Please note that this course is no longer active.

It has been replaced with a series of online courses that feature online career development, videos on academic CVs and the PhD Careers Programme one hour sessions. This is provided solely by the Careers and Employability Service. To access these courses, please select the link below:

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/careers/phd-students/index.aspx

This course is delivered jointly by the Researcher Academy and the Careers and Employability Service

Researcher Academy courses are very popular and the majority are run in both semesters to give you the opportunity to attend at a time of the year that suits you. Semester 1 courses will be available for booking from the second week of October and Semester 2 courses from the second week of February.

 

 

Target audience

Late stage postgraduate research students including writing up and thesis pending

 This course is NOT suitable for those in the early stages of their PhD.

 

“Thank you for your application for the post of ….. I am pleased to invite you to attend an Assessment Centre/Interview on..”

 

The delight of receiving this news can very soon be replaced by apprehension as you face the prospect of undertaking assessment exercises and interviews. You may have many questions: What exercises will they set, what will the panel expect from a presentation, what will the interview be like, or what should I wear and how will I cope as an internal candidate? Are there differences between interviews for academic jobs and those for other employers?

 

What techniques and strategies could you use to prepare and help you to cope during recruitment exercises and interviews? This course will enable you to consider both of these key aspects of preparing for, and undertaking, recruitment and selection processes. Most of us have this mix of delight and apprehension at getting through the written application stage and the aim of this course is to help you to face this next part of the process with confidence.

 

Prerequisites

 

You are advised to attend this course AFTER attending

Applying for Academic Jobs – Understanding the academic job market and developing early career strategies and/or Applying for Jobs Outside Academia

 

Process

 

This course is a participative workshop delivered over one half day. It will involve some practice selection and interview exercises but NOT mock interviews.

 

Description

 

The course will include the following topics and activities:

An overview of recruitment and selection activities used by employers within and outside academia. This will also include an analysis of the pros and cons of these activities and why employers use them?

Effective preparation strategies and techniques for interviews and other assessment exercises.

An opportunity to undertake a practise assessment centre activity in order to gain some experience and consider further development requirements.

What will happen in the interview (academic or outside academia) - managing the interview situation, controlling nerves, coping with challenging questions and presenting your strengths confidently.

An opportunity to practise answering interview questions in a safe training environment.

 

Related Courses

 

Applying for Academic Jobs – Understanding the academic job market and developing early career strategies

Applying for jobs outside academia

 

Aims

 

This course aims to develop your understanding and knowledge of the variety of recruitment and selection activities you may face and offer methods you can use to prepare effectively for this key stage of a recruitment process. By including practise exercises and the opportunity to raise questions and concerns with an experienced interviewer and recruiter the course aims to build confidence so that you can take on the challenge of presenting yourself to a future employer.

 

Objectives

 

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

 

·        Understand and appreciate different recruitment and selection techniques and why employers may use them

·        Appreciate what recruiters look for from different selection activities

·        Review and analyse preparation strategies and techniques

·        Identify effective interview management techniques

·        Through practise in a safe environment review your development actions for the future

 

 

Latecomer policy
Researchers should plan to arrive prior to the advertised course start time. Except for exceptional reasons, there will be no admittance to a Researcher Academy or Faculty Training Programme (FTP) course 15 minutes after the advertised course start time.

Importance of booking commitment
When booking on to a Researcher Academy short course you are entering into a commitment to attend. If you find that you are no longer available to attend you MUST cancel your place (on the system if more than three days before the course or if at short notice by emailing pg-training@nottingham.ac.uk). This will ensure that your place can be offered to another researcher on the waiting list. Failure to cancel a place results in other researchers missing out on places through the waiting list process.

It is unacceptable for researchers to just not attend when booked onto a course. Researcher Academy maintains records of those who repeatedly do not attend courses they have booked. This may affect future eligibility to book onto further Researcher Academy courses and will affect considerations for Researcher Academy funded opportunities.