Careers Career Options for PhD Students Wednesday 1 st February – Dr. Tracy Bussoli Careers Adviser for Researchers

Careers Today’s Topics What are my choices? How can I choose? What to do next?

Careers Possible Careers Customarily PhD graduates either go into: Academic careers Alternative Careers A combination of both – Academic career with ‘real world’ input – Non-academic career with research credibility

An Academic career?

Careers Academic Roles Lecturer (Professor/Assistant Prof (US)) Postdoctoral Researcher Teaching Fellow Research Fellow Research Officer/Project Manager Academic Administrator (e.g. head of research degrees office, research grants officer, development advisor)

Careers Career-building opportunities during your PhD Research assistant or research officer (p/t) Graduate teaching assistant (Law, SEMS,SBCS and other departments) Demonstrating (Lab- based PhD) PhD Representative Tutorial fellow or lecturer Journal editor or sub-editor Book reviewer Consultant to outside bodies (govt or others)

Careers How to stand out: Teaching Get experience: – Teaching – Designing courses – Supervising student coursework/dissertations – Examining/assessing student work Undertake GTA training Get PGCAP/CILT (need to be teaching to do both)

Careers How to stand out: Research Publish articles in good refereed journals or book chapters in edited volumes Present papers at academic conferences to raise your profile and get feedback Review books for journals and act as consultant to outside bodies Get experience of research as an ORA, RA or RO

Careers Building an academic network Attend conferences and seminars in your field to meet the ‘big players’ and make contact with peers Look out for non-academic forums for relevant info/contacts as well Get involved – join postgradraduate networks, conference organisations, national and international professional bodies etc.

Careers What academic employers look for Publications, publications, publications! Understand REF and the nature of HE funding Relevant teaching experience Research experience, especially on funded projects Credentials – have they heard of you? Presentation skills and admin experience

Alternative Careers

Careers

Narrow Horizon Known and safe but insecure A little wider But still university - based Still research but transferring research to another setting Using knowledge and understanding but not research Using transferable skills rather than specific knowledge Postdoc Research Fellow Teaching Fellow Lectureship Research Associate Research Institute Charity Consultancy firm Think Tank Independent Consultancy (self-employed) Policy Advisor Analyst (finance) Teaching schools/colleges Publishing books/journals Project Manager Journalism Management Consultant Administrative roles Research Grant Facilitator Grant Advisor, Public Engagement Increasing risk and research effort to investigate Increasing likelihood of retraining Start your own business Any grade graduate job SME Accounting Marketing

Careers Alternative Careers Six months after graduating 53% % of QM PhDs went into academia (2009/2010 data) QM PhD roles are diverse and include R&D software developer, Early Modern Record Specialist, Lecturer, Power Systems Analyst. N = 105 All disciplines

Careers Jobs that evolve from your Subject Build on your specialist expertise – Direct pursuit of research interests in real world – Applying subject expertise in other contexts – Continuing to evolve subject expertise e.g. Consultancy or policy development in your field (corporate, govt, or independent) e.g. Communicating your subject to lay audience

Careers Jobs where you can use your transferable skills PhDs have lots of transferable skills These can be summarised into role types: – e.g. researching, communicating, advocacy, problem solving, project management You might need to learn a new sector, but your core adaptability is high Broader opportunities generated by this search

Careers Sectors where PhD is rated HE………academic and many roles outside of academic positions Banks ……in analyst roles as quants/financial modelling Patent Lawyers Government International Organisations Your own business/consultancy Consultancy Firms Pharmaceutical/Biotech/Medical Communication Companies/Science Publishing Tech Companies/software developers such as Google, Microsoft Think Tanks

Careers How can I choose? R esearch – find out more information T alk – to your network T ry – it out: intern, volunteer, shadow R eflect – think it over, is it right for me? Talk to a Careers Adviser

Careers Using your Network to find work Generate a network list then add your contacts’ jobs This generates individual roles, not just job types Do your contacts have jobs that interest you? Find out more – analyse for skills, challenges, opportunities Work outwards from specific roles

Careers What’s next? Researching your options is essential Getting relevant experience also really helps Consider internships, work-shadowing or volunteering – Full/part time; paid/unpaid; project or ongoing Use your network Apply speculatively

Careers Consider what you want from an internship Source organisations to offer useful experiences Consider what you can offer them – Full/part time; paid/unpaid; project or ongoing Lots of formal internship schemes exist – are they right for you? Use your network to source opportunities Apply speculatively – create what you want, where you want Internships

Careers One to One Appointments Dr. Tracy Bussoli 30 minute appointments (up to three a term) Mondays: – Tuesdays: – Call to book an appointment Look at events calendar on blog

Careers