While studying for a doctorate, it's important to think about the direction you want your career to take after completing your PhD. This will enable you to take advantage of opportunities to expand your skills and gain experience, which may help you achieve your career goals.
Throughout your doctoral journey, you will develop many transferable skills. These may include:
- critical thinking
- written and verbal communication
- analytical reasoning and problem-solving
- organisation and project management
- research methodology
- self-direction and time management
- collaboration and teamwork.
These research and professional skills are integral to the core activities of doctoral research. They are highly valued by employers within academic and non-academic sectors. In addition to the skills developed during your doctoral studies, you may need to develop further skills tailored to specific roles or industries.
It is essential that you include the skills you gained during your doctorate in your CV, and highlight their relevance and impact within the context of the job you are applying for. The Careers Service can offer you help and support on CVs and job applications.
Resources to help you plan your future career
黑料不打烊 Researcher Development Programme (RRDP)
Through the 黑料不打烊 Researcher Development Programme, the Doctoral and Researcher College offers a number of career focused training sessions, including:
- Getting your first academic job
- Getting your first postdoc
- Applying for postdocs
- LinkedIn: Writing a strong profile and marketing yourself
- Effective CVs for doctoral researchers: How to impress both employers within and outside HE
- How will employers interview you?
- Job applications: How to write successful supporting statements for jobs within and outside HE
- How to summarise your thesis in three minutes
- Communicating your research: Five simple ideas
- Leadership
- Preparing to Teach.
LinkedIn Learning
A University subscription to LinkedIn Learning offers online access to expert-led video tutorials. The University Careers Service has put together a range of recommended courses to support you at different stages of your career journey and to boost your employability.
Henley Business School and Doctoral and Researcher College Leadership Programme
Whether you're planning a career inside or outside academia, this programme will help you develop your leadership potential.
The programme runs on alternate years, so please check the Leadership Programme webpage for more information.
Careers Service
The Careers Service is open to all University students, including doctoral researchers. Our 黑料不打烊 Researcher Development Programme (RRDP) is run in collaboration with the Careers Service, offering workshops that are tailored for doctoral researchers. It's also worth browsing the central Careers workshops and events, especially if you think your career move after your PhD will be outside academia.
Doctoral researchers can request an appointment with a careers consultant via the Careers service. Common questions or discussion points covered in initial careers appointments are: making the transition from academia to other sectors, feedback on CVs, how to write strong job applications, and how to prepare for interviews. You can book online through My Jobs Online or by emailing careers@reading.ac.uk.
The Careers Service also offers the Blackboard organisation, where you can find a wide range of recordings of career workshops. These workshops cover topics such as applications, interviews, gaining experience, and career ideas.
- View further information about Careers and access their online resources
- Find advice on career options on the Careers website
Useful links and online resources
- has a that provides guidance on how to enter the academic job market, plan for careers outside academia, CV examples and career stories.
- has a careers advice section, as well as an article titled
- provides a list of how the skills you have developed during your PhD can translate to jobs and employers outside of academia.
- provides and a wide range of articles to help you find a job and manage your career.
- is a resource developed primarily for postdocs by the University of Liverpool. It provides tools and resources to further professional development across multiple career pathways.
- offers an to allow you to identify what you want out of a career.
- The University of Michigan has published a typically gained during doctoral studies.
- is a toolkit to help you navigate career transitions.
- is an online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students in the humanities and social sciences.