EMPLOYABILITY

1
EMPLOYABILITY Using skills gained during
research to move on in your career
Belinda Bray, UK GRAD NW Hub Project officer
2
UK GRAD

• At the UK GRAD Programme we are committed to
  working with universities, supervisors and
  national organisations to ensure that you have
  the support you need to complete your doctorate
  and make a successful transition to your future
  career.

3
UK GRAD

• National office
• National GRADschool
• Regional Hubs (Northwest)
• Local GRADschool
• Postgraduate conferences (e.g.PRISM)

4
Employability
5
Getting a job
What do you want?
What do you have?
What do you need?
6
What do you want?
7
What do you want?

• Academia?
• Contract Research?
• Management?
• Non-scientific?
• Dont know?

8
Thinking about your career

• What are you good at?
• What do you enjoy?
• What do you hate?
• What makes you go to work in the morning?
• What makes you want to pull the covers over your
  head?

9
Academia

• More than one type of job
• More than one type of institution
• Do you want to be a lab rat?
• Do you want to teach?
• Do you want to publish?
• Do you want to manage people?
• Do you want to manage projects?

10
Other jobs

• Lecturer
• Teaching fellow
• Research fellow
• Grants manager
• Business manager
• Project manager
• Science writer
• Editor

• Technician
• Documentation manager
• QA auditor
• Recruiter
• Study manager
• Policy officer
• Consultant
• Analyst

11
Research

• Talk to supervisor
• Talk to friends
• Talk to careers service
• Read books
• Job adverts
• Visit people

12
What do you have?
13
What do you have?

• Direct skills
• Research experience
• Technical experience
• Specific knowledge
• Publications?

14
Other skills
15
Other Skills
16
Other Skills
17
Theres more to a PhD

• Transferable skills

Present a case
Working with bulky documents
Ability to compose reports
Wider research techniques (searching literature
etc)
Being able to see a prolonged task or project
through to completion
To sift through large quantities of information
Team work
To take on other points of view
Resilience
Self-direction
Ability to allocate time and money appropriately
Tenacity
Deal with criticism
Coping with isolation
Networking
Ability to troubleshoot
To challenge premises
Self-discipline
Ability to prioritise and juggle multiple tasks
Self-motivation
Ability to set work in a wider context
Project management experience
Ability to plan
Develop new procedures
18
Thinking about transferable skills

• Talk to people doing the job
• What do they actually do?
• How does that relate to what you do?
• Manipulating data
• Presenting data
• Reporting, written and oral
• Managing time, people and budgets

19
Transferable skills

• Some Key Management Skills

Present a case
Ability to compose reports
To sift through large quantities of information
Ability to allocate time and money appropriately
To challenge premises
Ability to troubleshoot
Ability to set work in a wider context
Project management experience
20
GRADschool

• Developing transferable skills
• CV and job seeking advise
• Networking
• Fun

21
GRADschool

• "I received far more in terms of knowing my own
  strengths and weaknesses, than I would have felt
  possible in only one week"
• "It was almost entirely because of my Graduate
  School that I researched, applied for and got my
  current job. The skills I learnt at the course
  were exceptionally useful at the selection
  stages"
• Visit www.grad.ac.uk

22
What do you need?
23
What do you need?

• You have the basics, but what about the topping?
• Competing against other PhD graduates
• What else can you do?
• Look for opportunities to gain skills that make
  you stand out

24
Possible Opportunities

• Funding
• Scholarships
• Conferences
• Presenting
• Teaching
• Volunteer or part-time work

25
Putting it all together
26
Where are the jobs?

• Find the job

27
Networking

• Supervisor
• Head of department
• Friends and family
• Conferences
• Other university members
• Cold calling
• Request for information, not job
• Be prepared

28
Applying

• Different jobs need different applications
• Cover letter
• Sell yourself!!!
• CV
• Tailor to job
• Academic different from business
• USA different to UK

29
Putting together an application

• Brainstorm all the skills you have
• Look at the advert
• Match skills to advertisement
• Identify key skills
• Highlight these in cover letter
• Refer to other relevant skills in CV
• SAVE THE INFORMATION!!!

30
Academic CV

• Weighty
• Publications
• Research skills
• Technical skills
• Other experience
• Project management
• Supervision
• Detail focussed on techniques and knowledge

31
Business CV

• No more than 1 page double sided
• Skills focussed
• What did you do?
• What was the outcome?
• What skills did you use?
• Detail focussed on skills and how this achieved
  successful outcome

32
Example

• Academic
• Technical Expertise
• Assay development Developed, validated and used
  assays for the measurement of CYP3A, GST, UDPGT,
  GSH and UDPGA.
• In vitro techniques
• Tissue culture maintenance Familiar with all
  aspects of tissue culture including sterile
  technique, culturing conditions, cell maintenance
  and sub-culturing.
• Cellular viability measurement I have used dual
  staining techniques and am familiar with the use
  of fluorometric stains.
• Detection of apoptosis in cultured cells
  Particularly DNA extraction and laddering,
  Annexin V staining, and the measurement of
  caspase cleavage.
• In vivo techniques
• Enzymatic assays for CYP450 isoforms Very
  familiar with assays for the measurement of
  CYP1A, CYP2E1, CYP3A, GST, GSH, UDPGT and UDPGA.
  I am also proficient in Western immunoblotting
  techniques.

33
Example

• Business
• Strong written communication skills
• I have written numerous scientific articles,
  grant proposals and internal communications. I
  have an understanding of audience types and the
  ability to present information both formally and
  informally depending on the situation
• Strong oral communication skills
• In addition to two outstanding student speaker
  awards, I have extensive experience in lecturing
  and tutoring to a wide range of audiences. I am
  comfortable in front of audience sizes ranging
  from 2 to 200 people. I have an ability to distil
  complex ideas to the core issues and communicate
  this to a wide range of audiences.

34
Skills for Business

• Strong oral communication skills
• In addition to two outstanding student speaker
  awards, I have extensive experience in lecturing
  and tutoring to a wide range of audiences. I am
  comfortable in front of audience sizes ranging
  from 2 to 200 people.

I have an ability to distil complex ideas to the
core issues and communicate this to a wide range
of audiences.
35
Conclusions

• A PhD gives you more opportunities than you
  realise
• A PhD gives you more skills than you realise
• Its never too late to re-brand
• Think about your audience
• Go for what you want!

36
Upcoming Opportunities
37
PRISMPostgraduate research in Science and
Medicine

• FREE one day conference
• For postgraduate researchers
• in science and medicine
• Opportunity to present research and network
• Workshops
• 28th June 2007, University of Chester
• www.postgradtalentnw.co.uk

38

• FREE one day conference for all postgraduate
  students
• Focuses on communicating your research to a range
  of audiences
• Workshops on communicating via radio, television,
  museums and to school groups
• November 2007, University of Manchester
• www.postgradtalentnw.co.uk

39
GRADschool

• National
• 23rd - 27th April, North Wales
• 29th April 3rd May, North Wales
• 4th 8th June, Nottingham
• Regional
• 19th 21st June, Manchester
• www.grad.ac.uk

Sponsored places available!!!