Generating career ideas
Research common career pathways for researchers and understand how to generate career ideas.
Today’s researchers pursue a wide variety of career pathways. It is often presumed that most or all Doctoral graduates continue working in academia, but most Doctoral graduates actually pursue roles outside of academia, highlighting the endless opportunities open to early career researchers to apply their expertise and research skills in the wider labour market or try something new altogether! Before detailing popular career pathways for researchers in more detail in the rest of this section, this page will highlight how you can generate career ideas and explore the full range of options available to you as an early career researcher.
Exploring your options and choosing how to utilise your PhD
The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) Research Students and Research Staff Task Group identified the following ways to describe the career options available to researchers, depending on how they choose to use their PhD:
- ‘careers in’ – jobs where a Research degree is an essential requirement (likely to be related to your degree field)
- ‘careers with’ – jobs where a Research degree is desirable
- ‘careers from’ – jobs where a Research degree is not a requirement but the transferable skills gained from a PhD will be valuable
A Research degree is a hugely transferable qualification that can help you to progress in academia, as well as in many other roles and industries. It might be useful to first consider how you want to use your Research degree in your future career and how closely you want your next career move to align with either your Research degree field or research more broadly. For example, if you are doing a PhD in sustainability, you may choose to continue working in academia in this field, or utilise your transferable skills in a different sector, for example working in sustainability policy or within a charity that focuses on improving sustainability.
Common sectors where a postgraduate research degree may be required include the government and civil service roles, engineering and pharmaceuticals. Many other sectors may not specify a postgraduate research degree, but this does not mean that you can’t apply. If such a degree has not been specified, you can outline in your application how the knowledge, skills and experience you have gained make you a strong candidate.
Having a PhD might also help you to be more competitive for roles, regardless of the subject, as you may find that your knowledge, skills and experience as a researcher enable you to progress more quickly. A good example is the Civil Service Fast Stream. Everyone starts at the same point but the speed of promotion is determined by performance so a researcher background can prove valuable in helping you progress more quickly.
Generating career ideas
To gain inspiration for your own career, we recommend that you:
Get inspiration from real researcher career journeys, including Cardiff University alumni
Case studies can be a great way to gain inspiration from other researchers’ career pathways, as they showcase the wide range of roles and industries that early career researchers pursue. Websites like From PhD to Life have a great range to choose from, as does Vitae.
You can also use the alumni tool on LinkedIn to search for profiles of Cardiff University alumni for ideas of career destinations from Doctoral graduates who have been in your shoes not so long ago. For more advice on setting up a LinkedIn profile and using the alumni feature, read our advice on Student Futures+ on networking.
Postgraduate research students can also listen to a range of interviews with doctoral graduates through the Doctoral Academy's Careers Cafe podcast series. All recordings can be accessed through the Doctoral Academy's Learning Central module.
Review job adverts and vacancies
Regularly monitor jobs boards and vacancy websites to explore roles that immediately appeal to you and keep a record of the jobs that you are interested in. You may be able to identify patterns in the type of role or organisation you are drawn to.
Undertake work experience
Even if you have career experience already, work experience gives you a chance to test out your ideas, especially if you are exploring something new. There are many types of work experience opportunities you could undertake with varying levels of commitment and time required. For example, an information or informational interview or a day of work shadowing don’t typically require any applications, are quick to arrange and don’t take up much time. Even opportunities like this can be a great way to find out what a role or sector is really like. You can read our more detailed advice on gaining work experience on this site.
Attend employer events
Meeting employers can help to broaden your horizons, explore your options and grow your network. If you are a current Cardiff University postgraduate research student or recent graduate, you can attend employer events run by Cardiff University. University services like the Doctoral Academy and Student Futures work with many local, national and international graduate employers to run a range of events including careers fairs, skills and information sessions and networking opportunities. If you are no longer able to access Cardiff University support, try professional bodies and associations in your research area or sector of interest – many will run online webinars or networking events.
Network and build your profile
Networking is an invaluable skill for your career! We have more tips to help you master networking as a researcher on this site.
Research career options in sectors of interest
As an early career researcher, you are in a uniquely qualified position to research your options! Apply your analytical, critical thinking and evaluation skills to explore and weigh up your options. In addition to the suggestions above, you could use reputable websites such as Prospects, TargetJobs, Careers Wales and National Careers Service to explore detailed profiles of hundreds of roles, as well as different job sectors. Within these profiles, you will find additional resources and websites to explore roles of interest further. You can read more advice about how to research your career options on Student Futures+.