Monthly Archives: March 2021

This time last year, on the 31^st March 2020, I delivered my very first interactive virtual career workshop. Using Zoom and other on-line learning tools that, only a few weeks before, I had never even heard of, and together with an education technology co-host, whom I had only met ‘virtually’ during the same period, I engaged PhD and postdoctoral researchers in a series of presentations, breakout discussions, exercises, reflection and even peer coaching.

With positive and encouraging post-workshop feedback from the participants, and with a spring in my step (well, in the hands on my keyboard), I took a leap of faith and ‘pivoted’ all my subsequent workshops to online. So, here I am 12 months later with what feels like a lifetime of virtual experience and exponential learning that I have gleaned through webinars, trial and error and informal discussions with career and education development professionals. Having formerly considered myself to be settled in my routine of in-person workshop delivery, I am now a fully-fledged e-career development adviser and coach!

And what about you? What’s your story? What changes did you have to make to enable you to adapt to the sudden and life-changing pandemic? How have you coped? I heard today that one of the UK’s major funding councils has issued the following statement for those applying for grants in the near future: CVs can be used to describe personal COVID impacts; peer reviewers will be encouraged to consider the impacts of COVID on researchers and their careers.

It’s likely that other funders will act similarly, inviting researchers to justify their alternative activities during periods of restricted lab access. I would not be surprised to see employers doing the same, both within and outside of academia.

For every downside of a situation (and we’re talking about a very big downside in the case of Covid-19), there are also positives to be gained. Our collective experience of the pandemic perhaps enabled us to more readily empathise and understand the difficulties that we’ve had to endure during the past year, with people differentially affected in terms of work, finances, emotional support, caring duties, mental health and more. For PhD and postdoctoral researchers, this has meant a combination of interrupted (and sometimes ruined) experiments, delayed research progress, reduced communication and contact with peers, lower levels of supervision and support from PIs – who have had to switch to on-line lectures or turn their attention to safeguarding their department or institution – coupled with increased personal commitments, that have all taken their toll to some degree (reported by, for example, in a survey conducted by Vitae, 2020; in primary papers, Myers et al, 2020; Weiner et al, 2020 and a mix of personal accounts from PhD students Khan 2020, some of whom included some positive experiences).

Are you able to identify any upsides in the past year? Have there been changes for the better that you’d like to see remain in place in the future? Here are some of my thoughts on this matter, derived from my own professional and personal experiences. You are very welcome to add yours:

• One major upside for me is to have been able to take part in, and contribute to, conferences I would never normally have been able to attend as they were too far away, too awkward to get to, or didn’t fit in with my working schedule. In previous times, I have exhausted myself trying to juggle meetings, organise transport logistics and book hotels. Now it’s all done on the computer in my home office. Not very exciting, it’s true, but much more convenient.
• Many conference registration fees have been drastically reduced or even offered free of charge, making these meetings far more accessible to those operating on limited budgets. What with this and the virtual accessibility of meetings, I have witnessed a much-enhanced diversity of participants. Having been involved in many equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives in a former role, our new way of operating has certainly opened up opportunities and welcomed the world into a new virtual space, beyond previous expectations.
• Networking in person has virtually disappeared (quite literally) in the past 12 months, however e-networking has gone some way to replace it. And whilst physical interaction has always been considered to be the preferred type of engagement, e-networking has allowed for other types of communication to come to the fore. For example, interacting in small virtual breakout rooms, sharing publications, new ideas and other information on platforms such as LinkedIn, Researchgate and specialist discussion groups, or contacting people more directly by email or phone.
• On-line job interviews via Skype, Zoom and other media has increased the accessibility of new job opportunities, and the on-line interview has its benefits: the interviewee is often in a more comfortable and familiar environment, with the possibility to feel more relaxed and even to create advantages such as having access to prompt cards, out of view of the interviewers during questioning.
• Work:life balance for some has been a positive experience, reducing stresses such as commuting long distances, exposure to pollution and the vagaries of public transport. Furthermore, for some, spending more time with family has been an unexpected bonus.
• Social media such as LinkedIn and Twitter have, from what I have seen, acted as havens for some members of the academic community to share experiences, offer support to each other and even include lighter and more humorous moments to help get through the bad times. Those of us who have helped to provide support in whatever way we can, have also benefited from sharing information and advice with our own communities.
• More miscellaneous social media posts have acted as interesting distractions, with people posting pictures of their pets, scenic evening walks and also random questions, such as how do you sign off your emails? Responses to this particular enquiry included “Best wishes”, “Kind regards”, “Cheers” and “Sincerely yours”, depending on the familiarity of the communication. Nowadays, perhaps a more appropriate example would be “Virtually yours”.

And on that note, I will sign off and wish you all good physical and mental health.

Choosing the ‘right’ postdoctoral position can be critical to career success and even to the mental health and well-being of early career researchers. I remember at the start of a career counselling interview, a postdoc once telling me that she felt less confident as a postdoc than she had as a PhD student. During the hour-long session it emerged that the work environment, research topic and location of her postdoc were all contributing factors to her current state of mind. If she could have her time again, my client said she would have chosen differently.

