Discussions of curriculum in relation to doctoral education are slowly gaining momentum (Bastalich 2016; Gilbert 2009; Green 2012); more recently, we see evidence of interest in the informal curriculum generated through the efforts of supervisors and the support of peers and family/friends (e.g.,Elliot, Baumfield, Reid, & Makara 2016;Wisker, Robinson & Bengtsen 2017). Running parallel to these discourses is the hidden curriculum that may or may not be aimed at preparing candidates for an academic career, but becomes useful in the world beyond academia in alternative academic or post-academic (“alt-ac” or “post-ac”) employment. This paper reports on an Australian study that explored the experiences of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) PhD graduates now working in alt-ac positions. Participants reflected on what they had learned during their doctoral candidacy that was useful in their current work. They claimed that their doctoral education had taught valuable skills and capacities in leadership, project management, cognitive abilities, self-discipline, and communication. Identifying these capacities plays a critical role in designing appropriate professional development programs to accompany the increasingly structured doctoral programs seen in Australian and UK universities. Extended Summary: Aims Discussions of curriculum in relation to doctoral education are slowly gaining momentum (Bastalich 2016; Gilbert 2009; Green 2012); more recently, we see evidence of interest in the informal curriculum generated through the efforts of supervisors and the support of peers and family/friends (e.g.,Elliot, Baumfield, Reid, & Makara 2016;Wisker, Robinson & Bengtsen 2017). Running parallel to these discourses is the hidden curriculum that may or may not be aimed at preparing candidates for an academic career, but becomes useful in the world beyond academia in alternative academic or post-academic (“alt-ac” or “post-ac”) employment. Firstly, the study aims to show that the knowledge, competences, and skills earned during doctoral education are not just useful but important and valuable to the changing job martket domains. Secondly, the study aims to show that the hidden existential and ethical traits developed by undergoing doctoral education promotes academic citizenship and cultural leadership. Seen in this way, the PhD is not merely valuable within academia but is an overlooked form of societal and cultural value creation. Methodology This paper reports on a qualitative Australian study that explored the experiences of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) PhD graduates now working in alt-ac positions in government, university administration, non-government organisations and private business. This narrative enquiry (Clandinin 2007)was approved by the University Human Ethics Committee and invited participants to tell the story of their experiences of doctoral study and to reflect on what they had learned during candidacy that was useful in their current work (McAlpine & Amundsen 2018). Twelve participants took part in semi-structured conversations of approximately one hour each. All participants had graduated from HASS doctorates in a range of disciplines between 2000 and 2017. Sound recordings of the interviews were transcribed by a professional transcription company; after checking with participants for accuracy, transcription texts were coded to establish recurring themes from the data set (Braun & Clarke 2006).The Vitae Researcher Development Framework (Vitae 2018) was used during the interviews to prompt ideas about the kinds of skills and capacities the questions referred to; although the responses mapped onto the Vitae Framework, they tended to be organized differently from the four domains listed there. Categories were established by comparing the results with the Vitae Framework (deductive analysis), identifying overlaps and differences between that framework and the data, and hence re-categorising through an inductive analysis (Thomas 2006). Findings Participants claimed that their doctoral education had taught valuable skills and capacities in leadership, project management, cognitive abilities, self-discipline, and communication. When asked about advice they would offer to current HASS doctoral candidates, participants emphasized the importance of considering very carefully the motivations to embark on a PhD and the enormous value of engaging with both academic and non-academic opportunities during candidature. Especially, the competences developed through the hidden curriculum were accentuated: experiences with teaching during the PhD were described as transforming into valuable leadership skills in professional domains beyond the university. Experiences with self-discipline and decision-making during the PhD were described as transforming into valuable skills relating to judgment and assessment of the status of work done and completion of tasks. Experiences with research design and methodology during the PhD were described as transforming into valuable skills not only within project management, but also long-term planning and goal achievement. Thus, the study shows how conventional doctoral skills and competences transform into highly attractive and valuable work assets beyond the academy. Theoretical and educational significance For this reason, it is argued thatthose designing professional development programs for PhD candidates should attend to the requirements of alternate academic careers. Given the increasingly structured doctoral programs being introduced in Australian and UK universities at present, this is the moment to consider how best we can prepare our future knowledge workers. What is seen as conventional tasks and competences in an academic domain (teaching, researching, writing) become highly desirable and rare traits in some professional domains. This suggests that the PhD must be seen as part of a wider societal and cultural learning ecology (Barnett, 2018; Barnett & Bengtsen, 2017), where competences and skills do not transfer directly between domains, but transform and become revalued in the process of leaving one domain and entering another. The socio-cultural values attributed to research and researchers are simply not the same between domains. This suggests that further research into the cross-over between academic, professional, societal and cultural domains is needed in order to understand how doctoral education and the PhD are more deeply linked to the wider professional and societal contexts. The hidden curriculum in doctoral education – Beyond academia and into society Discussions of curriculum in relation to doctoral education are slowly gaining momentum (Bastalich 2016; Gilbert 2009; Green 2012); more recently, we see evidence of interest in the informal curriculum generated through the efforts of supervisors and the support of peers and family/friends (e.g., Elliot, Baumfield, Reid, & Makara 2016; Wisker, Robinson & Bengtsen 2017). Running parallel to these discourses is the hidden curriculum that may or may not be aimed at preparing candidates for an academic career, but becomes useful in the world beyond academia in alternative academic or post-academic (“alt-ac” or “post-ac”) employment. This paper reports on an Australian study that explored the experiences of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) PhD graduates now working in alt-ac positions. Participants reflected on what they had learned during their doctoral candidacy that was useful in their current work. They claimed that their doctoral education had taught valuable skills and capacities in leadership, project management, cognitive abilities, self-discipline, and communication. Identifying these capacities plays a critical role in designing appropriate professional development programs to accompany the increasingly structured doctoral programs seen in Australian and UK universities.