When I started my PhD, my supervisor recommended a book to me: Karen Kelsky's The Professor Is In. It is written mainly for the North American academic job market, but most of its advice travels well, and I still go back to it. The tips below are ones I took from that book and have tested in my own PhD.
1. The PhD is a route to a job, not the job itself
Kelsky's first rule is that graduate school is a means to the job you want. From your first year, read job adverts in your field, notice what they ask for, and think about how your project speaks to it.
2. Write like a colleague, not a student
Her biggest warning is about tone. Students learn to defer, and it shows in their writing: too much literature review, too little of their own argument. State your contribution plainly and back it with evidence. Excessive humility does not read as modesty; it reads as uncertainty.
3. Add a line to your CV every month
Keep a tidy, professional CV from year one. Kelsky passes on a senior colleague's advice: "make sure that each month you add another line to your CV." Conference papers, seminar talks, teaching, small grants and reviewing all count. Before you say yes to anything, ask whether it is a good line.
4. Aim for one peer-reviewed article before you submit
Kelsky calls it "the Power of One": the jump from no publications to one is the most important. Plan thesis chapters and LLM work as future articles and send your best material to the strongest peer-reviewed journal you realistically can. Book reviews and conference proceedings are useful experience, but they are not a substitute.
5. Present your work early and often
Speak at your school's research seminars, PhD conferences and, at least once a year, a major conference in your field. Make your mistakes at the podium while the stakes are low.
6. Build a team, and value honest feedback
Your supervisor is one member of your support team, not all of it. Seek out other academics, your graduate school and your peers. And when feedback is blunt, treat it as a gift: as Kelsky puts it, a good advisor is not always a "nice" one, because the truth is what helps you improve.
If you would like help turning a thesis chapter into an article, or planning your PhD writing, see my PhD workshops or get in touch.
Source: Karen Kelsky, The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. into a Job (Three Rivers Press 2015).