I think folks are getting hung up on what is or is not a "hard skill". It doesn't matter. Lots of people leave academia with/without a PHD and go to work in p

I think folks are getting hung up on what is or is not a "hard skill". It doesn't matter. Lots of people leave academia with/without a PHD and go to work in places where their degree and the skills/knowledge gained by that pursuit aren't specifically required. How relevant your degree actually is (how much it "helps" you) depends on where you end up and how much you're willing to adapt. Whatever the case, with some things you're going to be just as novice as a 22 year old entry level candidate (in my case, probably even worse). I recall leaving my phd program and months later in "a job" encountering my first "project manager". I literally didn't know that this job title even existed. I blurted out to some co-workers "Who is this person and why did they ask everyone to estimate on the spot when they would be done with their piece of the project, and anyway, how could we even estimate something so uncertain?" Everyone just laughed! ...and so began my years long reality-check where I discovered exactly how green the grass was on the "other side" working in corporate jobs.