Career Progression
When you have finished your PhD, what comes next? Being ready for that step is why career skills make up three competencies of the CamRDF:
Jump to:
C1: Career Planning & Management
"I am proactive in planning my career, and I understand how to translate my skills and experience into successful applications."
This competency is about actively planning your career and understanding your own skills. Rather than putting off thinking about your next career steps until you need to make a job application, you should be regularly re-assessing your career goals and strategically working towards them. This will help you to make the most of the springboard of working at Cambridge.
Engaging with the CamRDF is one of the first steps towards proactive career planning. It might also involve identifying and approaching people who could act as useful mentor(s) to you for different aspects of your professional development.
You then need to know how to seek out career opportunities: this is not just about finding a job, but about understanding what kind of work would suit you and your circumstances, and being able to judge whether a particular opportunity fits with your strengths and current plans.
Finally, you need to understand your own skills and experience, be able to apply them to different roles, and articulate them clearly to prospective employers.
Utilizing the Careers Service will help you to develop these skills.
We also offer a workshop on post-viva planning for those in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
C2: Leadership
"I can lead others and understand the foundations of effective leadership."
A successful researcher must be able to act as an effective leader, whether you are the Principal Investigator of a large research group, leading a team working on a collaborative research project, or organising a seminar series. A leader is not just the hierarchical head of a management structure; you may find yourself acting as a leader at various points and in various ways throughout your career as you lead events, projects, activities or teams.
Leadership is a highly valuable skill in any career.
You can develop these skills by taking or creating opportunities to be a leader whilst you are doing your PhD, such as organising a reading group, seminar series or student-led conference. You may also find opportunities through your College community, such as by standing for a position on your MCR or heading up a club.
We offer workshops on demystifying leadership - learn to increase your impact and influence - and teamworking and leadership in research and beyond.
C3: Funding & Entrepreneurship
"I understand how to seek out funding and entrepreneurial opportunities, and how to make the most of them."
You need to cultivate an active awareness of opportunities to engage in entrepreneurial activities, and understand how to take advantage of them when they arise.
You also need to know how to find and effectively apply for funding opportunities - as well as understanding the processes and timescales involved in academic funding.
There are a wealth of resources available in Cambridge for those interested in entrepreneurship. See for example:
There are several offices within the University which can help you with understanding funding, such as the Research Operations Office, Research Strategy Office and Finance Division.
We offer a workshop on planning fundable research using Research Canvas.