Postgraduate research career timeline

• First year

  Meet with your supervisor

  Conduct initial meetings with your supervisors at the beginning of your research degree to:

  • discuss and agree the frequency of future meetings
  • set objectives and annual goals
  • discuss possible training needs or any other concerns.

  Create a reflective log

  As you begin working on different projects and take on a variety of roles during your research degree, consider creating a reflective log of these experiences. This will be particularly helpful when looking to create or update a master CV from your second year onwards.

  Build your networks

  Begin to build your own networks. This could include:

  • other PhD or research students in your School
  • other members of University societies you're involved in
  • academic staff working in related (or even unrelated) research fields
  • students and staff from other institutions around the world (found through web research, LinkedIn, Academia.edu, conferences, and other events).

  Be curious and initiate conversations – you never know how much a certain connection may be able to help in the future.

  See more ideas for making a connection.

  Summer schools

  Summer schools are popular events for first-year PhD students, so it may be worth exploring whether there are any available in your research area. For example:

  • Summer Schools in Europe.eu
  • Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities
  • Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.

  Summer schools provide you the chance to:

  • learn about the latest developments in your field
  • present a poster on your research area
  • meet fellow research students from around the world.

  Attend training and event conferences

  Familiarise yourself with both central and School-based training and event conferences, such as seminars, workshops and training classes. Start to think about which ones to attend.

  Search for courses available at St Andrews through GRADskills and PDMS. GRADskills, in particular, is a programme of workshops and activities designed specifically for research postgraduate students of the University.

  Use Vitae, a career development resource

  Vitae is one of the core career development resources aimed at researchers. Log in to the website using your St Andrews email address and password to explore the full range of resources available to you.

  One of these resources is the Researcher Development Framework (RDF), which highlights the professional and transferable skills you can gain from academic research. You can use the RDF to audit and evidence your professional development. For more information, see the Vitae: professional development for researchers page. 

  The GRADskills programme has also been grouped according to the 12 sub-domains of the RDF, to help you identify workshops aligned to a particular skill. For more information, visit the RDF domains page.

  Get involved in outreach

  Consider getting involved in outreach, teaching, public engagement and volunteering opportunities. These additional responsibilities make a great addition to any CV, helping you develop your key skills.

• Second year

  As you enter the second year of your research degree, you should continue to develop and explore the suggestions for what you can do during the first year of your research degree.

  Create a master CV

  Having an up-to-date CV will be essential when applying for jobs after your degree is finished. Create or update a master CV with all the responsibilities and projects you’ve been involved in since the beginning of your research degree. It should include all of the varied roles and responsibilities that you have had throughout your education and work.

  By making a master CV now, you will ensure nothing gets forgotten. Your master CV can be as extensive and detailed as you like. When it comes to submitting a CV for a job, you can refer to your master CV and then pick and choose those experiences which are best suited to your desired role.

  See advice on CVs for further guidance.

  Attend conferences

  Look for opportunities to attend a local, national or international conference. Conferences can help you build your communication and presenting skills. They also provide another way to meet other students and staff working in a variety of fields and make further connections.

  Start career planning

  Start to perform some self-development and self-reflection tasks to help you consider career options. What have you enjoyed most about your research to date? What haven’t you enjoyed? Would you like to continue to work in a research role, or try something different?

  Jobs.ac.uk provides a number of helpful resources aimed at researchers, including a Career Development Toolkit.

  You may find it helpful to book an appointment with a careers adviser to discuss these issues further, as well as visit the Career Journey page.

  Consider your career options

  Before the third year of your PhD, you should start to consider possible career options for when you finish, so that you can start to put into place strategies for meeting your career goals in the remaining years of your PhD. While life may seem quite busy already, this will only increase towards the end of your PhD when you will be setting aside substantial time to complete your thesis.

• Third year

  Use your networks and contact

  Having given some thought already to what you would like to do next, consider again how your networks or key contacts could help you find out more.

  If you already networked in the first couple of years of your PhD, ask yourself whether it’s possible to revisit some of those connections to find out more about a particular research group or a different career sector.

  If you haven’t previously engaged in much networking, it’s not too late! As you look to present your research at conferences, seminars and other events, keep thinking about conducting informal conversations with people to find out what they do – you never know who may be able to help in the future.

  Build your research profile

  Continue to build your research profile. Gain more confidence presenting and talking about your research at School seminars or national and international conferences.

  If you are interested in pursuing an academic career, begin exploring opportunities for publishing your research in high-impact journals. Your supervisors should be able to provide guidance about what a sensible publishing strategy might look like in your field.

  Keep building your master CV

  If you want to pursue an academic career, ensure you populate your CV with your list of publications and poster presentations – impact and visibility is key.

  Start to explore vacancies for postdoctoral roles (such as at FindaPostDoc) and familiarise yourself with the essential recruitment processes to give yourself the best chance of success.

  Talk to your supervisors and other experienced academic staff members to help you figure out possible research groups and even potential future sources of research funding in your area.

  Explore career paths

  If you’re thinking about stepping away from academia after your PhD, you should familiarise yourself with the range of career pathways and opportunities that may be open to you.

  To explore career paths:

  • Take workshops provided by CEED (the University's Centre for Educational Enhancement and Development).
  • Attend employability events hosted by the Careers Centre.
  • Research different career paths online by visiting the career options pages, as well as Research Careers.
  • Contact previous research postgraduates to discuss what they have done outside of academia. Visit the make a connection pages for information on how to do this.
  • Look at St Andrews' graduate destinations to get a sense of the diverse destinations of research postgraduates at the University.

  Review your skills

  Review Vitae's Research Development Framework and spend some time analysing the key professional and transferable skills you have gained throughout your PhD. Consider whether there are any areas that you still want to develop before you finish your degree.

  Keep in touch with the Careers Centre

  The Careers Centre's services, including careers appointments to help explore your options both within and outside academia, are available for up to three years after you graduate. 

  Register as a graduate on CareerConnect.