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Careers and employability

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Don't restrict your job search to your current field your knowledge and skills ... www.careers.strath.ac.uk/jobsearchguide/index.htm ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Careers and employability


1
Careers and employability
  • By Zoë Mitton, Careers Information Officer
  • and Stephen Boyd, Careers Adviser
  • University of Huddersfield

2
Aims Objectives
  • What you can offer?
  • What do Employers look for?
  • Future Career progression
  • Sources of help information

3
Current situation for researchers
  • Growth in numbers 500 increase in last 20
    years
  • 2 increase in the number of academic posts
  • Lower unit of resource amount per student is
    40 less than 20 years ago
  • Improved demands for quality QAA and RAE
    assessment
  • Flexibility fixed-term contracts

4
The principles of Personal Development Career
Management
  • Current/previous activities knowledge skills
    used
  • Determine strengths weaknesses
  • Action to consolidate strengths
  • Action to address weaknesses
  • Consistently review these activities

5
Skills Common to Researchers
  • Communication
  • Oral
  • written
  • Interpersonal
  • Negotiating
  • Teamwork
  • Supervisory
  • Counselling
  • Administrative
  • Time management
  • Organising
  • IT
  • Business awareness
  • Research skills
  • Practical
  • Analytical
  • Learning
  • Debating

6
Personal characteristics including ..
  • Perseverance
  • Resilience
  • Adaptability
  • Self motivation

7
Career Direction
  • Linear progression
  • Changing emphasis
  • New direction

8
Linear progression
  • To remain in academia
  • Publications
  • Funding/budgeting
  • Project management
  • Quality assessment
  • Wider issues
  • Networking

9
Changing emphasis
  • Occupation related to subject or different role
    within HE
  • Background research
  • Extra skills e.g. IT
  • Enhance commercial awareness
  • Work shadowing
  • Develop contacts

10
New direction
  • Something entirely different
  • Analyse qualities transferable skills
  • Recognise what potential employers seek
  • Research/Network
  • Information I/v Work shadow

11
Requirements of academic employers ..
  • Expertise knowledge
  • Published output
  • Teaching experience
  • Administrative experience
  • Evidence of motivation
  • IT skills

12
Requirements of employers outside academia
..SOURCE University Researchers, Employers
Attitudes and Recruitment Practices (Wright,
2000)
  • Researchers
  • Analytical thinking, independent working
  • Good learning skills, Commitment, minimum
    supervision
  • Research presentation skills
  • - Researchers
  • Lack of commercial awareness
  • Limited team working skills
  • Competence with short term tasks
  • Lack of awareness of transferable skills

13
Presenting yourself to Employers
  • Dont over rely on academic achievement.
    Emphasise skills such as teamwork, report writing
    and leadership (Scottish Environmental
    Protection Agency)
  • Focus on skills and competencies and relate them
    to the commercial environment if possible (Smith
    and Nephew plc)
  • Make it clear you can offer more than your
    academic experience (Powergen UK)

14
What your Careers Service can do for you
  • Careers Information Officer!
  • Find information
  • Initial career enquiries
  • Careers Advisers
  • Brief, preliminary discussion
  • Focussed guidance session
  • Basic skills

15
What your Careers Service can do for you (cont)
  • Workshops
  • Basic skills
  • Careers Management Skills focus on researchers
  • Personality testing
  • Visits by employers and professional bodies
  • Highlight recruitment procedures
  • Common threads

16
What your Careers Service can do for you (cont)
  • Information
  • Paper and web based
  • Occupational, course, overseas, CV, application
    form etc
  • Professional journals
  • Employer directories
  • Vacancy bulletins
  • Online both national and regional Graduate Link
    and Graduates Yorkshire
  • Paper e.g. Prospects Today

17
Useful Publications
  • Moving on in your career a guide for Academic
    Researchers and postgraduates L. Ali and B.
    Graham, Routledge, 2000
  • The Academic career handbook Blaxter et al,
    Open University Press, 2001
  • University researchers and the job market L.
    Schofield, ULCS and AGCAS, 2001

18
Some final dos and donts
  • Do look for opportunities to develop new skills
  • Dont underestimate the extensive body of skills
    you already possess
  • Do use networking strategies to research your
    career options
  • Dont restrict your job search to your current
    field your knowledge and skills will be in
    demand elsewhere

19
Useful websites
  • www.careers.strath.ac.uk/jobsearchguide/index.htm
  • www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/page212.asp?node345
  • www.prospects.ac.uk
  • www.grad.ac.uk
  • www.thesjobs.co.uk
  • www.phdjobs.com
  • www.jobs.ac.uk
  • www.hesda.org.uk/subjects/rs/rs_links.html
  • www.vacancies.ac.uk
  • www.shef.ac.uk/gmpcrs/
  • www.nottingham.ac.uk/careers/research/index.htm
  • www.hud.ac.uk/careers
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