Free assessment
Where do you stand in your career transition?
The Career Claimers Index™ measures your career readiness on two dimensions and shows you what is holding you back, or propelling you forward.
Most PhD professionals navigate career decisions blind
You have spent years developing expertise that very few people in the world possess. But when it comes to your career (whether to stay in academia, when to leave, how to transition) you are making one of the most consequential decisions of your professional life without a clear picture of where you actually stand.
Are you ready to move, or are you further away than you think? Is something specific holding you back, or are you closer to action than you realize? These are not questions you can answer by thinking harder. They require an honest assessment against the dimensions that actually determine career readiness.
The Career Claimers Index gives you that assessment.
Two dimensions that determine career readiness
The CCI measures two dimensions that have proven to be the strongest predictors of career transition readiness for PhD professionals.
Dimension 1
Professional Agency
Your capacity to take initiative, make decisions about your career direction, and act on them. Agency is what moves you from thinking about change to making change happen. It includes self-directed action, confidence in your transferable value, and the ability to navigate professional decisions without waiting for external validation.
Dimension 2
Academic Attachment
The degree to which your identity, sense of security and professional self-worth remain tied to the academic environment. Attachment is not loyalty or appreciation. It is the psychological anchoring that can make it difficult to see options clearly, act on opportunities, or imagine a professional identity beyond academia.
Four career readiness profiles
Your scores on these two dimensions place you in one of four career readiness profiles, each with distinct characteristics, challenges and a recommended path forward.
High Agency · High Attachment
Trapped High Performer
Capable but stuck. You know you could succeed outside academia, but something is holding you in place: obligation, identity, the comfort of the familiar. You need clarity about what is keeping you stuck, and a path through it.
High Agency · Low Attachment
Career Claimer
Ready to move. You have the drive and the psychological freedom to make a career transition. What you need is strategy: the right positioning, the right targets, and a plan that matches your capability.
Low Agency · High Attachment
Academic Loyalist
Deeply connected. Your identity and sense of professional worth are anchored in academia. Before career strategy makes sense, you need a perspective shift: a clearer view of what your options actually look like, and what your expertise is worth beyond the university.
Low Agency · Low Attachment
Emerging Professional
In transition. You have already moved beyond academia mentally, but you have not yet built the confidence and direction to drive your career forward. You need to see your value clearly and take the first concrete step.
What you receive
- Your career readiness profile: which of the four profiles you fall into, based on your actual responses, not guesswork.
- A personalized results email: a detailed explanation of what your profile means for your career, written for your situation.
- A recommended next step: tailored guidance based on your profile, including what to focus on and where to direct your energy.
- A follow-up email series: a sequence of insights specific to your profile that helps you move from where you are to where you want to be.
How it fits the Framework
The CCI is the quantitative companion to the Nine Foundational Job Search Elements. Where the Nine Elements define what must be built, the CCI measures how fully each dimension is developed in your actual job search, identifying which stage requires strengthening and where fear may be masquerading as preparation.
Clarity first. Measurement second. Strategy follows.
Built by someone who understands both worlds
The Career Claimers Index was developed by Don Back, PhD, MBA, founder of PhD Career Academy, who works exclusively with PhD professionals. With a doctorate and an MBA, Don has lived on both sides of the academic-professional divide: he understands the academic environment from the inside and the professional world from experience.
The assessment is grounded in the real patterns Don has observed across years of working with PhD professionals at every stage of career transition, from those deeply embedded in academia to those ready to make their move.