider the range of their interests and let their intellectual curiosities and imaginations kind of help them articulate what they would like in a future career, not necessarily a specific job or a specific career, but just what characteristics of a job are important to them, what do they like to do and what are they passionate about? And then there is a reality, especially in state-funded universities where they dont have that. And so I just wanted to interject and put that in so that, you know, our listeners can also think about those things, those inequities with us. So theres a whole range of roles and different skill sets. And do we want to message and market the software a little bit differently based on on industry? So I got to know him. More and more tech companies are realizing how important it is to have someone on their teams who thinks about culture on a theoretical level.
So I think theres tremendous value there, regardless of what career we go into. Its great to be here. And then this is, again, the sort of accident and chance of things, you know, he happened to be going into a new job himself, right when my postdoc was ending. Another question that we have for you is, do you think that theres a role for humanists within the technology sector? So theres probably an exception to every rule. And so I think, first and foremost, for faculty and for administrators, its, you know, to nurture the interests that your students have, and and to really be in tune to what those are. Start with: Schedule Career Advising Appointments And I, and I want to be careful in saying that, because I think there are a lot of caring Well, meaning people within higher ed institutions. And you know, theres positives and negatives all around in every different industry. How did you make the transition from a humanities PhD into the tech, into the tech sector? But just having that reminder of checking in with the students, understanding whats going on for them, and really just putting, you know, the, the students at the foreground of kind of what theyre, what theyre doing. Many find their roles by deliberately building a network. And then they also gave an additional benefit beyond our vacation and sick days. You can also connect with the Career Centers Ph.D. Career Counselors for support with your job search. But basically, what we all share is a deep interest across these fields in humanity. Management: Humanities Ph.D.s are qualified for a number of management roles because of their experience with project management (aka dissertations), presentation skills (aka teaching), and team coordination (collaborative projects, student government, etc.). But those are kind of the stated goals. I know, it doesnt come easy to some people. I think theres a lesson there in thinking through the ways in which relationship building, or networking can be so critical in helping anyone sort of make that transition out of the academy into another career sector, whatever, if its in the for profit, or the nonprofit, or wherever you decide to go. So I got my PhD at Berkeley, I actually went there for undergrad as well was a history major, who spent quite a few years there at at Cal, I have had a few roles now in the tech industry, my current role, as you said, I lead a team thats focused on whats called Industry Marketing at Splunk. The Office for Graduate Diversity provides support and services for prospective and continuing students in an effort to support and sustain a more diverse graduate student community. Many fear that if they leave the academy, theyll no longer have the opportunity to do fulfilling research. Andrew and his team are responsible for helping organizations manage petabytes of unstructured data, and realize the potential of cumulus file data platform and solutions for their business needs. Im going to just quickly interject here, because, yes, Andrew, to everything that he just said. Like, if youre a product manager, if youre in marketing, youre thinking about how do I tell a story that appeals to people and that gets them interested to see the potential and the technology? In the case of that role, I was actually working on partnerships between technology companies and universities. In reality, research jobs such as user experience (UX) research positions are extremely common in the tech world, and Humanities Ph.D.s tend to do well in these roles. PhD? Tailor your application to highlight the key qualifications and transferable skills you do have. In our next episode, we are going to talk about humanities PhDs and careers in the nonprofit sector. And it was this whole involved thing. Be confident about the skills you have to offer. So I think, and I think that openness to considering and exploring, experimenting, trying things out, you know, thats to be valued in the PhD experience. One of the questions we often get from those voices who might push back against career diversity methods, or methodologies will often point to well, you dont need a PhD in the humanities to do that job. We're here to support you as you progress through your degree, and help you understand the policies and procedures that inform your graduate education. They also, you know, set up some guidelines to address you know, Zoom fatigue, and to have certain days where, you know, it was just understood that you wouldnt have meetings unless it was by exception. You can find us on Twitter and Instagram at @phdfuturesnow. Jobs in strategy and development, including philanthropy manager or community growth coordinator positions, can be well-suited for Humanities Ph.D.s. And that has a material impact on kind of the the experience of grad school for sure. We are here to help you from the time you are admitted until you complete your graduate program. Was this an active choice? Brand-marketing directors, social media managers, and corporate communications directors are some common job titles that Humanities Ph.D.s hold. And so that was reflected, in my experience, I think that for folks who do have to work as either as part of their university funding, or because theyre not funded, and they just need to have money to be able to survive, like there is an opportunity in that to actually see if you can find a job that opens you up to other possibilities and other career paths. This is PhD Futures Now, a podcast on collaboration, career diversity and graduate education in the humanities. And the topic is something that, you know, I stumbled upon in this very contingent kind of way, and that piqued my interest, and it holds my interest now, still, even 10 years or so, or so, later. Yeah, absolutely.
