Please note that this course is no longer active.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 online course is run by the Researcher Academy 

The 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 

Penultimate and final year PhDs including writing up and thesis pending – this course is NOT suitable for those in the early stages of their PhD.

The academic job market is extremely competitive at all levels and as you approach the end of your PhD not only is it important for you to make effective applications but you also need to position yourself well in order to, potentially, develop a sustainable academic career. Therefore applying for academic jobs is not only about preparing excellent applications but it also involves understanding the higher education employment sector, appreciating the career milestones for early career researchers and academics and applying these areas of knowledge to the tasks of managing and developing your career. This course will combine aspects of career management and development with the techniques of applying for academic jobs with the aim of enabling you to make independent and informed career decisions and to translate these into the applications you make in a highly competitive job market.  

Pre-requisites:  

You are advised to attend this course BEFORE attending

Recruitment Interviews and Selection Exercises – Developing Confidence, Techniques and Strategies

Process: This course is a participative workshop delivered over one half day

Description: 

The first section of the course will focus on building and checking your knowledge of the HE sector in the UK with references to some of the resources you could use to research international academic opportunities. This part of the course will also examine the significant career milestones that early stage researchers may need to be aware of as they analyse the opportunities available to them prior to making an application.

The second half of the course will concentrate on enhancing the techniques and skills you will need to employ in preparing and presenting yourself to potential academic employers. It will consider a range of methods including, on-line profiles, networking approaches, CVs, personal/supporting statements and cover letters. Example documents will be used to highlight and critique different styles and methods of presentation, layout and content.

Related courses:

Applying for Jobs Outside Academia

Recruitment Interviews & Selection Exercises: Developing Confidence & Strategies

Aims/ Objectives:

This course will help you enhance your academic career knowledge and understanding and appreciate the value of taking control of your academic career development

To develop effective application preparation and presentation techniques for the academic job market

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

• Recognise the diversity and complexity of the academic employment sector
• Analyse job opportunities in terms of their potential effect on career development
• Appreciate how to use your CV to monitor your career progress
• Utilise effective approaches to preparing job application documents

Booking Conditions 

Privacy Statement 

The Researcher Academy is committed to protecting the privacy of researchers who register for our training courses and events. Your completion of the booking process shall constitute your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data to University staff and external partners responsible for the delivery of the course or event for which you have registered.  Personal information shared includes; name, role/position, mode of study, School/Department, dietary and accessibility requirements. 

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 ra-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. The 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.