- Sense of loss
- Emptiness
- Anti-climax
- Disappointment
- What do I do now?
Store your viva notes carefully!
- make them legible/sensible
- put them in a safe place
...then take a break and do something different
- Perhaps explore a project you'd left to one side?
- Or do something you've always wanted to?
- Get involved in academic activities
- Organise conferences and events
- Get teaching experience
- Keep up to date
- Network at eveny event
- Get to know key people in your field
According to Vitae...
9 things you can do to increase your chances
- Publish in well recognised journals
- Gain experience of applying for and securing research funding
- Demonstrate efficient project management that delivers stated outcomes on time and in budget
- Gain experience of designing, delivering and evaluating degree level courses
- Understand the process of quality assessment in academic teaching and research
- Be conversant with current issues in HE
- Network with people who are aware of your ambitions and can advise on job search strategy
- Use conferences as a way of raising your profile and as a springboard for publications
- Analyse the selection criteria of academic selectors and provide convincing evidence that you meet their standards
- Research councils
- British academy
- Leverhulme trust
- Oxford and Cambridge
- jobs.ac.uk
- times higher ed
- Departmental mailing list
- Think about this option well in advance
- Make sure you know deadlines
- Get advice from supervisor and host institiution
- Contact referees well in advance
Use web 2.0
- Academia.edu
- LinkedIn
- Twitter
- Create RSS feeds of your job searches
Specific skills...
Is there a sector where my knowledge will be useful?
Hard skills:
- Knowledge
- Languages
- IT skills
- Project management
- Writing
- Developing arguments
- Communication
- Problem solving
- Tenacity
- Commitment
Make something of
your activities...
- Committees
- Conferences
- Professional bodies
- Voluntary activities
- Hobbies and interests
- History Lab
Identify gaps and fill them
Be flexible and adaptable
Whatever options you pursue
- keep updating your skills
- renew your interest all the time
- make the most of what you already have
- keep trying
- be prepared to face rejection with a smile
- ...possibly lots of times
- remember why you're doing this!
Competitive but rewarding
Long hours
Needs self-motivation
Is the passion still there?
Moving on can be difficult
Be prepared to look far and wide
- jobs.ac.uk
- times higher ed
- chronicle.com
- universityaffairs.ca
- acu.ac.uk
Thesis