At present, there are an animated discussion in the well-known universities offering doctoral (PhD) studies about the future of their graduates. What kind of a job should they be prepared for? Should PhD studies continue to develop the academic excellence of their graduates and thus to prepare them for an academic career? Or should the universities re-orientate their PhD study aims to prepare the students for employment in jobs outside academia? Should the PhD studies have a broad aim or be narrowly specialized? What is the most appropriate response to these questions in case of PhD studies in educational sciences? The authors of this article argue for retaining a high quality of academic and methodological approach, and developing the thinking and research skills of PhD students. On the other hand, they suggest that, at the same time, such focus of the PhD education should be combined with enhancing carefully selected generic skills that can be useful for the PhD graduates to be able to find (predominantly educational) jobs outside academia. The study presents a process of projecting a new doctoral school at the Faculty of Education, Matej Bel University in Slovakia, implementing a combined-aims approach in educational sciences.