Welcome to the new 19/20 Employer-led events programme for Researchers

This year we have a whole new set of events giving you the opportunity to meet employers, discover new industries and learn key skills. Whether you are research staff looking for a career change or a research student wanting to explore non-academic options – these events are for you! The term is set out in themed months focusing on a particular industry of choice based on the most desirable career destinations for researchers. Within these themed months we have a plethora of skills sessions, forums and blog content for you to engage with.

*For research students this programme of events is a part of the Doctoral Skills Development Programme and therefore training points are attributable*

 Introduction to the Programme

Each themed month will include a specific forum and a workshop session focusing either on a key skill or offering you the chance to try out what the day to day looks like for that role.

Employer Forums:

Forums are an opportunity for you to hear from PhD level alumni working in non-academic roles. Each speaker will introduce themselves, their career path and offer any key pieces of advice or tips they’ve learnt along the way as a researcher. Then it’s over to you! Ask any questions about the industry, roles, what it’s like to be in a non-academic roles as a PhD holder… Anything that is concerning you about this industry and the opportunities available to researchers. Finally you will have a chance to introduce yourself and get their contact details!

Contacts are key to career progression so don’t miss out on a chance to expand your network.

Skills Sessions:

This year, the skills sessions are an opportunity for you to learn a bit more about a key industry skill and practice this with a real employer. These skills focus on commercial awareness, leadership and self-reflection.  

Employer Taster Session:

The employer taster sessions are a chance for you to get hands on experience of a role. These workshops will allow you to take on a hypothetical task that someone in this role may undertake. Learn a new skill associated with a role and find out whether this is for you.

Employability Q&A’s:

In these events we will be bringing together a selection of researcher recruitment specialists from a range of industries to discuss a key aspect of employability. This includes, application processes, CVs and assessment centres.  

Keep your eye out on our blog to see what’s coming up in each month and read some honest and informative case studies from PhD holders working in industry

 

How to book your space?

This term we will be taking all research student and staff bookings for all researcher careers events including both employer-led events and careers consultant led workshops via the MyUCLCareers portal. If you’re a research student you’ll already have an account, just sign in with your standard UCL single sign-on user ID and password. For research staff register your details with us to set up access to a myUCLCareers account – click here to see the guide.  By streamlining our offerings through one platform we hope to offer you clearer, more detailed and consistent event content.

Any questions? Email us at careers.researchers@ucl.ac.uk

Research Students – All careers workshops and Forums run within the Doctoral Skills Development Programme are worth 1 training point. You must log this yourself on your Research Log – for further info on training points please refer to the DSDP website or follow the how-to guide

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This Terms Employer-led Events Programme

Exploring career options beyond Academia:
Research Alumni & Employers networking, 30^th September, 5.30-7.30pm

Kicking off our autumn term of events we have an opportunity for you to meet employers and alumni working in various industries in an informal networking session. Come along and practice your networking skills. The best way to improve at networking is to practice therefore this session gives you an informal way to do this whilst meeting some amazing organisations!
Research students and staff book here                    

October 2019 – Finance & Consultancy Month

Employer Forum: Careers in Consultancy, Wednesday 16^th October 5.30-7pm

As a rapidly growing industry that requires people with strong problem solving, research and specialist skills, consultancy firms are increasingly recruiting researchers. This forum gives you the opportunity to get an insight into consultancy from PhD level speakers who have paved a career for themselves in this industry. Find out more about what it takes to be a consultant, the wide range of industries and specialisms this covers and gain tips on how to get into this competitive industry. This is a key opportunity to gain an insight into a career you may not have previously considered.
Research students and staff book here                    

Employer Forum: Careers in Finance, Monday 21^st October 5.30-7.30pm

Research skills are increasingly important to the finance industry with analysis, problem solving and technical skills being ranked highly in a potential candidate. This forum gives you the opportunity to get an insight into finance from PhD level speakers who have paved a career for themselves in this industry. Find out more about what a career in finance encompasses, the wide range of industries and specialisms this covers and gain tips on how to find a researcher role. This is a key opportunity to gain an insight into a career you may not have previously considered.
Research students and staff book here        

