How successful are PhD graduates in the Social Sciences and Humanities when stepping out beyond the academic setting, or else entering professional circles within the academic structures, namely research and lecturing positions? The aim of this article is to present partial results of a qualitative research undertaken in Slovakia as a part of the international POCARIM project, mapping career paths of PhD graduates in Social Sciences and Humanities. This article discusses various aspects shaping career paths of such graduates. The empirical sampling provides facts for our reflection regarding qualified researchers and their experience. Each respondent has his/her own life story and the analysis is accompanied with some of the actual examples. It shows how the decisionmaking process can develop and what directions a career path can take. Based on narrative accounts, basic factors affecting a postdoctoral course of life were identified and analised from three basic points of view, namely: gender, economic and individual.