Your Career
Whatever you end up doing after your doctorate, the resources below are designed to help you find career opportunities, optimise your CV, and keep up-to-date with the latest developments.
Downloads
jobs.ac.uk - Career Development Toolkit for Researchers - A toolkit offering some useful starting points for those seeking to formulate an ongoing career strategy.
jobs.ac.uk - 10 Career Paths for Doctoral Researchers - An e-book designed to support doctoral researchers thinking ahead to a career outside of academia.
jobs.ac.uk - Research Publications Planner - An interactive toolkit to help you increase the impact of your research through publications.
jobs.ac.uk - How to Write a Cover Letter for Research Jobs - Tips and examples for creating the perfect cover letter.
Websites
Sussex
Career profiles of our doctoral graduates- doctoral graduates from Sussex have gone on to pursue a variety of careers within and beyond academia. Take a look at the profiles of some of our graduates.
Researchers' Guide to the Careers and Employability Centre at the University of Sussex - An overview of the services available to researchers, along with tips on writing CVs and covering letters.
Profiling for Success Self-appraisal Tool - If you are interested in finding out more about yourself you may want to use one of our personality tests which are available to all Sussex Students. The Careers and Employability Centre has a licence to use a web-based assessment tool - 'Profiling for Success'. A full career report is emailed to you almost immediately and is full and detailed (but do not use a Hotmail account as this will not work). You will need to choose your language first, then Client Code, Access Code and Password. Enter these codes: Client Code: tflhe, Access Code: sussex, Password: sussex050808
University of Sussex - Alumni Careers Network - A network of 500 former Sussex students who have offered to give career advice to current students.
Researcher Development Programme- For developing skills for your career beyond your doctorate
Starting to teach- For doctoral researchers wishing to develop teaching skills
General
jobs.ac.uk - Careers Advice - Hundreds of articles on how to find a job, manage your career, and write a CV. You can also sign up for job alerts by email.
jobs.ac.uk - YouTube Channel - Dozens of videos, including top tips for jobseekers, and how to prepare for an interview.
Vitae - Creating Effective CVs - Detailed advice on structuring, formatting, and improving your CV. Includes 18 sample CVs.
Vitae - Academic cover letters - Guidance around getting your academic cover letter right, with links to further articles, examples and templates
Prospects - Your PhD, what next? - General advice, jobs listings, and tips on writing your CV.
An Academic Career (The University of Manchester) - A range of material on the realities of finding and doing an academic job.
AGCAS - University Researchers and the Job Market - Useful publications on the academic job market from the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.
The Thesis Whisperer - Your Career - Career advice and resources from the Thesis Whisperer.
EURAXESS Researchers in Motion - A pan-European initiative providing access to a complete range of information and support services to researchers wishing to pursue their research careers in Europe or stay connected to
ORCiD - The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCiD) is an international standard to help researchers to establish and maintain their scholarly identity. It is a unique and persistent identifier which establishes your identity as a researcher and connects you, unambiguously, to your publications, data, citations, projects and other research activities. It is managed by you and it stays with throughout your career, even if you change institution. All research students are encouraged to register for your ORCiD.
Inspiration
Vitae - Researcher Career Stories - More than 150 inspiring and insightful stories of what researchers did next.
Beyond the PhD - A career resource for Arts and Humanities PhD researchers, featuring interviews with a range of graduates.
Blogs
Post Academic - Helping aspiring academics navigate the Job Market of Doom and transfer their skills to other careers.
On the Fence - A blog for indecisive academics who are on the market, or currently employed in academe, but considering non-academic job options.
Inside Higher Ed - Careers advice and experience.
The Chronicle of Higher Education - The latest news and views on academic careers.
Books
Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities, Gregory M. Colon Semenza, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010
Building a Successful Career in Scientific Research: A Guide for PhD Students and Postdocs, Phil Dee, Cambridge University Press, 2006
Managing your Academic Career, Wyn Grant with Philippa Sherrington, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006
Successful Research Careers: A Practical Guide, Sara Delmont and Paul Atkinson, Open University Press, 2004
The Academic Career Handbook, Lorraine Blaxter, Christina Hughes and Malcolm Tight, Open University Press, 1998
The Academic Job Search Handbook, Julia Miller Vick and Jennifer S. Furlong, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008
The Research Student's Guide to Success, Pat Cryer, Open University Press, 2006
“So What Are You Going to Do with That?”: Finding Careers Outside Academia, Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius, University of Chicago Press, 2014.
What Else You Can Do With a Ph.D.: A Career Guide for Scholars, Jan Secrist and Jacqueline Fitzpatrick, London: SAGE Publications, 2000.
Jo Van Enery @JoVanEvery
Eliza Woolf @PhD_onthefence
Post Academic @postacademic
Liz Koblyk @UniCareers