Research from surveys of doctoral destinations (e.g. European Science Foundation 2017; Vitae 2008/10) show that a high proportion of PhD students in the Life Sciences (and other disciplines) continue their careers within the academic research sector as postdoctoral researchers. The reasons for this are many and varied but, fundamentally, graduates say they have enjoyed their PhD research and are keen to extend this experience as a postdoctoral researcher and, of course, for many, to go on to secure a permanent academic position. Perhaps this applies to you too.

Postdoctoral research positions are relatively easy to secure compared to moving into industry, due to the familiarity of the work culture, network connections and specific research knowledge, as well as being able to demonstrate directly relevant experience and skills in applications and interviews. Most non-academic employers welcome applicants with postdoctoral experience, especially into research-related posts, if the applicant can demonstrate associated interpersonal skills alongside their research and technical abilities.

Doing a postdoc after a PhD can be a very good career decision for doctoral graduates. The issue isn’t whether or not to do one, it’s making sure to pick the ‘right’ postdoc to suit you and your career aspirations. Here, I list four key questions to consider when making your decision:

WHY?

Consider first your motivation for continuing on to do a postdoctoral post. What do you want to achieve from it and how will it contribute to your continuing professional development? What will it add to your current skills and experience and how will this contribute to your securing your next job, whether within or outside of academia? If you’re aiming for a permanent academic position in a University, you might look for a postdoctoral position that allows you to develop new avenues of research to gain your independence or that involves a student focus to help you to build up your teaching and pastoral portfolio. If, however, you intend to move into industry after your postdoc, you might benefit from a research project that is more applied, that helps you to build and develop the skills you will need in your future industry-based career. Perhaps the research group is collaborating with a company, a hospital or start-up enterprise or maybe the research programme offers the opportunity to get entrepreneurial training or to do an internship.

Of course, a research career outside of academia is not wholly reliant on postdoctoral experience so, on reflection, you may decide to bypass this option and move directly to investigating and applying for industry/business research opportunities. And, if it transpires that research is not at the heart of your career ambitions, you may want to reconsider your motivation to take up a postdoctoral position when you could be moving ahead and gaining experience within your chosen career of interest.

WHAT?

Some PhD graduates continue to pursue their current research interests within another research group in a similar field, or even within the same group. It’s important to be motivated, and even passionate, about your research topic, but bear in mind what new learning and experiences you’ll develop in your new post that will take your career forward. Using the same techniques and working with the same people will not extend your horizons in terms of your research profile, network and employability. Moving outside of your current field of interest may be a challenging prospect, but consider how your skills will be of value to another research field, as well as networking with them to gain their confidence.  

You may wish to continue to develop your research-associated experiences such as outreach, enterprise or organisational activities with which you’ve been engaging during your PhD. Some postdoctoral positions offer these types of opportunities and may even be partnering with, for example, a charity, non-governmental or policy organisation as part of the research project. If your long-term career goal is to transition into these kinds of organisations, this type of postdoctoral experience will help you develop your skills, expertise and network relevant to the sector.  

WHERE?

I advise and deliver career workshops on academic mobility – should I stay or should I go? It’s a dilemma for many PhD students and postdoctoral researchers as they progress in their careers. The key question to ask yourself is not whether or not you should move, it’s why you should move. Is it to gain experience, access to particular research facilities or insights from another leader in the field and their research group? Is it because there are more opportunities to undertake your research in another country? Do you really need to move far away for a long time, or could you stay locally and do short visits and build collaborations remotely instead? Applying for your own postdoctoral fellowship, where you can choose your host research group, can give you more control over this decision, so that you are not reliant on the availability of advertised posts. In many cases, academic mobility involves compromises to work:life balance, personal and professional relationships. It’s a decision that is peculiar to each person’s own situation and can be influenced according to their life/career stage.

HOW?

• Do your research. Adapt your research project skills towards researching your next postdoctoral position.
• Start early and familiarise yourself with types of postdoctoral posts, research groups/institutions of interest.
• Get advice from your current supervisor, postdoctorals and/or collaborators.
• Do your homework in detail – academic research groups are very visible on the internet via their own webpages, Researchgate, LinkedIn and Twitter. Find out what they are doing, read about their research, investigate who’s in the group now and the destinations of former group members.
• Consider what you could add to their research that complements or extends their capabilities with potential to create new data and new avenues of research, leading to publications.
• Network with relevant people during conferences, on social media or even via a direct email to a research group leader (recent research from EMBL shows that the majority of postdocs secured their first post by writing speculatively).
• Focus on your own current research expertise and figure out how you could improve your profile, e.g. by learning or building on research skills, extending your network, filling gaps in your experience and perfecting your CV and interview technique to present yourself at your best.

If you know the ‘why, what, where and how’ of your career decision to do a particular postdoctoral position (or any job), you will likely be more successful in your applications, more genuine and knowledgeable about your motivations to take up the post, as well as more confident and happy in your new-found role.

Wishing you success!