Doctoral Program Alum Series Featuring Svetlana Gelpi, ‘21 PhD in Computational Chemistry
For Dr. Svetlana Gelpi, a PhD is not just about becoming an expert, but learning how to manage complexity, endure discomfort, seek help, and grow into the person you choose to become, even when the path is uncertain.
“The PhD is worth it, despite the pain. You’re going to miss being a grad student—the freedom, the people, the ability to learn anything you want.” – Svetlana Gelpi
From PhD to A Purpose-Driven Career
Svetlana’s work experience in graduate school helped shape her initial career goal after graduation. During her PhD, she completed multiple internships at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, where she became motivated by the national security mission, knowing her research contributed to public safety and global defense. “I really liked seeing my research was actually being used for people’s safety – saving money and protecting people, not just in the U.S. but around the world,” she shared.
When she graduated, she decided to target the national lab system exclusively for a postdoctoral role. She actively reached out to people she met, particularly those in human resources, and clearly shared her skills, learning goals, and potential contributions. Ultimately, she secured a postdoctoral position at Sandia National Labs.
While she enjoyed her work at Sandia, she also came to realize that her strong interest lay in leading people, coordinating projects, and helping teams work toward shared goals in addition to technical research. After over a year at Sandia, she transitioned to a federal contractor agency that supported the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).
Navigating the Job Market
Svetlana recognizes how challenging the current job market is. Her advice highlights strategy, experience, networking, and persistence.
One strategy she finds effective is leveraging Reddit for job search. She recommends a few subreddits such as the one about resume review. She would strategically post summaries of her experience and skills and ask for help with finding a job in relevant forums. This approach once led her to a job interview with a competitive company. At the same time, she cautions job seekers to avoid sharing identifiable personal information when posting online.
She also highlights the importance of internships and how these experiences shaped both her technical expertise and understanding of work beyond academia. “The internships helped me see how the real world works. Academia is the real world too, but it’s its own bubble,” she highlights.
She emphasizes the important of networking: “Right now, your network is the most essential asset. Even if you haven’t talked to someone in years, reach out.”
For Svetlana, job searching today is completely different than in 2021. She tries to apply within the first 24 hours of a job being posted and typically submits applications daily (over 20 job applications each day if needed).
In the face of rejection, she emphasizes persistence and self-compassion, “Even if you gave your best and didn’t get the job, it’s OK. Just keep trying, and there will be an opportunity that comes along. Your best was enough.”
Using AI as a Career Tool
Svetlana suggests using AI tools like ChatGPT to clarify thinking, translate academic experience into industry language, and prepare for interviews. “A lot of PhDs don’t realize how transferable their skills are. AI helped me see where else I could fit,” she explains, “I use ChatGPT as a thinking partner – not to replace my ideas, but to help me organize them.”
She recommends using AI thoughtfully for tasks such as providing resume feedback, mapping job descriptions with resumes for possible interview questions, and identifying alternative career paths based on transferable skills.
What the PhD Really Means
Looking back, Svetlana sees her PhD as intensive training in project management and prioritization, and opportunities to build perspectives, resilience, perseverance, and confidence through difficulty.
From candidacy exams to job rejections, Svetlana emphasizes that difficulty and disappointment are part of the process, not signs of failure. Moments that once felt “world-ending,” such as candidacy exams, ultimately provedsurvivable with the right support. “You’ve already done hard things. You did them before, and you can do them again,” she added.
Wellbeing and Support Systems in Grad School
“Please go to therapy during grad school,” Svetlana advises explicitly.
She stresses that success is not just about intelligence as many capable PhD students struggle due to lack of support or poor advising, and having a supportive advisor and community matters greatly. She personally found graduate student group therapy transformative, “it reminded me I wasn’t alone.”
What to Tell Her Younger Self
“If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would tell her that she is good enough,” said Svetlana, “And I would tell her that she chose a perfect PhD advisor.”
Despite the challenges, she believes the journey was worthwhile. As she reflects, “The PhD is worth it, despite the pain.” She added, “You’re going to miss being a grad student—the freedom, the people, the ability to learn anything you want.”
She believes both her younger self and current graduate students should take pride in their graduate school journey. “You’ll never be in an environment where you can just grow the way that you want to grow,” And ultimately, “No matter what you do afterward, you’ll always be able to say: I did that.”
As a final piece of advice, Svetlana encourages graduate students to document their progress, “Make a list of all your accomplishments, and you will realize you’ve done far more than you think.”
