As the new academic year starts and we welcome new PGRs to the UoB research community, Holly Prescott, PGR Careers Advisor from Careers Network, shares a useful question to help everyone prioritise the many opportunities presented throughout a research programme.
I love this time of year. Not for the anticipation as to who’ll spot the first Christmas advert… but for meeting new PGRs from the across the University embarking on their postgraduate research journeys.
That said, as PGR Careers Adviser, I feel a bit conspicuous turning up to inductions: why am I there to talk to people about what they want to do after their PhD before they’ve even started it? I try to make it clear that I’m not there to pin people down to the career they want to pursue from day one. Instead, I’m there to plant a seed, and to encourage people to go through their research degrees regularly asking themselves:
What do you most want to be known for?
What I like about this question is that it doesn’t pressure anyone to commit to a particular career route or job title. Instead of giving closed, limited answers like ‘I want to be a teaching-focused lecturer in the field of behavioural science,’ or ‘I want to be a policy analyst in the healthcare sector,’ this question instead encourages much broader, more flexible, more holistic answers, like:
- I want to be known for my expertise in international relations. I want to be the go-to person people think of when looking for an expert to talk about relations between X and Y countries
- I want to be known for supporting and advising people. I don’t know quite in what capacity yet, but I know I want to be a go-to person for things like mentoring others and helping them to achieve their goals
Another reason I like this question is that it helps you, from an early stage of your research degree, to be strategic about what you say yes and no too. I’m fully aware that induction and re-induction can feel overwhelming: there is so much information to take in, and so many training and development opportunities presented that you can’t possibly do them all. However, if you have some sense of what you want to be known for, then when presented with an opportunity, you can ask yourself… is this going to help me work towards being known for X, or not? If yes, then consider it. If no, then say ‘thanks, but…’ and move onto something else.
For instance, taking the examples above, person 1 could prioritise getting involved in networks and conferences that will raise their profile in their specific subject area. Person 2 could prioritise getting some mentoring or advisory experience: being a postgrad ambassador maybe, or doing some academic writing advisory work.
I often cite the example of a PGR I worked with a few years ago who wanted to be known for communicating science in an accessible way. She used that as a compass to seek out training and experience in public engagement and science communication, including getting involved in a scientific podcast. By doing so, she ‘accidentally’ made herself into the perfect candidate for a job she didn’t even know was a thing: a role that involved going out and interviewing scientists about how they use particular kinds of microscopes, in order to relate this back so her company can improve their microscopy products.
So, if you need a strategy to help you navigate what to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to this year, make friends with the question ‘what do you want to be known for?’
And, if you’re looking for direction with exploring your career options, then check out Careers Network’s PGR Careers Beyond Academia webinar series taking place in autumn 2023; details of events can be found on the Careers Network Postgraduate events page.
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