FINDING A NEW CAREER
your reading list
When it comes to starting a job search outside of academia, it can be easy for you to get overwhelmed and struggle to know where to begin.
To help you get started and stay on track, I’ve created a 5-step framework to guide and support your efforts.
For each of these steps, I’ve written detailed articles exploring the activities you need to undertake, and the outputs you need to create. I’ve also written about the whole process of getting started with your job search, for instance, learning about the non-academic job market and adopting the right mindset for changing careers. There are also guest articles by other career experts.
You can work through this reading list according to which step of your job search you’re at, or dip in and out, depending upon where you feel you need support.
My 5-step job search framework:
Getting started (things you need to know first)
Step 1: Identify your transferable skills – knowing what you can do
Step 2: Choose your profession – focusing your job search
Step 3: Get the right experience – proving that you can do it
Step 4: Create your professional brand – communicating your value
Step 5: Tell a great story – shining in interviews
filter articles:
Discover the 20+ transferable skills that make PhDs totally employable
As a PhD or post-doc you get very used to thinking about yourself as a specialist within a specialism – for instance I studied within the Arts and Humanities Faculty, focussing on the history and popular culture of Medieval England. Very specialised!
‘What jobs can I do with my degree?’ – a practical exercise
‘What jobs can I do with a degree in X?’ is a question many graduates ask. If you hold a vocational degree like law or medicine, then there’s an obvious corresponding profession … but what about other subjects in the arts and humanities?
How I use the skills acquired from my PhD, in my current job
Having read a lot of career-related blogs and comments written by PhDs/ABDs/adjuncts/academics in the past few months, I’ve been struck by the lack of confidence some folks have in their own skills and abilities.
What do you want to be when you grow up?!
Primary school, secondary school, undergraduate degree, postgraduate study – many PhDs have spent their whole life working towards goals that are education related. It’s natural to think of an academic position as the logical next step or culmination of all those years of work.
A PhD is a qualification, not an identity
Are you familiar with the Twitter hashtag #withaPhD? This hashtag originated in a discussion between Jen Polk (of From PhD to Life fame) and me. We noticed that newly minted PhDs often refer to themselves as PhDs, rather than as people who have doctorates – have you done this yourself?