This article focuses on the professions as graduate career options, highlighting key points about what is involved, including some basic ‘pros and cons.’ We often hear people being described as ‘professional’ in the way they work or, more negatively, as unprofessional. It may appear as a vague, perhaps personal assessment of someone’s work style. Yet…>
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How to Approach the Academic Job Market to Teach English Abroad
“So you are a native speaker of English and you have a PhD. You should be able to teach English, right?” Wrong. This is a common misconception held by aspiring language teaching academics looking to change their career paths and those outside of the profession alike. The academic teaching English abroad may wrongly be considered…>
How to Get through Your Probationary Period
You are in an exciting position: you have been hired in a permanent position but your new employer says that you have to undergo a probationary period before your job is officially yours. What does this mean, and what is the best way to ensure that you successfully negotiate this challenging part of starting a…>
Making A Five Year Research Plan
Many academics will be asked by their institutions to produce a research plan that will take them up to the date of the next REF-style audit. In this exercise universities want their researchers to conduct ‘blue skies’ thinking that will fulfil their institutional strategic needs. However, scholars have their own agendas too. Here’s some advice…>
6 Things to Avoid Putting in your CV
When it comes to your CV, first impressions count. You have limited space to prove your value to recruiters. And anything that gives them a bad impression of you could cause your CV to get rejected. So, to impress, you need to pack your CV with selling points. Ditch the common blunders that will hinder…>
Getting Published
There has been a proliferation of options for would-be writers to be published in recent years due to the development of digital technology and social media platforms. Many publications are now both online as well as in hard copy, with others only accessible online. Whilst this offers more choice for those wanting to publish their…>
Diversifying Your Skills Post-PhD for Employment
Skills we acquire throughout the doctoral process are forgotten as we reach the final thesis completion and viva stages. Instead, there is a preoccupation with perfecting the ‘end product.’
Skills CV Template
Either of the Classic CV or Skills CV formats can be used for any application for many jobs including managerial, professional, administration and any other non-academic job. In general the chronological format tends to be used by new graduates or those with less work experience. You need to choose which of the two layouts suit…>
Top Ten Tips on Note-taking
Note-taking is a skill that we use in many walks of life: at school, university and in the world of work. However, it will be obvious to many people that they have not honed the skills needed to get maximum potential from their note-taking, so here are 10 tips on how to be an efficient…>
Considering a Career Change? Your 5 Step Plan for Success
A career change can be a daunting process and usually comes with a significant investment in the process: time, money or both. However, it need not be as daunting as you might think, after all, most people will change career several times over the course of their working life. The key to success is to…>