I've heard that up to 10% of PhD graduates manage to completely switch topics and even areas of science when starting their postdoc (i.e going from physics to medicine or from chemistry to computer science), but personally I don't know anyone who did it. How do people approach and manage such transitions?
I can't answer, but the question is of great interest for me too. How can a researcher migrate to another - possibly close area. My own experience is closely connected with digital systems, but for different areas - system analysis in IT, e-learning, software development. May i consider it as experience in different areas of research or implementing my skills in a certain research area for different practical branches?
Do you mean 10% of all PhD graduates change their disciplines? or 10% of those who tried to switch their disciplines were able to completely switch. Moreover, it really depends on the field of PhD. For instance, for PhD graduates in computer science it is more likely to find a post-doc in other disciplines than PhD graduates in civil engineering (I assume).
In general you do not 'change subject', you take the Interdisciplinary knowledge from one role to another. For example: With bioinformatics you have a vast array of skill sets (biology, computing, databases etc.), one could move to all manners industries. This goes for most sciences. Do not think about what the job you do versus the new one, consider what skill sets are transferable and applicable in the new role. From that, the change must be for a good reason and not one out of desperation, in most cases an employer loves passion over desperation any day, although it will be harder because you will be competiting with people whose initial passion was the new job you are going for :-). The actual question is an important one as one seeks to build a full life portfolio of skills, nee interests, and not simply following the standard... I must be this because, that was how it was before.
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