Career management
Managing a career after your doctorate requires communicating your strengths effectively while developing professional relationships and applying for jobs.
Early career researchers (ECRs) who prioritise strategic planning are the most successful in reaching their goals.
- Take advantage of everything that Nottingham has to offer for your personal and professional development well beyond the research project you have been hired to work on.
- Get involved in activities and conversations with the wider world.
Talk to a careers adviser
Book an appointment through MyCareer to talk about developing your career.
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If you have any issues logging in, please contact us on 0115 951 3683 or email us.
Start with self-reflection
The first step is self-reflection:
- What do you want out of your current position?
- How can you make the most of it?
If your sights are academic, look at the Essential Guide to Moving Up the Academic Ladder for more ideas on careers in higher education.
No matter where you are in this process, managing your career requires confidence, preparation, and setting realistic goals. We're here to help you in partnership with the Researcher Academy. Here are some ideas for getting started.
Undertake an audit of your skills
Underselling or minimising skills is a common mistake among job seekers. Undertake an audit of your skills using Vitae’s Professional Development Framework to evaluate and plan your professional development. This will help you identify your core strengths and any gaps in your training.
Prosper also offers great online resources for skills auditing. Prosper is an online resource for postdoc career development across multiple career pathways.
Do not assume hiring committees will recognise your experiences as strengths so learn how to persuasively communicate your skills.
A strength is something we perform well and we love doing. When you are thinking about strengths, it is what energises you in your job role or activities outside of your job. Strength coaching is a tool to unlock your strengths, this is done via an online questionnaire and then an appointment with a strengths coach to evaluate your strengths.
If you feel you would benefit from strengths coaching, please email Kirstin Barnard, Lucie Whitfield or Melanie King to find out more.
Utilise your Appraisal and Development Conversation (ADC)
A postdoc is a great stepping stone in your professional life. As career advisers, we work with many ECRs who move into fulfilling roles in academia and beyond.
Start to think about the ways you want to leverage your postdoc by scheduling your Appraisal and Development Conversation (ADC) within the first six months of your contract.
For information about what to expect and how to prepare, visit the university's human resources website. This is an excellent opportunity to share what you have to offer the project and hope to learn. If possible, use this opportunity to discuss your career goals as well.
You can also talk to us in confidence about your career development - make an appointment with one of our senior career advisers.
Professional development days
You can claim ten Concordat continuing professional development days. In addition to your project, it's important to explore the opportunities to develop your skills, build experiences and meet new people.
You have invaluable skills well beyond your postdoc position. Get curious about other career options and connect with people outside of your field. We recommend committing to one or two activities alongside your research post.
Overcome imposter phenomenon
First documented in 1978 with high achieving women, imposter syndrome affects between 25 and 30 percent of people, and mostly women. Men suffer from imposter phenomenon too, but they are less likely to talk about it. Ironically, imposter syndrome often shows up after achieving success.
Psychologist Brené Brown suffered from massive self-doubts after her TedTalk went viral. The phenomenon is most prevalent among women of colour in academics. We have identified support resources on our Building an inclusive community webpage.
Loosely defined as doubting your abilities and the feeling of being a fraud or inadequate combined with the fear of being ‘found out’. Many question whether they're deserving of accolades. It can also partly be a symptom of the environment you are in. The responsibility doesn’t solely lie with the individual.
Community Interaction Theory argues that career management is more influenced by what happens between you and the people you spend most time with, in whose company you feel most at home, and whose opinions you take most seriously.
- A disconnect between perceived ability and real ability leading to a lack of confidence and self-imposed limiting behaviours.
- Manifests itself as a wellbeing/management issue when the feeling of inadequacy that exists despite evidence to the contrary is strong enough to have a real-life impact on someone’s behaviour.
- Established link between IP and mental wellbeing and health. Experiencing it over a prolonged period is damaging and can contribute to burn out.
There are lots of ways to overcome it, for example:
- watch the webinar with UoN alumna, Anna Mosley, about how she overcame her limiting beliefs.
- talk to people outside of your professional circle. They will be more objective about the struggles you are facing
- check out Dr. Jessamy Hibberd’s book The Imposter Cure.
Meeting career challenges
Your postdoc is not your career. It is one step towards reaching your goals.Even so, the academic landscape is changing, and you will face setbacks and unexpected challenges.
Sometimes these challenges are forced upon you: your PI moves to a new institution, your contract is not renewed, or the journal rejected your manuscript.
Perhaps your postdoctoral position required you to move away from family and friends. For others, you are struggling to balance research and childcare responsibilities. We are here to help you navigate these inevitable twists and turns. With a strategic plan in place, you will successfully ride the wave of change.
“Rejection is redirection,” as someone once said. All successful people have a ‘shadow CV’ of rejected manuscripts, failed job applications, and unfunded grant proposals. Rejection is not failure.
The key is responding strategically to disappointment. Oxford University offers Overcoming a Sense of Academic Failure workbook and podcast series. Use these resources to shift your perspective and forge a new direction. Career setbacks are an opportunity to reassess and do something different. Here are some proactive steps.
Thinking ahead - career development online course
This online module has been created to support your career thinking and allow you to undertake activities in your own time to reflect and move your career forward. There are three modules and you can use them as standalone modules or as a full programme.
- Module 1: Thinking about yourself
- Module 2: Thinking about your options
- Module 3: Making decisions
This course is suitable for all stages of your research.
Login to Moodle to explore this resource
Prosper website
This is an online resource for research staff built by the University of Liverpool and partners.
It is free to access and delivers resources to support career development in various areas of research and research-related fields.
Reaching your career goals with our support
We offer tailored support to all research staff whether you are exploring your career options, revamping your CV, polishing a job application, or looking to boost your employability skills.
We are here to help no matter where you are in the process. Our career advisers offer professional guidance based on your individual needs.
We offer one-on-one meetings to all research staff on fixed term contracts at the University of Nottingham. You can book your career advice appointment with Senior Career Advisers Kirstin Barnard or Lucie Whitfield through MyCareer.
Please note that all appointments are confidential, and the information will not be shared with anyone outside of career services.
Book an appointment via MyCareer