On todays episode, we are joined by Dr. Andrew Keating, Senior Director for Industry and Customer Marketing at Qumulo for a conversation about building a career in the tech sector with a Humanities PhD. The Graduate Division serves more than 13,000 students in over 100 graduate degree programs. And it depends a lot on the company, the team, the role, and things like that. As Ive mentioned, I mean, we are in the territory of kind of making broad generalizations here. Sign up for OCS & Employer Events So, you know, thats one kind of example of just a company that, you know, is concerned about people and the human aspects of this. So for example, youre somewhat in a senior role now. And so over time, it does, you know, your path diverges, I do miss it, and I do miss the the experience of, you know, getting to spend, I mean, I spent a good six months or more, you know, in the UK doing the research, and focusing in just on a subject, and thats something that I dont get to do much of it in my current life. Deepthi and I and everyone at PhD Futures Now! And the point is, you know, to me, Humanities education focuses on you know, were spending a significant amount of time and making a multiyear commitment to study and explain various aspects of human culture. Humanities Ph.D.s are qualified for a number of management roles because of their experience with project management (aka dissertations), presentation skills (aka teaching), and team coordination (collaborative projects, student government, etc.). One of the things she often asks whether its our speakers at our workshops, or students who, who might be looking for careers outside the academy, she often asks, In what ways do you can you still engage with your research? And I mean, I realized that someone with my background, it, you know, I am in the minority or unique, I think were all unique in various ways in terms of our career paths and interest.
So, and yeah, I think the other points of kind of keeping up in terms of reading and paying attention to what either colleagues published or people in the field publish, Im not doing it as intensely, of course, as in a graduate program, or if I was in an academic job, but being able to, you know, kind of continue my own, you know, reading and, and just familiarity with some of the scholarship thats out there is one way that I kind of keep up and then when you see something thats related to your topic, thats, thats actually in the news more broadly, thats, thats another sort of sort of way that you can be reminded of your work. Marketing & Communication: People who like strategizing and identifying patterns and trends would do well in marketing or communications. And that that sense of kind of forging connections. And Im glad, Im glad you noted that, I think, you know, I had, in some respects, of privileged experience, going to getting my PhD at an R1. Search Non-Academic Jobs and Internships Since we talked a little bit about the advice that you would give to PhD students. What is the culture like in, in the for profit world or in the tech sector? And we can unpack that, you know, they may not always achieve that. Thats, thats right. So then that in turn, led into the postdoc, which, like I said, was kind of half half teaching and research and academic, scholarly, and then sort of the other half was more technology strategy. From a programmatic perspective, coming back to what we were saying a few minutes ago. And a significant part of the historians enterprise, she, she writes is empathy, and developing a full understanding of why people acted or thought as they did. My next role after that postdoc that was more of a full time role was in program management. Passionate about applying technology to business problems and delivering value to customers, he also serves as a consultant and adviser to startups, and is a co-founder of Popcorn RFP, a software-as-a-service platform for procurement that makes enterprise purchasing faster, smarter, and more collaborative. And again, this is a generalization is I think a lot of higher ed tends to think about the institution, more than than the people. But the good side of this, I mean, if I take, you know, my, my company, as an example, as part of the response to COVID and the pandemic over the past year or so, you know, Splunk where I work, gave the entire company for extra holidays, one per quarter, to have, you know, additional three day weekends. You mentioned the fact that you partially made this transition into the tech sector through this postdoctoral fellowship that you had. However, entrepreneurship also requires a lot of creativity and project management skills, both of which are common among Humanities Ph.D.s. Like, do you want to come have breakfast with me, and, you know, that kind of led into him hiring me on a sort of consulting project basis, which in turn, led into to the full time role. It was, you know, Berkeley is one of the elite history programs. And I think, you know, I think as with everybody, when you look back at important developments in your life, its partly by chance, and partly by accident, and partly by design. We can get some more into the specific skills. Arathi Govind is a Professional Development Liaison at the Graduate Division. on Episode 8 | Technology Careers for Humanities PhDs, Episode 12 | Campus Leaders on Higher Education Reform, Episode 11 |Faculty Perspectives on Graduate Education in the Humanities, Episode 10 | Collaboration and Career Diversity in the Humanities, Episode 9 | Non-Profit Careers for Humanities PhDs, Episode 8 | Technology Careers for Humanities PhDs. Working toward obtaining your graduate degree at Berkeley is an exciting and challenging endeavor, but funding your graduate education shouldnt be your greatest challenge. So they will, they will go to great lengths to treat their employees well, to retain them, and to basically keep them out of given out a given company. Or another way of saying it is, what do you wish you had known going in as a student?
