Are you, or will you soon be, a research student applying for a job? You already possess a high level of intellectual skills and a portfolio of key transferable skills that you have developed as part of your life, previous studies and work experience. There are jobs where research skills are paramount in the academic community (and elsewhere), but PhDs also fill jobs where a PhD is not an essential qualification. If you want to maximise your chances and choices, you need to make the most of the opportunities presented during your PhD studies to develop yourself as a whole person. The new style four-year integrated PhD offered by some 30 universities offers the usual research training plus development in areas such as management, entrepreneurship, commercial and other transferable skills, but most PhDs now have access to good skills training. Look at these comments from recent PhD students about the skills gained during their study period and how they use them in their work: A key aspect of research, which I employ daily, is the ability to express key arguments clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. PhD, Education Analytical and problem-solving skills that I picked up in my degree and developed throughout my PhD, often help to relate unique client situations back to the technical requirements to ensure the appropriate treatment is presented to the Board of Directors. PhD, Chemistry In my job in the students’ union, my PhD experience turned out to be surprisingly relevant: I drew on teaching experience to design and deliver new training materials; being a recent graduate helped me communicate and build trust with the students and officers I was supporting; and independent learning was a great preparation for independent working. My experience as a student rep during my PhD taught me that there is more to higher education admin than filing. PhD, Music Employers seek recruits with ’hard’ skills such as knowledge, ability with foreign languages and IT skills. But they also want people who display strong ‘soft’ transferable skills including teamwork, commercial awareness, good written and verbal communication and problem solving. One of the best ways to find out what employers are looking for is to read the careers and vacancies sections of their websites or access their job adverts in relevant publications and on recruitment sites such as Jobs.ac.uk. Some professional bodies also advertise jobs on their websites. This gives you a good starting point in understanding what they expect from candidates. Making personal contact is likely to be more beneficial. By talking to someone in the organisation, especially someone you know personally, you may get some work experience, or work shadowing. This will reveal the things they don’t tell you on their website: the pace at which people work, the hours, how people communicate within the organisation and its ethos.
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