doctoral researchers: how the job market works & how to ... · use general agency &...
TRANSCRIPT
Doctoral Researchers:
How the job market works &
how to navigate it
Elizabeth Wilkinson
Careers Service, University of Manchester
The job market
• Mysteries & myths
of the job market
• Smart timing
• Smart tactics –
to uncover more jobs
The job market
• What do you want to know?
–Go to www.menti.com
Audience’s guess:5=£30-35,0006=£35-40,000
What we can cover
Timing – What happens when?
How long does it take to find a
job?
Job search tactics
Agencies
Online profile
Online searches
Passport Careers
Check employer websites
Get active with employers
Let others know you’re looking
What next?
Where are PhDs, 3.5 years
after graduating?
Good sources of career
options – PhD specific
Academic jobs - & new PhDs
Refine your targeting
Careers support
Smart timing – What happens when?
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Job Adverts on CareersLink(full-time jobs only)
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
How long does it take
to find a job?It depends …
• “Graduate Scheme”
– Could be a year (Sept 19 for Sept 20 start)
• Advertised job
– Can be filled before the closing date
– Or can take 3-6 months
• Networking & speculative approaches– Investment strategies
– Could be very quick or long term approach
• Start actively looking ~6 months before you need a job
Smart tactics
Passive ProactiveActive
Agencies Online
profile
Online
search
Engage
with
employers
Let others
know you’re
looking
Uncover hidden jobs
Agencies
• Send your CV to a bunch of big agencies and let them do the searching for you …
Target specialist agencies
“Insourcing” – a growing trend? Agencies often the way into eg the pharmaceutical industry
Discuss the job market and your approach with a specialist consultant
Tailor your CV, with their advice
Keep in touch
AgenciesOur advice on using agencies:
• www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/findjobs/graduatejobs/agencies
Sources of specialist (& other) agencies:
• Reed – includes a directory of employers and agencies currently
recruiting, searchable by sectors
www.reed.co.uk/recruiterdirectory
• Recruitment and Employment Confederation – search registered
agencies by sector and location
www.rec.uk.com/membership/member-directory
• Agency Central – a directory of agencies (though searches can
include a lot of general agencies)
www.agencycentral.co.uk
Online profile
• Set up your online profile eg LinkedIn and wait for the jobs to arrive…
Become findable – photo, keywords, summary, connections
Join relevant occupational groups - interact
Follow employers
Connect with friends, colleagues, acquaintances
Online searches
• Type “jobs in X” into Google …
Use job aggregating sites eg Indeed, Careerjet, SimplyHired
Use general agency & newspaper sites eg CV-library, TotalJobs, Monster, Reed, Guardian
Target specialist jobs sites
- Academia – jobs.ac.uk, Euraxess (EU jobs), Researchgate
- Graduate level - CareersLink, GradJobSearch
- More suggestions under “Which career?”;
- Passport Career – for international job market
Also see handouts “Where are all the science jobs?” & “Where are all the
Humanities PhD jobs?”
Passport Careers
• Register to get access:www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/international/passportcareer
Check employer websites
• Visit the sites of the employers you know
Then find the employers you don’t know
LinkedIn groups & Professional associations – who
do members work for?
Trade associations & employer membership
organisations – national, regional, sector
Trade conferences & exhibitions – who’s there?
Employer organisations • Trade associations www.taforum.org/Members
• Professional associations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_associations_in_the_United_Kingdom
• Science parks & innovation hubs www.iasp.ws/Our-members/Directorywww.ukspa.org.uk/members/our-members
– Search in tenant directories for individual sites, sometimes filtered by sector
• Regional/sector organisations or surveys, for example:
– www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/top-200-manchester-biggest-business-13614466
– www.bionowb2b.co.uk/bionow/about - NW biosciences organisation
– Life Sciences sector organisations -https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-life-sciences-support/uk-life-sciences-membership-associations
Get active with employers
• Do more than just visit them occasionally
Track changes to their jobs pages
Upload your CV*
Speculative approaches*
Employers may not be able to keep speculative
CVs with new GDPR laws – connect via LinkedIn?
Monitor page changes
• Eg On employer website jobs pages
– http://www.watchthatpage.com (free for light
users)
– https://changetower.com (3 urls free)
– https://visualping.io (2 urls free)
– https://onwebchange.com (3 urls free)
– https://versionista.com (5 urls free)
Let others know you’re looking
• Friends, family, colleagues, other students, academics
– you never know who knows who
Update your LinkedIn profile, share on social media –
share progress & offer help to avoid sounding “needy”?
Go to events – alumni, careers, join professional
associations and attend local & national events
Get known for helping others – they’ll help you
Follow up meeting potential employers – link on LinkedIn?
Where are PhDs,
3.5 years after graduating?
Good sources for career options
– PhD specific
• University of Birmingham
– https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/employab
ility/careers/postgraduate/pgr/pgr-career-
options/index.aspx
• Vitae – What do researchers do?
– https://www.vitae.ac.uk/wdrd
How many
academic jobs are there?
How many new PhDs
are there in the UK?
Clues for your ideal next step
PRACTICALITIES
• Work environment/style?
• Life style – rewards, risk?
• Who pays you?
• Location?
• Working pattern/hours?
• Sector – public, private,
third sector, education,
digital, consulting, health
…
PURPOSE
• Meaning
– What issues or problems
matter to you?
– What would you like to
make better?
• Pleasure
– What gives you a buzz?
• Strengths
– What are you good at?
– What gives you
strength/energises you?
Coming up …
• Employers on campus– Civil Service, EY, Jaguar Land Rover, KPMG, Amazon, Dell, Tata…
• Meet the Professionals & sector insights– Banking & Finance, Public Sector, Materials and Engineering,
International Development, Enviromingle,
Broadcasting & Journalism …
• Talks & workshops– LinkedIn, Psychometric tests, Interviews,
Media Club, Enterprise Club…
• Webinars
– China Fair goes online!
www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/events
PG Career talks – Semester 2 2020
• CVs/applications – The
Basics1-1.50, Tuesday 25th Feb
Uni Place 6.207
• CVs/applications –
Beyond the Basics12.00-12.50, Monday 2nd
Mar, Uni Place 5.207
• Becoming an Academic12.00-12.50, Monday 16th
Mar, Uni Place 4.209
• Interviews/assessment –
The Basics1.00-1.50, Thursday 5th Mar,
Uni Place 2.217
• Interviews/assessment –
Beyond The Basics12.00-12.50, Thursday 12th
Mar, Uni Place 6.208
Slides and podcast available after each talk – seewww.careers.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduates/events
Careers support
for Postgraduates• Online
– www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/pg
– http://bit.ly/PGRLife
– Social media: www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/services/socialmedia
• In groups - talks/events– www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/events
– www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/postgraduates/events
– CareersLink: for vacancies and events: www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink
• In person– 30 minutes appointments for “guidance”
– 15 minute “Application Advice” – feedback on applications
– Email support for queries
– Careers Help Desk: The Atrium, 1st floor Uni Place, 9-5, Mon – Fri
– Details: www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/services