This paper explores the relationship between the characteristics of the doctoral training and the recruitment of young PhDs in the private sector in France. We used information from a national representative survey of 1246 PhDs graduated in 2001 and interviewed in 2004. We focus on the recruitment and PhD returns among research-based jobs and non-research jobs in the private sector. Our econometrics results show that access and wages in the R&D jobs strongly depends on previous labour experience during the PhD (participation in a research contract, private funding for the PhD). In addition, we find that PhD students who expressed a preference for academia pay a wage penalty when they access to research-based jobs in the private sector.Ce pa...