Public Services and Administration Case Studies
The Transitions Survey was originally conducted in Autumn 2019 in order to gather data about the post-graduation jobs of recent PhD graduates. Participants were asked about their roles, the transition into their roles, and their advice for current PhDs to make the most of their PhD experience and prepare for post-PhD life and job searching. Those participating in the case studies included here also had the opportunity to update their responses in Summer 2020.
Kirsty McWhinnie, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine (IBAHCM)
Employment
Scottish Government Graduate Development Programme member.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
The role is comprised of multiple placements in different directorates over the course of 4 years. My first posting was in the Scottish National Investment Bank programme where I worked on stakeholder engagement and communications. I am now coming to the end of my second posting in constitutional policy.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
Like: great work life balance, brilliant supportive work culture, interesting work, making a difference Dislike: sometimes the work can be slow paced, but other times it can be frantic if there are hard deadlines at short notice
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
During my doctorate I made sure to get a wide range of 'extracurricular' experience to enhance my transferable skills. This included teaching, hosting and organising seminars and starting a PhD communications group. I decided about mid-way through my PhD that academia was not the right choice for me, and I worked with the careers advisor to assess what would be a good fit, and I decided I wanted to work in the civil service. I applied for this job midway through my final year and started just before I submitted my thesis.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Go and see the careers advisor early on to help figure out if this path is right for you. Get transferable skills; the PhD is not enough.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
Attending the assessment centre and job interview was useful as this was an insight into what the job would entail. I also attended a 'keeping in touch' day before I started which helped the transition.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
Moving from an academic environment to a completely new work culture.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Don't just focus on the PhD project. Try to get as many transferable skills as you can by demonstrating or organising things in your department.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
That PhDs are highly valued outside of academia. The academic job environment is not reflective and with a PhD you will be wanted by employers.
Clare Edwards, School of Culture and Creative Arts
Employment
Cultural Regeneration Officer at Renfrewshire Council.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
As Cultural Regeneration Officer at Renfrewshire Council, I’m working on the Future Paisley cultural regeneration programme in which the council is investing over £100m over the next few years. Future Paisley is wide-ranging and involves a partnership of 22 organisations, including national bodies such as the NHS, Police Scotland and Creative Scotland alongside universities and local third sector organisations such as Star Project and Engage Renfrewshire. I’m part of a small team responsible for developing an overarching, collaborative and unifying approach to cultural regeneration in Paisley set within the context of social change and transformation. My role involves providing cultural policy expertise, identifying new opportunities, delivering existing commitments and developing relationships and partnerships.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I love being able to apply into practice the theory and research I developed during my PhD, and that it's having an impact on communities. I like the job being rooted in the place of Paisley and being able to see it change and develop. I like the breadth of the role, that it covers areas as diverse as health, education and capital projects as well as cultural events – it's really varied and there's so much to learn, and lots of interesting people to learn from. I also like the relative job stability, having a permanent contract and much more reasonable work-life balance than if I'd stayed in academia – this was crucial to me as a parent in making decisions about my career. There’s nothing I really dislike about it!
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
My PhD was in culture-led regeneration in Glasgow, so directly related to my job. I also did a collaborative doctoral award PhD with Glasgow Life, the arms-length organisation responsible for delivering culture and sport in Glasgow, which influenced my career decisions.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Talk to the careers service about careers outside academia and get some practical experience through, for example, an internship. The careers service might also be able to put you in touch with people working in the fields you’re interested in. Also having a baby in the middle of your PhD is as good a time as any so don’t let that put you off.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
The careers service was really helpful, as were my supervisors. I also did the Postgraduate Leadership Programme run by Researcher Development during my PhD, which I’d recommend to anyone.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
Not having a proper break between finishing my PhD and starting my job. My job was advertised before I’d finished my PhD and it was too good an opportunity to miss. I had an extended period of trying to keep too many plates spinning at once, completing the PhD while working and looking after two small children and dealing with other family emergencies, which was quite tricky and not something I’d recommend.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
The opportunities are limitless but remember what your priorities are (it should be things like your health as well as professional development and getting your thesis written!) and be selective about what additional responsibilities you take on. Also some of the most interesting career opportunities lie outside academia so be open to them and use this time to try out things you might want to do through opportunities such as internships.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
I was torn between an academic career and working in arts and cultural development, but I’ve found it’s possible to have a job that builds on my research and the things I enjoyed in my PhD in the world outside academia – and that the end of my PhD hasn’t meant the end of my involvement in research.
Noemi Llamas, School of Modern Languages & Cultures
Employment
Senior Student Services Adviser at the University of South Australia in Adelaide.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
I lead a team of 10 advisers to assist in providing administrative support to students in the busiest city campus.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I love being able to give back to students and provide advice. I was a student for a really long time, and I owe finishing my various degrees to the people that guided me through the admin, bureaucracy, and rules (beyond academic support).
