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A guide for student job hunters on Instagram and X

Nkem Nwaobi, PhD student © via Unsplash by Sara Kurfeß Student job hunting is no easy feat. Have you considered looking to job hunt in an unconventional, modern way? You’ve tried LinkedIn, it’s time to consider Instagram and X (formally Twitter) as viable platforms to build your presence, network and job hunt as a student. …

A first-timer’s guide to international conferences

Nkem Nwaobi, PhD student Embarking on my first conference was a journey filled with excitement, nervousness and countless opportunities for growth. This past summer I attended the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) conference in Italy, it was eye-opening and frankly quite scary. In this blog I will share my guide to your first …

A very warm Careers welcome to our postgraduate researchers

By Kirstin Barnard and Lucie Whitfield, Senior Careers Advisers (Postgraduate Researchers) Whether you’re new to the university or progressing with your research, we’re here to help you every step of the way.  Alongside our colleagues, we can help you develop your career ideas and plans, take advantage of the development opportunities at the university, and …

My Experience as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate

By Leonardo Rodrigues, PhD researcher Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are a UK-wide part grant-funded scheme helping businesses of all sizes to innovate using the knowledge and expertise of qualified graduates, with the capability to lead a strategic business project. My experience as a KTP Associate with XAIS Asset Management Ltd has been transformative. Choosing KTP …

Why a PhD Was Right for Me

By Salman Arif, Optimisation Scientist A PhD is the highest level of academic qualification in the UK and it involves three to four years of original research on a specific topic. There are lots of reasons why you may be considering a PhD and you’ll need to carefully consider how it could help you achieve …

From PhD to Higher Education Professional Services

By Dr Ruby Hawley-Sibbett, PhD in English Literature (2023) and Graduate Management Trainee at the University of Nottingham Starting my PhD I decided to do a PhD because I was enjoying my MA and wanted to continue to research early nineteenth-century women writers. I had an idea for a project shedding light on Jane Austen’s …

Researcher Careers Week Reflections

By Hiba Azim, postgraduate researcher Our Researcher Careers Week was a couple of weeks ago and attending the Networking Brunch was great, bringing together researchers and a wide variety of employers over coffee, croissants and nibbles. Now that I’ve had some time to reflect on my experience, I’ve made some interesting observations about why attending …

Building Confidence Whilst Job Hunting as a Postgraduate

By Hiba Azim, postgraduate researcher So, you’ve completed your thesis and now you’re faced with the daunting task of job hunting. You log in to LinkedIn and come across a post from someone you know from your undergraduate days who just got promoted to a senior management position. You can’t help but feel a twinge …

What to Expect From Researcher Careers Week

By Hiba Azim, postgraduate researcher It’s that time of year again! Researcher Careers Week is almost here and it’s packed with activities to help postgraduate researchers explore careers outside of academia. As an attendee of the event last year, I can say that it was a great opportunity for me to be more intentional with …

Connecting Researchers and Employers: Insights from the PGR Networking Brunch

By Yulan Lyu, postgraduate researcher This year’s Employer Networking Brunch for researchers is scheduled for Tuesday 16 May, which reminds me of the first time I attended this event last year. As a researcher hoping to work in industry after graduation, I wasn’t quite sure how employers viewed people with PhDs. Therefore, I decided to …