How to explain past PhD withdrawal to employers/potential supervisors? I am currently working in education but also looking for job prospects in more technical/mathematical fields. I signed up to a STEM job site and I am not sure how to give a good response to the question "Could you tell me about the circumstances behind you exiting your PhD?" 

Basically, I quit a PhD 8 months after starting for the following reasons:


I hadn't fully developed the soft skills needed to be able to tackle one (e.g. time management, organisation, resilience) which resulted in slow progress.
I was struggling to manage myself in a lot of ways (e.g. money, food, mental health)
The area ended up being quite a bit out of my comfort zone (i.e. more pure mathematics compared to an applied mathematical background) and was chosen more based on fanciful ideologies rather than what I was traditionally good at, and it took me a long time to do things that my supervisor thought were straightforward.
I didn't have a break before starting my PhD and felt consistently burned out/depressed having gone straight into it after my Master's degree - not the best decision to make in hindsight.


I know the reasons in my head for dropping out of the PhD are sound, but I am struggling to come up with a way that explains what happened without potentially giving off an impression that I made a bad decision. I want to make a transition out of high school equivalent teaching (having been doing it for 2-3 years) into something more technical but would appreciate some guidance on how to answer the question I've mentioned above.

Furthermore, suppose I did find a niche of an area I was truly passionate about, or found a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) which I felt could truly advance my career in some way (say, being able to access some very technical and well-paid STEM role). How would I explain to potential PhD supervisors that I already quit a PhD without them thinking of it as being too much of a red flag?
I wouldn't go into a lot of detail.  The person asking you this wants one single answer, and it should be something that puts you in a good light for the new opportunity and doesn't provoke hard follow-up questions.

If you want to go into the workplace, I would say &quot;My previous program focused too much on theory without useful application and I really wanted something more applied.  I like to work on projects that have useful application in the real world.&quot;
Alternatively, if you want to be in industry, you can say that you realized you actually don't want to work in academia and your previous program was interested in keeping you in that realm, rather than preparing you for the workplace.
If you are pursuing more education, you may focus on differences between the field you quit and your new one.  Something like: &quot;I realized I'm really much more passionate about computer science than I am about pure mathematics.&quot;
You should do nothing to mention the issue in anything that you give to everyone.  That's information to be conveyed in an interview, if at all.

It's a given that there were probably other things going on and your interviewer will assume there is more to it, but they are not your therapist and do not need to understand the whole situation.  Only give them what is sufficient and positive.
I was kicked out of a Ph.D. program at a very late stage because I simply was not performing well.  The main reason for my poor work was personal issues that are embarrassing and were my fault but were not directly related to my studies.  Later I re-applied to a program in the same field. When they asked why I dropped out I said that my advisor was travelling my whole last year and unable to supervise me well and that I had a compelling offer in industry. Both of those are true and were significant factors in my outcome. I didn't tell them I was also having personal problems at the time that negatively impacted my ability to focus on my work.
I got into the program and finished my Ph.D.  On the job market people again asked me why I did a few years at one school before finishing at another.  I said various things similar to the above but was never in a position where I really had to explain it.  I did some studies at one school, went into industry for a while, and then went back and finished at a different school.  That's as much as people know.  To this day my colleagues don't know what the deal was and have never had enough interest to find out.  That's the way it should be---professional conversations should be kept professional and private information rarely has a place in them.
I have seen people play the &quot;I was young and immature&quot; card and seen it work out, but it's a big risk.  My advice is to be honest with people, but don't undermine your future by dredging up potentially harmful issues from your past.  Instead say things that are true, put you in a good light, and will satisfy the asker.