Demand for our 1:1 career development consultation appointments is high! We often have a large number of researchers on our waiting lists, so if you do get an appointment you’ll want to make sure you get what you need from it. If you’re a fixed-term researchers at the University of Edinburgh, a 1:1 appointment can be booked with our career consultant Eleanor. To ensure that you make use of Eleanor’s expertise, what you bring to these meetings and what preparation you do is key. There are a number of resources available to you to help you prepare, so if you have covered the basics before the appointment, then the consultation time will be used to answer your specific queries.
The four main topics that tend to be discussed within a career development consultation include, preparing an Academic CV, preparing a Non Academic CV, discussing a Career Direction/Change and Interview advice. In this post we aim to direct you to some of the key resources to look at, as you may find the answer to your question before speaking with Eleanor.
Preparing an Academic CV:
If it’s an academic CV you want to discuss see the careers resources tab on our website, specifically:
- Quick guide to CVs (careers service)
- CV infographics
- Review CV templates on jobs.ac.uk (Academic CV Example for a Senior Post and Academic CV Template)
- Start drafting your CV as you can always email it to ResearchStaff.Careers@ed.ac.uk for written feedback (please be aware our Research Staff Careers Consultant works part time hours, expect a response within 10 days, maximum)
Support with Non-Academic CV’s
If it’s a non-academic CV, please refer to Write a CV for jobs beyond academia | The University of Edinburgh, but we also have the recording on our blog – Adapting your CV for non-academic jobs – as a further point of reference
Advice for preparing for Interviews
www.jobs.ac.uk has a fantastic interview question tool and loads of articles on how to prepare.
If it’s an academic role the following recordings may be of interest Getting Your First Lecturing Job – IAD4RESEARCHERS (ed.ac.uk) and Fellowship Interviews – Panel Insights – IAD4RESEARCHERS (ed.ac.uk)
Changing Career Direction:
We have the recordings available for two workshops on changing career direction see Career Choices for Researchers – IAD4RESEARCHERS (ed.ac.uk)
The first workshop focuses on self –reflection so do complete the handbook as there are several useful exercises within it to help you identify your main motivators and skills. The second handbook gives a more practical guide on how to research new areas and potential roles in more detail.
Also refer to our Infographic – 5 Steps to changing your career
Jobs.ac.uk Toolkits: The essential career organisation toolkit and Change Career Toolkit
Job profiles | Prospects.ac.uk – an excellent starting point to learn more about other sectors. You can also search by job title
What do research staff do next? Career stories — Vitae Website – examples of what some researchers have gone onto do after academia
Mentoring Connections | The University of Edinburgh – register and look though the database of available Edinburgh contacts for suitable contacts
How to book a Consultation
Step 1: To book a consultation appointment, please complete a career development consultation booking slot on the events booking system: Career development consultation
Step 2: You will also need to email any supporting documents (i.e. CVs, Job descriptions and Applications) to ResearchStaff.Careers@ed.ac.uk
Timescales: Appointments are released every two weeks on the above webpage, so please ensure that you keep an eye on this page if you are looking for an appointment and to ensure you are able to book.
Further information about the consultations (including eligibility) can be found here on our Consultation webpage
Eleanor Hennige is the IAD’s Research Staff Careers Consultant, supporting fixed-term research staff at the University with their career planning and options. In addition to running our 1:1 appointments, she also delivers our suite of career workshops, career surgeries and works with Schools/Research Staff Societies on career specific events and workshops. Eleanor works on a part-time basis (4 mornings a week) and can be contacted at ResearchStaff.Careers@ed.ac.uk