There is nothing specific I dislike about the role, although perhaps the fluctuating nature of the business requirements (really busy periods combined with really quiet periods) might be one - it’d be nice if it was more evenly spread across the year.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
It sort of didn’t. There was no requirement to finish my PhD to secure it. Me and my wife decided to move to Australia when I was in Thesis Pending status, and I secured a promotion to Senior during my submission process. I was a part-time PhD student from year 2 because of lack of funding, and I worked full time in the admin team at the SMLC during the first few years of my PhD. I realised early on that I had no interest in becoming an academic but I loved the higher education environment, so I continued to pursue my personal development in that area when I was in Glasgow, and then when I moved to Australia.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend my career path to anyone - I sort of adapted my skills to what I was good at and what I liked doing, and I wasn’t the perfect graduate.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
Thinking about what comes next after the PhD whilst you are still doing the PhD is key. You may not know what the next job might look like exactly, but you can prepare for it with plenty of time. You can adapt your training, consult with people who are already doing what you would like to do, go to the right events, etc. I suppose this is the way to figure out exactly what you want to do, rather than defaulting to whatever is available after you finish.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
The transition process was really easy to me because I had been in the role before submission, during the corrections period (which was long and arduous), and graduation. Regaining my weekends was not challenging.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
I would advise candidates to put a lot of energy into everything else that is not thesis related. We spend a lot of time researching the actual topic and writing up, and that can lead to isolation and disengagement. Network, build relationships with your peers, participate in talks (even if you are not giving a presentation yourself). I started the Shut Up and Write and Peer Review groups and it really helped my writing and my connection to other candidates in my school and beyond. All those things will assist when trying to showcase to employers (particularly outside of academia) how your specific set of skills make you the best candidate for a job.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
I wish I had known at the start of my PhD that not all roads lead to an academic position, and that it is okay to want to work elsewhere. This would have made it easy on my expectations in the first couple of years. I suppose that was still early days to find out what I did not want to do, so my transition after completing the PhD was not really a transition at all.
Kirsty McWhinnie, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine (IBAHCM)
Employment
Scottish Government Graduate Development Programme member.
Position secured before graduation.
What does your role entail?
The role is comprised of multiple placements in different directorates over the course of 4 years. My first posting was in the Scottish National Investment Bank programme where I worked on stakeholder engagement and communications. I am now coming to the end of my second posting in Constitutional policy.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
Like: great work life balance, brilliant supportive work culture, interesting work, making a difference Dislike: sometimes the work can be slow paced, but other times it can be frantic if there are hard deadlines at short notice
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
During my doctorate I made sure to get a wide range of 'extracurricular' experience to enhance my transferable skills. This included teaching, hosting and organising seminars and starting a PhD communications group. I decided about mid-way through my PhD that academia was not the right choice for me, and I worked with the careers advisor to assess what would be a good fit, and I decided I wanted to work in the civil service. I applied for this job midway through my final year and started just before I submitted my thesis.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Go and see the careers advisor early on to help figure out if this path is right for you. Get transferable skills; the PhD is not enough.
Transitioning to Employment
What was most helpful to you in managing your transition on from your PhD?
Attending the assessment centre and job interview was useful as this was an insight into what the job would entail. I also attended a 'keeping in touch' day before I started which helped the transition.
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
Moving from an academic environment to a completely new work culture.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Don't just focus on the PhD project. Try to get as many transferable skills as you can by demonstrating or organising things in your department.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
That PhDs are highly valued outside of academia. The academic job environment is not reflective and with a PhD you will be wanted by employers.
Peter Levens, School of Physics and Astronomy
Employment
Research Fellowship at the Met Office as part of the Satellite Applications team.
12 months to secure position.
What does your role entail?
This is a position funded by a satellite company based in Germany, EUMETSAT. As an employee of the Met Office, I am a civil servant, therefore in the public sector.
What do you like and dislike about your current role?
I am relatively new to the role, so still learning. It is good to have a new challenge.
How did your doctorate lead to your current post?
Many of the techniques that I used and was familiarised with through my PhD are relevant to the field of numerical weather prediction at the Met Office, so I was employed on the background that I had built up during my time as a PhD student.
What career progression tips would you offer to researchers if they want to follow a similar path to your own?
Although it is hard to do so, attempt to consider what it is that you want to do after your PhD whilst still in that position. Academia can feel like a comfortable bubble, but there are many other opportunities out there that you may not be aware of. Breaking out of that bubble can be scary and hard but it is ultimately worth it, and will make you appreciate the time you spent in research even more.
Transitioning to Employment
What did you find most challenging in making the transition?
I had a difficult time transitioning from the PhD into full time employment, mainly due to an attempt to move out of academia, where jobs for physicists appear to be thin on the ground. I felt I had a good understanding of my own skills but the trouble was conveying my flexibility and ability to learn quickly to prospective employers.
The PhD
What advice would you give in terms of making the most of the PhD experience?
Don't wait too long to start writing up, it's never too early to start. Get involved with external opportunities as much as possible - there is more to research than simply doing the job at hand.
What do you know now that you wish you had known then?
How difficult it is to find a job outside of your research area. If I'd known more about the expectations in terms of hard skills I'd have spent more time learning those that would have made jobhunting easier.