In my final year of graduate school, I participated in a leadership program at my university. In the course of this program, all the participants worked on group projects, the subject of which was how to improve graduate student and postdoc career development. My group decided early on that we would focus on how trainees could participate in internships to gain work experience.

A version of this post was originally published on GradHacker.

Instantly, our group uncovered a culture clash: I was coming from an engineering program in which internships were fairly encouraged and some students even consulted or started their own companies. Two other group members were in the biological sciences, where the farthest you were allowed from the bench was Woods Hole, MA. The fourth group member was in a humanities program and insisted that 100% of his classmates got tenure-track teaching positions and therefore would be totally uninterested in any career development aside from teaching (a claim the rest of us found dubious).

Ultimately, we were able to agree on a project that helps students gain relevant experience outside of academia by thinking beyond internships to volunteering, part-time jobs, freelancing, launching new programs, taking courses, etc. The process of collecting testimonials on these career-developing experiences opened my eyes to the many ways grad students can advance their careers, even if their advisors or programs frown upon it.

Since I’m a money-minded person, I was particularly interested in the examples of grad students who earned money from their career-developing experiences. That really seems to be the best of all options—gaining relevant work experience and some extra cash, of course in balance with dissertation work. Internships are the most obvious way to accomplish this, since they often pay more than assistantships, but I found that many grad students had strategically chosen a variety of non-internship experiences that also fit the bill.

Below are a few examples of students who landed or created career-developing work experiences that also paid them. These examples are drawn from our Think Beyond Internships project from last spring (not specifically paid experiences, but many are) and my series on side jobs (not specifically career-developing experiences, but many are).

1) Summer intern

Alice completed a paid summer internship at a medical device company doing work related to her dissertation research, which confirmed for her that she wanted to pursue an industry career after her PhD. In addition, she gained “great contacts and references,” and “it was also really helpful to see the way PhDs were viewed at a big company … and understand the corporate mindset.”

2) Weekend consultant

Kathayoon created her own consulting practice evaluating zoos and aquariums, which was in line with her dissertation work. She found her first client through a mentor, and then more clients approached her; she traveled on weekends to complete the evaluations. Consulting helped her “build a lot of important skills … make connections to people in [her] field who acted as study subjects for [her] dissertation, and … get a job after graduation.”

3) Part-time analyst

Adam worked on a part-time, hourly basis as a research analyst for an investor relations firm, writing reports and updates. Not only was this a paid position that “made [him] realize how underpaid [he] was as a graduate student,” but he took a full-time job at the company after he finished his PhD. He said, “The best part was that I had an opportunity to try out my job before starting full-time. How else do you know if you want to launch a career in a certain field?”

4) Freelance editor

Julie and Amy freelanced for a scientific journal article editing company as contract editors. They edited articles related to their fields of study on a pay-per-assignment basis. Because of this this experience, Julie “read much more widely than [she] ever would have on [her] own and… [thought] more critically about what [she is] reading.” She also noted the networking benefits to working for her company. For Amy, “the contract job was perfect because [she] learned a lot and could do as much or as little as [she] wanted.”

5) Semester-long science policy fellow

I participated in the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellowship after I finished grad school, but many of the other fellows in my class were current graduate students. We worked at the National Academy of Sciences for 12 weeks, learning about careers in science policy, gaining relevant work experience, and networking like crazy. The fellowship was designed to give graduate degree-holders a taste of science policy; they know that some of the fellows will pursue careers in science policy, but others will take their experience back to academia or into other sectors. My mentor agreed to serve as a reference for me for future positions, and many of the other fellows were able to stay on at the Academies after the fellowship or landed other science policy positions in DC. We received a stipend for participating in the fellowship.

I hope these examples have excited you about the possibility of finding paid work that also advances your desired career path. Before I conclude, I offer three tempering notes:

1) Some graduate programs explicitly disallow outside work in their assistantship or fellowship contracts, so you should check whether being paid will get you in hot water with your funding source or advisor. However, I think the spirit of this exclusion is more important than the letter. The point as far as I can tell is that your program wants you to make progress on your dissertation at a reasonable pace and not get distracted by outside commitments. But are a few hours of paid work a week really any more or less of a distraction than many other activities graduate students engage in (socializing, hobbies, self-care, raising children, etc.)? I think you should use your own judgment in how to balance your main goal of completing grad school with your side job and other pursuits and discern when you might need to refocus more or solely on your graduate work. In my own observation, some programs that state their students are not allowed outside employment will actually encourage work that is related to the student’s thesis topic.

2) All of the examples above and most in Think Beyond Internships involve students in STEM disciplines. I am hoping that is selection bias because the vast majority of my group’s contacts were STEM grad students and that students in other disciplines are also able to find paid, career-advancing work. I would love to hear from some non-STEM graduate students who have engaged in this type of work in the comments below.

3) Even if you aren’t able to find a job that combines both purposes of advancing your career and paying you, you can still achieve the goal that is more important to you (or both, through separate experiences). You can volunteer your time in such a way that advances your career (there are plenty of examples on Think Beyond Internships), or you can earn some extra money from unrelated work.

I wish you all the best in both setting yourself up for your post-grad school career and generating some extra cash flow!

Did you have paid outside work during graduate school, and if so what did you do? How strict is your department in disallowing students from working? How have you advanced your career during graduate school, aside from your dissertation work?

