Today\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n To gain inspiration for your own career, we recommend that you:<\/p>\nGenerating career ideas<\/h4>\n