As the new semester gets underway it’s important to remember to set some time aside for career planning and reflection on the skills and experience you’d like to develop going forward for your career. Career planning and strategising doesn’t have to take up huge amounts of time but the rewards that strategic thinking can provide are great. If you can aim to do one thing for your career per month then that is a great starting point!
Maintaining and academic career can look very different depending upon the individual and their personal goals. For some, this could be moving on to apply for fellowships or grants, advertised positions, for a teaching role or lectureship in different types of universities. The first part of the process is usually to undertake some self assessment to work out what you are aiming for (exploring your options) and then assessing whether your choices are realistic bearing in mind the opportunities that are available. You may then start thinking about what you can do to improve your chances (remedy any gaps). Using your contacts and your networks to seek advice and help assist in your decision making is a good strategy. Following these meetings try writing yourself an Action Plan or a Personal Development Plan, which will highlight some short, medium and long term goals.
What do you need to do by when? Start asking yourself this question regularly as it can be a useful aid to keeping your career development planning on track. Some examples of things you could be doing include, making time for informational interviewing of key career contacts, undertaking CV building activities (of your choosing), updating your CV and applying for roles. Set yourself a realistic timescale (break it down into short, medium and long term). Record your progress and regularly review your strategy so that you can adjust your plans as necessary.
Academic career progression suggested activities can include:
Keep building a body of significant research outputs
Apply and become successful in obtaining research funding
Being invited to present research papers and give talks at conferences/ symposiums / other activities
Developing collaborations with colleagues / other research groups nationally and internationally
Membership of learned bodies and societies
Gaining teaching and supervisory experience
Networking within your field and ultimately beyond it
Gaining project management experience such as organising conferences, guest lecture series, postdoctoral society training / speaker events
Participating in stage-appropriate internal and external courses and events to enhance a skill or increase your range of contacts
Develop awareness and knowledge of current Higher Education issues such as EDI and research culture developments
Some suggested themes to explore include a Skills Audit, understanding your Values, personality and strengths.
Using the IAD New Staff Career Development Timeline guide to start your career planning for the academic year ahead is a great starting point. The guide highlights career resources to look at depending on your given research stage.
If you are short on time then our Micro Workshops can provide a quick bite sized information in approximately 10mins or less – have a look for yourselves! Benchmarking can be a good place to start.
If you wish to discuss your career options and strategy in more detail then don’t hesitate to book a 1:1 Consultation with Eleanor or Darcey. Do be aware that in recent months these appointments have been fully booked weeks in advance so plan ahead.
