Your dissertation is your business card!

Finishing your doctoral dissertation is a challenging and often stressful process — at least, it was for me. Your focus is on finalizing your research, polishing your writing and preparing your defence, but also on getting a job. Ideally, the result is a job offer, but it’s also a book: years of doctoral research condensed into a (usually) dry, bound thesis on a library shelf. What if, instead, we could use our dissertations as an opportunity to reach a wider audience and increase our chances in the job market?

My dissertation concerned the cognitive decision-making processes of entrepreneurs. As I was writing it up, I noticed a colleague posting a very appealing photo of their dissertation on the social-media site LinkedIn, full of charming fonts and colours. This version helped her to increase her visibility and stand out from the crowd. As scientists, we are taught never to judge a book by its cover, but I realized that it is not just the inside that matters; first impressions do count. I wanted to have a personalized dissertation, too.

Ways to personalize your dissertation

I started with some online searches. There are platforms out there, such as the freelance marketplace Fiverr, that can help you to identify talented creatives who can design affordable covers, figures, websites and more. I reviewed the portfolios of several designers, considering which style would be appropriate for a scientific publication, and selected the designer I thought could best bring to life what I had in mind.

After discussing what I was looking for, my designer and I tried several designs before deciding on the final cover. I then edited the text, images and tables to make them clearer and more compact and reformatted everything to a larger size. I also developed a proper introduction, expanded on the practical implications through a longer conclusion, and extended my literature review so that the dissertation became a smooth story with more than just the mandatory essays. On the back, I added an executive summary and a short biography, including a photo of myself.

Collection: Career resources for PhD students

Within a few weeks, I managed to have my dissertation designed in a style that really appealed to me. I paid about €150 (US$160) for the designer, plus €500 for 50 printed copies. In the months that followed, I would take one of my personalized copies with me whenever I went to meet colleagues or have a conversation about a possible job opportunity. The reactions were overwhelmingly positive (“Almost too timely!”, “I can’t wait to read it”). I had announced several months earlier on LinkedIn that my dissertation was available online, but my post about the personalized version seemed to have a greater impact. (It amassed 314 reactions and 48 comments, including 10 requests for copies of my thesis, compared with 257 reactions, 27 comments and 2 requests for copies in response to the original post.) I have heard anecdotally that this version helped me to stand out to job-search committees.

If you’re looking to promote your thesis work to a wider audience, here are a few things you can try.

Downsize your dissertation

One way to make your dissertation more appealing is to create a downsized version. In my case, I went from an A4 paper format (210 × 297 mm) to A5 (148 × 210 mm) with larger font sizes and figures, but you might even consider a version that could fit in your pocket.

Another option is reducing your dissertation to a more accessible version with shorter stories or chapters. For example, you could craft summaries that feature the essential aspects of your research, with its key points and findings, and emphasize how the research can be applied in real-world scenarios. You could also share that more-accessible digital version in e-mail signatures, for instance with a hyperlink. In my case, I handed out hard copies of my work personally to people I met, and shared a PDF version with those who contacted me online.

Make the most of your channels

Using your dissertation as a business card also means making the most effective use of the promotional platforms you have available. These could include social media, a personal website, blogs and any other communication tools you use to reach your audience. In my case, by posting pictures of the personalized dissertation on LinkedIn, I gained visibility, expanded my network and was invited to collaborate with a researcher whose work I admire.

I launched a website to promote my dissertation research and used the designed cover for branding and visual identity. I was also invited by a network for professionals and educators to blog about my research and to talk about my insights during several webinars.

Talk it out

Rather than read your research, some people might prefer to listen to you talk about it. So, consider discussing your work over several episodes of a podcast. Podcasting can be seen as an innovative way of educating your audience, and can demonstrate marketable skills (read: ones that are attractive to employers).

In the past, when people asked me about my research, I would ‘pitch’ it in a couple of sentences. But this approach rarely leaves a lasting impression, especially with those outside your specialized field. By creating a personalized dissertation, I turned that dynamic upside down: people would reach out to me, flip through the pages and ask me questions. The dissertation served, in a way, as a business card.

Of course, in the end, my personalized dissertation was not the only reason that I got a new academic position, but it undoubtedly helped to increase my visibility, extend my network and, perhaps most importantly, distinguish myself as a young researcher.

Graduate students generally work independently, spending long hours on their research projects, and sometimes don’t know how to discuss their work with their colleagues. Or maybe they experience impostor syndrome. All of this can hinder job opportunities, but personalizing my dissertation helped me to overcome these barriers. Ultimately, whether your dissertation ends up on a desk or on a bookshelf, customizing it increases the chances that it will really stand out.