Graduate students receiving stipends are often interested in supplementing their stipends with some kind of outside work, yet unsure if such work is permissible or advisable.

The short answer is yes, of course, as an autonomous individual you can generate an income outside of your pay as a graduate student. The better question is ‘What are the possible repercussions – both negative and positive – for developing a side income?’

Further reading:

• Finding a Fulfilling Non-Academic Side Hustle
• Should I Work Outside of My Grad School Focus?

Is outside work/income explicitly disallowed in your contract or the terms of your funding?

Graduate student stipends come from one of two broad sources at any given time: an assistantship or a fellowship.

Some universities require students serving as research assistants or teaching assistants to sign an employment contract. If you signed such a contact, check it through carefully for prohibitions against outside work/incomes. If outside work is explicitly disallowed and you work anyway, you are putting your assistantship at risk.

When you accept fellowship funding, you likely agree to some kind of terms. Check through the terms for the funding carefully to see if outside work is disallowed either by the funding source or your university.

It may be worthwhile to figure out what exactly is considered outside work for the purposes of the contract/funding terms. It is unlikely, for example, that rental income would be considered a violation, and there may be other exceptions for passive or self-employment income as well.

Is outside work ‘frowned upon?’

Sometimes outside work has not been explicitly disallowed in a contract or no contract has been signed. In this case, evaluate the culture of your department to decide if developing an outside income will somehow get you in trouble, and if so how much trouble. The adage that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission may apply here. If any student caught with outside income is immediately dismissed from the program or put on some kind of probation, the benefits of a side income may not be worth the risk. However, if students seem to be allowed a reasonable work-life balance, the time commitment for a side income would probably go unnoticed.

(For international students) Is outside work explicitly disallowed by your visa?

F-1 visas issued to graduate students allow them to work up to 20 hours per week for their universities (e.g., as research assistants or teaching assistants), but not to have any other type of outside work (with the exception of work approved under the Curricular Practical Training or Optional Practical Training programs). This type of visa permits passive income, though what exactly constitutes passive income is not well defined. If you are an F-1 visa holder, developing a non-passive side income may jeopardize your visa.

What are the exceptions to the above rules?

While “No way!” may be the first-pass answer you receive when you ask if outside work is permitted by your program, there are often exceptions.

Career-advancing side jobs such as short-term fellowships and internships are encouraged in many fields, and these positions are sometimes far more lucrative than grad student stipends over the same period. Grad students sometimes consult within their academic areas of expertise with their advisors’ blessings and sometimes alongside their advisors. One of my grad school classmates co-founded a company prior to applying for her PhD (she pursued the PhD to better serve as the company’s CSO), and her ongoing involvement running the company was well known and respected among the faculty.

These are just a few examples of ways that outside work may be viewed by your department and advisor as aiding your progress through graduate school and career development rather than detracting from it. Even if your department doesn’t allow outside ‘jobs,’ it may be receptive to certain types of employment opportunities that are sufficiently educational.

Can you generate a side income without appreciably taking away from your degree progress?

You are already undertaking an enormous opportunity cost by pursuing a graduate degree. Despite the benefits you will likely experience by having a side income, make sure that they are not outweighed by the side income’s subtle costs. The main cost to watch out for is your progression through your program slowing. If your side work is taking time, energy, or creativity away from your primary job of being a grad student, you may want to forgo it in favor of focusing more completely on your work. In contrast, some grad students may consciously or subconsciously have a limit to the number of hours they are willing to work on their research, yet have additional time and energy available for other activities.

How would your advisor react to learning of your side income, and how likely is it that he/she will find out?

Your advisor’s attitude toward outside work or income probably matters more than any other person’s. If your advisor has high expectations of time spent working on your dissertation or RA and is generally a strict or unforgiving person, you likely won’t want to risk getting on his or her bad side by developing a side income. Red flags for that situation are an expectation of significant amounts of face-time in the lab or office and other advisees not having outside pursuits like hobbies, an exercise regimen, a social life, or children. On the other hand, if your advisor does value work-life balance and has been satisfied with your progress, a judicious choice of side job will probably go unnoticed or not be objected to.

What are the benefits of having a side income?

For all the potential risks of developing a side income, they can be enormously beneficial to a graduate student’s quality of life and career. The best type of side job, in my opinion, is one that both pays well and advances your career.

The additional income generated by a side job is the most obvious benefit. Grad students are paid so little per hour in their primary work that many types of side jobs come with a better hourly rate. For some grad students, a side income is the main reason they are able to stay out of student loan debt, build an emergency fund, start saving for the future, or take a well-deserved vacation.

A side job can help you learn or practice new skills, gain work experience, and network, all of which increase your post-graduate employability. Many graduate students with side jobs report that the work directly or indirectly helped them land their first post-PhD jobs in “alternative career” positions.

Finally, a side job done well or a side income that steadily brings in earnings generates a sense of accomplishment. It seems that every graduate student goes through one or more periods of projects falling apart or low motivation during her degree. Having something to do outside of your research that you feel competent in or that has a tangible positive outcome can be quite beneficial for your mental health.

Further reading: Start a Side Gig

Can you develop a passive income stream?

If you have concerns about your advisor or department’s approval of a side job or want to work completely on your own schedule, a passive income stream may be the perfect solution. With passive income, you put in capital (usually time) up front, and then collect the income in perpetuity without any ongoing work. There isn’t much to object to about that!

If you are/were a grad student with a side income, please share it in our Side Income Series!