And I think there is a lot of kind of implicit assumptions, especially from faculty at r1 universities that all of their students will go on to tenure track careers or something equivalent to that. And this was designed to basically give people certainly if you got ill or a family member did, but then it was also designed to give us time if we needed it for childcare for for family care obligations or just to take care of things that were taking longer, because of all the complexities associated with lockdowns and pandemic and all that, what we found, interestingly enough, at least in among my colleagues and people Ive talked with about this is that we ended up many of us ended up not actually taking a recording, as many of these days, as we thought we would, just because our managers were understanding. And grad school I think is a fantastic time to think on that and to and to figure that out for themselves. So we another question that we thought about in preparation for todays interview is what are your job responsibilities at Splunk? Partly, in my case, its just a kind of accident or birth, I happen to grow up in Silicon Valley, I was always in Silicon Valley in the 1990s. Im your host Maggie Nettesheim Hoffmann. And once you do find an open position, how do get your foot in the door? And I think, you know, a difference with academia. Welcome to PhD Futures Now! And theres a wide range of, of differences that you can see, depending on the size of the company, the sort of technology were talking about, are they a hardware company, or a software company, I mean, theres a lot of, theres a big range, you know, there is some truth to the generalizations. I think one key point of comparison for me is that, you know, most tech companies place a strong emphasis on treating their employees and their customers very well. you contrast that with a tech company where, you know, one company where I work, they, when I showed up on my first day, and they give you your employee badge, they say, Heres your train pass, like and the company just paid for it, because they just wanted to reduce that friction for employees. Many thanks to Andrew Keating for joining us on this episode, Andrew can be reached through Twitter at @andrewpk. Or is your PhD related to the first job you initially took in the tech world? GradPro, the Graduate Writing Center, and the GSI Teaching & Resource Center can support you in your academic and professional development at all stages of your degree program and in preparing for your career. Jobs in strategy and development, including philanthropy manager or community growth coordinator positions, can be well-suited for Humanities Ph.D.s. Glad to get more into that. I wanted to bring that up, because there is a fundamental, theres a, theres a duality here in play, right? And so I was always kind of just interested in in various aspects of technology. Dr. Andrew Keating is Senior Director for Industry and Customer Marketing at Qumulo. So theyre not perfect, and theyre not without flaws, by any stretch. And that costs a few extra $100 per month. They gave us six weeks of paid time off called pandemic days. Business Strategy & Development: Applying for small and large grants to support research is an essential skill that all Humanities Ph.D.s must develop. Youre very welcome. So I dont know that if you have an answer or thought about that, but thats something we do think about, is there a way that we can maintain a connection with our research lives if we do develop a career beyond the Academy? And how might it there be some similarities or differences in the culture that we experience in higher education. So companies think a lot about how to keep their customers happy, and to keep them as repeat customers, on the employee side of things, you know, a lot of tech companies will realize and acknowledge that their employees are a significant competitive advantage to them. And, you know, it was through that work that I met the, someone who ultimately hired me for my next role at the time, he was Berkeleys Chief Information Officer. Andrew, welcome to PhD Futures Now. The office is closed weekends, holidays, and recess days. This in turn at its most extreme can lead to those, you know, Silicon Valley, excess perks and things like that, that we sort of roll our eyes about. So that was kind of a first foray into doing some of the work that that I do today. And, and that manifests in our specific field of study. Passionate about applying technology to business problems and delivering value to customers, Andrew also serves as a consultant and advisor to startups and as a co-founder of popcorn RFP, a software as a service platform for procurement that makes enterprise purchasing faster, smarter and more collaborative. So these are all like very human questions. A quick note, at the time of our podcast recording, Andrew was still working for Splunk. Learn more about the Campaign for Berkeley and Graduate Fellowships. And we think about, you know, what is the user experience? But thats