jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • CV Templates
    • Cover Letters
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Interview Questions tool
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
  • Studentship Advice
    • Masters
    • PhD
    • Studentship Resources
    • Vlogs
  • Resources
    • Ebooks and Toolkits
    • Careers Videos
    • Vlogs
    • Blog
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Job Profiles
  • Country Profile
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
    • America
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • Sections
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • CV Templates
      • Cover Letters
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Interview Questions tool
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
    • Studentship Advice
      • Masters
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs
    • Resources
      • Ebooks and Toolkits
      • Careers Videos
      • Vlogs
      • Blog
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Job Profiles
    • Country Profile
      • Africa
        • Egypt
        • Ghana
        • Kenya
        • Nigeria
        • South Africa
      • America
        • Canada
        • United States of America
      • Asia
        • Bahrain
        • Brunei
        • China
        • Hong Kong
        • India
        • Japan
        • Kazakhstan
        • Malaysia
        • Qatar
        • Saudi Arabia
        • Singapore
        • South Korea
        • Turkey
        • United Arab Emirates
      • Europe
        • Belgium
        • Denmark
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Netherlands
        • Norway
        • Russia
        • Spain
        • Sweden
        • Switzerland
        • United Kingdom
      • Oceania
        • Australia
        • New Zealand

What happens next?

What happens next?

What’s next? Everything is in state of flux and uncertainty. Nothing’s what we’re used to. Our routines haven’t just been broken; they’ve been shattered into a thousand different pieces and no-one seems to know how to put them back together again… yet.

Yet…. yet life goes on. The current situation will end and morph into something else. New routines, new ways of working and for many, a new job, will all emerge.

When they do how will you adapt?

You may not be able to carry on with your current job or studies as you had planned at the moment and you may find it hard thinking about what comes next, but actually now is a great time to do just that.

We’re all worried about family and friends, some of us may be grieving. Some may be juggling a job, childcare and other caring responsibilities. Good luck with all of that. But for others, there may never be another time in their working life quite like this, where there is no structure and no routine to their day. If that’s you, why not seize that opportunity? For many it won’t be possible right now, but if you can, try to spare a little time to examine what’s important to you and how your life, personal and professional, may be different after the current situation.

Don’t make detailed plans and set yourself clear objectives and timelines. Don’t treat it like a new research project. The fact is you can’t at the moment. There are too many imponderables. Too much is still obscured by the mists of fate. Too much is out of our control or dependent on the decisions of others, decisions that frankly you have no control over. T’was ever thus, but now even more so.

Instead… embrace the chaos and reflect on what you can control. Think about what is important to you and your life. Think about what you want to happen when things return to “normal”. How will you have changed? How will your attitude to work have changed? What is next for you?  More of the same, or time for something completely different? What insights will you take into the future? You’re probably nowhere near knowing that at the moment, and that’s OK.

How can you be ready for what comes next?

Be Reflective. This Is a great time to think about your personal and professional development.  What do you really like doing – not just what you know? What you are good at, but want to get better at, and what new things do you want to learn or try out? Personal and professional development can mean many more things than just doing a course. Research that new technique you wanted to try out. Catch up on the literature – and really think about how it relates to your work. Draw up a list of people you want to talk to who can help you find out the information you need to make a success of your career, and crucially, plan when you are going to try and speak with them. It needn’t be a long list of things to do, but it does need to be personal to you. Try and come up with at least one definite thing you want to act on now or when things do stabilise.

Be ready – When did you last update your CV and your LinkedIn profile? Don’t spend a lot of time on getting into the detail of these right now, after all, you might not know what sort of role you want to apply for next and you need to tailor your CV to each role you apply for (Yes, every time!), but now is a good time to develop a clear view of your key achievements and the skills you have used throughout your career to date, so that you can use these insights to update these key documents quickly when you are ready to start applying.

Be networking – There’s never been a better time to make contact with people you haven’t seen or spoken to for a while, who may be well placed to help you make the right move in your career, or introduce you to someone who has expertise or insight that you need to gain.

So now isn’t necessarily a great time to be planning your career, but it is a good time to be thinking about it.

Find your next role here.


Share this article

Dr Robert Bowles

Dr Robert Bowles

Robert’s early career was in marine biotechnology, completing a PhD and knowledge Technology Transfer post-doc. He has worked for small technical companies and large multinational pharmaceutical companies, before moving out of the lab. He went on to have a successful time in sales and marketing for an educational software company before joining the Royal Society of Chemistry, where he managed a programme of their successful education and careers projects.

He now works as a qualified careers adviser, giving careers advice and guidance to a wide range of clients, and has particular expertise working with those from a biological or chemical sciences background.

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

How To Write A Good CV
CV Advice Webinar
Preparing to Change Jobs? Make sure your CV is ready too!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Latest Jobs

  1. Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in Agriculture/Biotechnology

    College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University

    Location(s): Hangzhou

    Salary: Competitive


  2. Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in Public Health

    School of Medicine, Zhejiang University

    Location(s): Hangzhou

    Salary: Competitive


  3. Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in Medicine

    School of Medicine, Zhejiang University

    Location(s): Hangzhou

    Salary: Competitive


  4. Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in Animal Science

    College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University

    Location(s): Hangzhou

    Salary: Competitive


  5. Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in Biosystems Engineering

    College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University

    Location(s): Hangzhou

    Salary: Competitive


  6. Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in Life Science

    College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University

    Location(s): Hangzhou

    Salary: Competitive


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2019

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2019