‘Your research skills are by no means limited to a particular subject area. You can – and should – apply research skills to the job search itself.’ – Katina Rogers, Putting the Humanities PhD to Work (p.106) Picture the scene. It’s a Monday afternoon and you’re having lunch/coffee/PhD moral support chats with a pal. You’reContinue reading “Research Skills Redefined: Leveraging simple thesis tactics to work out your next steps”
Author Archives: phdcareersholly
Taking Charge: Three key things you don’t need when moving from academia to industry
‘Getting a job in industry isn’t about having all the right stuff, and then magically getting the job when you have that stuff. Instead, you just have to get out there and convince people you can do it.‘ – David Giltner About a year ago, I stopped looking for the watch I’d had since IContinue reading “Taking Charge: Three key things you don’t need when moving from academia to industry”
Pitching Perfect: Leveraging your Research Communication, Public Engagement & Outreach Experience for a Rewarding Career
In my experience, I’ve only been able to reflect that I’ve got a certain skill once I’ve used it in a different environment.’ – Katrina Roberts SPERM BIOLOGY! Did that distract you?! Well, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about distractions… more specifically, about the things we might feel guilty about giving time to duringContinue reading “Pitching Perfect: Leveraging your Research Communication, Public Engagement & Outreach Experience for a Rewarding Career”
Leaving Academia in the Humanities: Five practical steps to help you find what’s next
‘You don’t realise the value of (and the extent to which you have) these skills as a humanities PhD, until you’re in an environment when not everyone has them.‘ – Cat Quine: career changer from academia to tech You know how career guidance appointments rarely go? ‘So, you’re looking to leave your lectureship in BiblicalContinue reading “Leaving Academia in the Humanities: Five practical steps to help you find what’s next”
“If I leave academia, can I come back?” Perspectives on a persistent question
‘The most compelling common denominator among people who have adopted the “alt-academic” moniker is that they tend to […] incorporate scholarly methods into the way that work is done. They engage in work with the same intellectual curiosity that fuelled the desire to go to graduate school in the first place.” – Katina L. Rogers,Continue reading ““If I leave academia, can I come back?” Perspectives on a persistent question”
A Document with Intention: 5 top tips for your academic CV
“CVs are not just passive records of things that you happen to do. […] The [academic] CV is a document that you grow with intention and deliberate effort” – Karen Kelsky: The Professor Is In (2016), p.94 This post originally appeared on ‘The PhD Place’ (17th June 2023). Over the past 6 years in myContinue reading “A Document with Intention: 5 top tips for your academic CV”
Exploring Career Options Beyond Academia: Essential LinkedIn ‘tricks’ for researchers
‘I ‘m on LinkedIn, but… I’m not sure what to do with it” – said by more PhD & Postdoc Researchers than I can count LinkedIn. It’s a single word, yet it provokes so many responses from researchers I work with who are exploring their next steps. Some of the most popular go like: TheContinue reading “Exploring Career Options Beyond Academia: Essential LinkedIn ‘tricks’ for researchers”
‘Academic-adjacent careers’: what are they, and how do I find them?
“It never sat very comfortably that during my PhD I became so specialised that only a handful of people really understood my work. I wanted to expand my mind, not focus it. So a research-adjacent career has fed my curiosity and my soul in a way I now see research never could.“ – Sarah McLusky,Continue reading “‘Academic-adjacent careers’: what are they, and how do I find them?”
I’ve done a PhD: Does that make me a ‘project manager?’
You’ve done a PhD… that means you’re already a project manager! I hear this A LOT. I *may* even have said it at some point. But the more I’ve heard it, the more I’ve started to doubt it… or at least critique it. For example, back in October I had the pleasure of working withContinue reading “I’ve done a PhD: Does that make me a ‘project manager?’”
Silencing self-criticism & redefining ‘success’: maintaining mental health in your post-PhD job hunt
Found yourself contemplating these questions when looking to job hunt beyond academia? Then read on… A Tale of Two Mindsets Fawzi Abou-Chahine’s opens his book A Jobseeker’s Diary with the confession that he never anticipated ever developing a mental health issue. Fast forward to months of fruitless job hunting post-postdoc and his mental health startedContinue reading “Silencing self-criticism & redefining ‘success’: maintaining mental health in your post-PhD job hunt”