Employer Taster Session in Consultancy, Tuesday 29^th October 12.30-2pm

This employer-led careers taster session for consultancy will allow you experience a hypothetical task which someone in this role would undertake. 
This is a practical opportunity to gain experience of a career in consultancy. Participate in a hypothetical task to improve your understanding of the industry and the types of careers available whilst networking with an organisation which hires researchers. This employer taster will highlight a career which has opportunities spanning across science, business, technology, data, the arts and more.
Research students and staff book here        

November 2019 – UK & Global Health Month

Skills Beyond Academia Session:
Commercial Awareness in the Public Sector, Monday 11^th November 12.30-2pm

Commercial awareness is a key skill to learn that proves you, as a candidate, are conscious of the economic and political trends in your desired industry. 
Research is key to understanding a business, its place in the market and the economic and political factors it faces. This session will therefore support you in utilising your research skills to develop commercial awareness. Whilst this session is focused on the UK & Global Health sector the commercial awareness skills you will gain will be transferable to any industry.
Research students and staff book here  

Careers in UK & Global Health, Monday 25^th November 5.30-7.30pm

A career in UK & Global health allows you to use your skills in research to improve the lives of local, national or even international communities. 
This forum will give you the opportunity to get an insight into the UK & Global Health sector from PhD level speakers who have paved a career for themselves in this industry. Find out more about what a career in public health encompasses, the wide range of industries and specialisms this covers and gain tips on how to find a researcher role. This is a key opportunity to gain an insight into a career you may not have previously considered.
Research students and staff book here                    

December 2019 – Data Analysis & Data Science Month

Careers in Data Science and Data Analysis, Thursday 5^th December 5.30-7.30pm

Skills in research, analysis and data presentation are vital to the data science industry and is why increasingly organisations are looking to hire researchers. 
This forum will give you the opportunity to get an insight into the data science and data analysis sector from PhD level speakers who have paved a career for themselves in this industry. Find out more about what a career in data encompasses, the wide range of industries and specialisms this covers and gain tips on how to find a researcher role. This is a key opportunity to gain an insight into a career you may not have previously considered.
Research students and staff book here  

Employer Taster Session in Data, Monday 9^th December 12.30-2pm

This employer-led taster session will allow you experience a hypothetical task which someone in a data analysis role would undertake. This is a practical opportunity to gain real-life experience of a career in data gaining tips and guidance from an expert in this field. Participate in a hypothetical task to improve your understanding of the industry and the types of careers available whilst networking with an organisation which hires researchers. This employer taster will highlight a career which has opportunities spanning across industries such as science, business, technology, data, the arts and more.
Research students and staff book here        

Careers Consultant led Programme

Alongside the employer-led sessions we have our careers consultant led programme of events. Details of the whole programme can be found here

We have separate Careers Consultant led programmes of academic career workshops for research students and research staff while our non-academic career workshops are open to both research staff and students.

Workshops are repeated throughout the year covering topics such as:

• Academic career planning
• Effective academic applications
• Effective academic interviews
• Identifying strengths, interests & values
• Finding non-academic jobs
• Marketing yourself (sessions on applications, interviews, LinkedIn)
• Workshops are repeated regularly throughout the year.

These programmes are for you. Learn a new skill, find out about an industry or even just ask some questions to help settle your concerns – Get ahead of the game and take these opportunities to explore opportunities and develop yourself and your commercial awareness before you’ve even left academia.

Are you sick of 2015 countdown lists yet? No? Good, because here’s another one.

Have you heard of Coursera? It’s great. It allows you to take free online courses in pretty much anything, and those courses are taught by university experts. In fact, UCL careers consultants helped deliver a course in Employability Skills in 2014 and 2015.

And now the good people at Coursera have put together a handy list of 2015’s most coveted career skills. When you complete a course you receive a certificate, and get the option of posting said certificate to your LinkedIn profile. By assessing courses with the most certificates posted to LinkedIn, Coursera have worked out the top 10 skills people most wanted to show off to recruiters last year. It’s a nice measure of what’s hot with employers right now, with ‘digital marketing’ coming out on top, and ‘data science’ featuring heavily in the top 10. Check out the full list here.

And to be notified when the employability skills course runs again, visit the course page and add it to your wish list.