Gaining work experience
Explore opportunities to gain experience as an early career researcher.
Work experience is not exclusively for undergraduate students; there are many options for postgraduate research students to undertake work experience, and many practical benefits for doing so! Gaining experience outside of your research can help complement your research degree and future research career, or help you develop important transferable skills that will make you more competitive for roles in the future, for example policy or public engagement.
Work experience for postgraduate research students
There are lots of reasons why work experience can help you develop personally and professionally. It can help you to:
- Expand and diversify your skillset, commercial awareness and knowledge of real-life work environments
- Meet new people and expand your network
- Utilise your research skills in real-life practical applications, bringing wider benefits and impact to a variety of sectors
- Explore roles outside of academia or higher education
- Build self-awareness and confidence
- Boost your CV and stand out from the crowd in an increasingly competitive job market
You might have mandatory work placements or internships included as part of your doctoral studies, for example through a doctoral training programme. As a current Cardiff University research student, you can also access support from the Student Futures team to gain work experience, which has the added benefit of being flexible around your studies. You can read more on the student intranet and our advice on finding work experience on Student Futures +.
Top tips for gaining work experience
Whilst there are many reasons to complete work experience during your research degree, there will be additional things for you to consider to ensure it works for you, your supervisor and your funding body. We recommend taking the following things into consideration to choose the right time and opportunity for you:
Speak to your supervisor
Your supervisor can help discuss your plans with you and advise on if they are realistic and will help with your personal development. They may also have contacts who can help facilitate the opportunity.
Check your funding for any restrictions
If you are funded by a research council and your work experience requires an interruption of study, check with your funder that it’s ok to go ahead. Some prohibit students from taking an interruption of study for this purpose.
If you are an international student studying on a visa, you will need to make sure that you do work more than 20 hours a week in total.
Be creative and think outside the box
As a research student, you have highly desired transferable skills that you could utilise in many sectors and roles. Be open to opportunities that might lie outside of your sector or outside of research. Read Vitae’s advice on how to be responsive to opportunities.
Consider timing
There may be times during your studies when undertaking work experience is more feasible. You may also need to negotiate with employers about your availability. You’ll have to consider how doable it will be to undertake work experience and identify times that work best for you, depending on where you are during your studies. Part-time options might be more feasible where you are working a few hours a week, but you may be able to work full-time for a short period, for example over vacations or university breaks.
Make the most of your experience
Take time to reflect on what you learn from any experience you undertake. Think about the insights you have gained and how you can both relate this to your academic work and integrate it with your research capabilities. Your work experience is likely to influence your career direction, whether it’s to confirm what you want to do or what you don’t! You may find that your professional identity shifts away from research to something broader. Use self-awareness to refine your plans, keep exploring new opportunities and fine-tune the career management skills you will need for the future. Vitae has excellent advice on self-reflection.
Gaining experience as a member of research staff
It can be more difficult to source work experience whilst you are in employment. The Royal Society’s pairing scheme is a good example of a training and mentoring scheme for early career researchers. The scheme is an opportunity for scientists working across all STEMM (science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics) disciplines, as well as social or behavioural scientists who utilise or have an overlap with STEMM disciplines, to gain an insight into how parliament and government work.
If you are unable to gain work experience during your current role, there are other options to help you develop your skill and explore new opportunities! Consider what else you could do instead, for example:
- Information interviews – utilise your existing network to explore information interviews, informal conversations where you find out more about jobs or sectors you’re interested in. Information interviews are an invaluable professional tool that can help you make informed decisions about future career moves, especially in the absence of work experience in that field
- Volunteering – whilst still a form of work experience, volunteering roles (often with charities) can be far less time-consuming, and easier to fit in around other commitments. Volunteering could help you develop important skills whilst supporting a passion or cause close to your heart or in-keeping with your career goals. Sense about Science for example is a charity and network of early career researchers who promote the public interest in sound science and evidence – they rely on the work of volunteers. Organisations like Volunteering Matters, Skills and Volunteering Cymru and Volunteer Cardiff all advertise and promote volunteering opportunities in and around Cardiff. Within Cardiff University (as with most higher education institutions), there will also be various staff networks you could volunteer your time with. These could relate to a strategic goal or organisational value, for example widening participation or AI in education, as well as networks that support staff from specific groups such as LGBT or Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Use the staff intranet to find out what networks and working groups are available
- Secondments – within higher education, it can sometimes be possible to undertake fixed-term posts as a secondment from your current, substantive post. This might be a great way to gain additional experience or try something new, especially in a professional services department. Some UK funding councils also offer secondments for up to 36 months, for example the Innovation Scholars secondment in biomedical sciences. Jobs.ac.uk have advice on the pros and cons of going on secondment.