You’re not “wasting” your PhD.
WTFPHD exists to help graduate students and PhDs make sense of their skills, options, and next steps without shame, panic, or hustle culture.
If you’re here, chances are you’ve felt at least one of these:
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“I’m successful on paper but quietly miserable.”
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“I don’t know how to explain what I do to non-academics.”
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“Leaving academia feels like failure — even though I know that’s not true.”
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“Everyone else seems confident. Why don’t I?”
None of this means you’re failing.
It means you’re thinking critically and asking honest questions in a system that rarely gives honest answers.
PhD Post-Graduate Support
What If Grad School Was Useful, Actually Podcast
Honest conversations about work, identity, and life after (or alongside) academia.
WTFPHD has supported thousands of graduate students and PhDs across disciplines, institutions, and career paths.
Who we serve:
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PhD candidates and postdocs
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Tenure-track faculty questioning sustainability
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PhDs working in industry, government, non-profits, and beyond
Our work is grounded in:
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Years of PhD teaching and coaching experience
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Deep familiarity with academic systems
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Respect for the emotional reality of this transition
Meet Dr. Jaime Hough
Founder of WTF PHD, Published Author, and Host of the 'What if Grad School Was Useful, Actually' Podcast
Jaime knows academia from the inside. She is a PhD-level educator at the University of Oklahoma with years of experience supporting graduate students and PhDs. She has done extensive work translating academic skills into non-academic contexts.
She understands the pride of earning advanced degrees and the quiet panic that can follow when the promised outcomes don’t materialize into career placement.
WTFPHD grew out of conversations with graduate students who said things like:
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“I love learning, but I don’t love this life.”
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“I don’t know what else I’m qualified for.”
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“I don't know what to do if I don't get this job.”
This work is about giving language, structure, and hope to PhDs to realize they can have a successful career outside of academia.
What If Grad School Was Useful, Actually? Podcast
A podcast for graduate students and postdocs curious about how to transition their academic skills into other jobs.
Three times a month we share why the skills you've learned in grad school make you a great candidate for your dream job.
We cover the non-academic job search and unlearning bad habits using real examples from grad students and academic professionals just like you who have found their dream job.
About the Show
A note from host Dr. Jaime Hough:
The name, "What if Grad School Was Useful, Actually?," started as a joke. My friend and I were going back and forth, making facetious names for our dream podcast. The title was meant to be silly but once I said it out loud we could tell that lightning had struck.
The more I sat with it, the more the name meant to me. Not because grad school isn't useful but because there are times when it can feel like it wasn't useful.
I had worked with dozens of grad students wanting to get jobs in industry as they approached the end of their programs and at some point, all of them wondered if their grad school experience would help them. It had been a challenging, transformative, life-changing. But had it been useful?
What I firmly believe, what I proved to those students, and the core belief of the podcast is that even if you quit grad school on your first day, you've still gained useful skills that can help you get your dream job, in your dream place.
Every week, I share strategies for how to look for non-academic jobs, how to transition your CV to a resume, how to put together a cover letter, shine in an interview, and so much more.
I am so happy you are here! I am honored to be your host, your cheerleader, and your helper on your journey to your dream job.
Listen to some episode, check out our offerings, or submit your burning question in the contact form below. Stick around for a while and let me remind you how incredibly useful your time in the academy has been <3
