Written by DCLN Lead and Neurobiology and Neuroinformatics (Occupational Science) Candidate, Stuti Chakraborty
The second DCLN event, Alternative Pathways for PhDs: Consulting, Business and Entrepreneurship took place on January 30th, 2026. Panelists included current consultants from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), ZS and Kynea Consulting/Senseer Health.
All panelists shared insightful, thoughtful and extensive details on consulting and business/entrepreneurship career pathways for PhD students and postdocs.
Key Takeaways
- PhD students/postdocs are highly analytical, smart and technically sound problem solvers; these skills are very transferable into career paths like consulting. However, learning how to communicate in a structured way, demonstrate problem solving/reasoning ability under high-pressure circumstances (e.g. in case interviews) can be valuable, as these are skills that will be essential while working in a client-facing environment such as in consulting. Moreover, consulting and academia move at different paces and being comfortable with an 80-20 approach is key.
- Pursuing entrepreneurship and becoming a founder is another rewarding pathway to translate your PhD, but it is important to be mindful of the bottlenecks associated with this career path. As PhDs/postdocs, it is common for us to deal with uncertainty or dabble in “the messy”, trying to make sense of the unknown and these competencies transfer well into an entrepreneurship career path.
- Understanding key aspects of the business, identifying and defining the problem to be solved early on, and how it might translate into a sustainable business model, beyond just the science, are some of the crucial mindset shifts that need to be adopted by PhDs/postdocs, when trying to venture into entrepreneurship. There are several resources that can help you with this (see below).
- Other skills such as working in a cross-functional team setting, project or program management, mentorship and teaching are all highly valuable and transferable skills for PhDs/postdocs interested in transitioning into consulting, business or entrepreneurship. Getting experience in a real-world setting e.g. through summer internships or projects, is the best way to build a portfolio and demonstrate your ability to work in fast-paced, dynamic settings that require agility.
Resources:
There are several resources for current PhD students at USC to take advantage of, if interested in exploring these fields further.
- For entrepreneurship, check out the Viterbi Startup Garage, Spark SC, the USC and Techstars Accelerator, and Nucleate (this is not specific to USC, but rather a global accelerator program specifically catered towards life sciences/biotech innovation).
- For those interested in consulting, the Advanced Degree Consulting Club of USC (ADCC) provides specialized case interview preparation, resume reviews, and networking opportunities to equip doctoral students with the necessary skills for recruitment into consulting.
- Management Consulted is another professional resource for aspiring consultants, they have a library of cases which you can refer to as you get started with navigating the case prep process (fun fact: it is free for all USC students). Management Consulted has also posted upcoming deadlines for Bridge Programs for interested advanced degree candidates (e.g. PhDs, MDs, postdocs).
- Additionally, Biotech Connection Los Angeles (BCLA) Consulting offers a student-led platform for graduate students and postdocs to work with biotech/life sciences/pharmaceutical clients on real-world business problems, which can be great for a resume boost to show transferable skills/experience.
- If you’re still exploring and not ready for a long-term project, internship or startup commitment, you are encouraged to engage in external case competitions such as the Southeast, SoCal, and Midwest Healthcare Case Competition, or the IXL Innovation Olympics.
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