kind of one one key point of contrast that I see. In my case, it was history, someone elses case, it might be anthropology or sociology, or, you know, theres a vast range of fields and subfields. And I think, one kind of starting point, and maybe this has been implied by a few things that Ive said, or maybe my own experience is to, you know, really think about and be supportive of students going in multiple directions. First, we thought we would just ask tell us a little bit about yourself and and a little bit about your career journey. A Silicon Valley native, he studied at UC Berkeley, where he received BA, MA and PhD degrees in history. And, you know, you see this in a lot of a lot of different ways. It might be like some there, there are things like that, that seem relatively simple and straightforward that I think faculty and staff can pay attention to, and to remind themselves in their particular programs that they need to put the wellbeing of their students kind of first and foremost, and I think a lot of them do that implicitly.
So I wonder what type of advice would you give to faculty and administrators, especially as they help to guide their PhD students to their postgraduate school lives? So the are the IT security needs of a bank different from those of the hospital? Demonstrate an ability to learn quickly, adopt tech language, and work collaboratively.
And this basically involves taking Splunk software products and presenting them in ways that resonate with specific industries like healthcare, financial services, higher education. Were here to help you build community and make our campus your new home. . People who like strategizing and identifying patterns and trends would do well in marketing or communications. So Ive always kind of had those sort of dual interests or the interest on the tech side of things. And, you know, we have all sorts of ways to sort of slice and dice, you know, different industries. But I also wanted to bring it up right now at this juncture that the kind of commitment that we are speaking about for graduate students to try different things, to try new skills, to develop new skills and training, its based on a fully-funded PhD model that is not available to every PhD student across North America, or across the world. So what advice would you give to current humanities PhD students who might be interested in career opportunities in the tech sector? And so I think one of the skills that Humanities PhDs bring, that maybe others dont as much is that emphasis on the humanity, the the ability to empathize and understand and analyze where people are coming from. If youve watched the HBO show Silicon Valley, thats absurd and humorous, of course, its a comedy, but there, there are parts of that that ring true in terms of some of the perks, and, you know, some of the, the, you know, especially in the kind of pre pandemic days, you know, the sort of stereotypical Silicon Valley office with people going by on scooters, and, you know, snacks and food and all that Ive, you know, there is some of that, that rings true. And, you know, there is this wide range of experiences and cultures, just as there is within higher education, you know, a small liberal arts college is going to behave differently than a research intensive, you know, university, Publix, and privates. But in an atmosphere that often prioritizes quantitative skills over qualitative ones, are there job opportunities for Humanities Ph.D.s?
Where do you start? Yeah, absolutely. I think that, you know, its important that we say that explicitly, indirectly, even if its something we implicitly realize, because theres so much public discourse out there about having to quantify, you know, the benefits or adopt some sort of, you know, metrics driven, like, heres what your salary is going to be if youre a Humanities PhD, and I think that kind of just misses the point. And, you know, definitely, I mean, I think over time, you know, my engagement has sort of fallen off. This podcast is a project of Humanities Without Walls, a 16 university consortium, headquartered at the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, and funded by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Where are they coming from? You can conduct informational interviews, cold-email or cold-call recruiters and hiring managers, use LinkedIn, do contract work, and put the word out to friends and acquaintances that you are looking for jobs. And then the flip side, if youre fortunate enough to be in more of a fully-funded kind of situation, or if you have a year where you have a research fellowship, and you dont have to worry about the demands of of paid employment while youre going through your program, then thats the perfect time to actually carve out a few hours a week to either do some networking or to take some online classes or get some exposure to things that may not be exactly in your, your field of study. And and it is a it is a very valid point. If Im a salesperson, Im interested in like, what is motivating my buyer?