Text 10B. ACADEMIC CAREERS
In science and engineering, many PhD students are interested in continuing their research in an academic setting, and a PhD followed by post-doctoral research is very much a requirement for this. However, PhD researchers go on working in research posts outside academia, and also enter a wide range of careers where the skills they have developed from their research (rather than their knowledge) are of most importance.
Whilst having a PhD degree is never a guarantee of a higher salary or level of job, the statistics show that PhDs do well in the job market. In 2007, the UK Graduate Programme Study published the first ever detailed summary of PhD destinations. The survey showed that PhD graduates are:
— more geographically mobile and more fully employed than less highly qualified graduates;
— their unemployment rate at just 3.2% is less than half that of first degree graduates;
— only 1% are in jobs which bear no relation to the level of their qualifications;
— the data also challenges the view that a PhD leads only to a career in academia or research. Significant numbers are found in all sectors of the economy.
As a doctoral researcher, you understand some of the attractions and challenges of research. It is easy to assume that you should aim to be an academic. Most academic supervisors regard this as the natural ambition of any PhD holder — many academics regard any other career as second best, or even “failure”. Doctoral researchers often quote the flexible hours, the chance to contribute to your specialist field, the chance to help others develop, as some of the attractions of an academic career. However, everyone has their own priorities and clarifying what you want from your working life will help ensure you are aiming for a career which will give you job satisfaction.
However, it is worth investigating early in your career what it takes to become an academic and realistically assessing your chances. This will allow you to make informed career decisions which can give you a firm foundation for an academic career and avoid drifting into years of short-term research or teaching contracts which ultimately do not deliver a permanent academic post.
The work of an academic typically combines research, teaching, administrative and leadership responsibilities. The balance of time spent on each of these roles will depend on the type of institution and the nature of the post, and will change at different stages of your career, particularly if you take on a leadership role. Most academic posts include duties such as making applications for funding, attending conferences, building collaborations with other institutions and taking part in knowledge transfer activities with business and industry. Administrative tasks typically range from the preparation and design of courses, setting examinations and marking, through to attending meetings and involvement in policy decisions. Supervision and management of fellow researchers and teams is also a key element of an academic’s work, particularly as you progress to more senior posts.
For early career researchers progression to a first post after completion of your PhD varies depending on the discipline area you are working in. In the arts and humanities, a PhD may be followed by postdoctoral research, and then a lectureship, although in some cases it may be possible to obtain a lectureship after completing a PhD. Once in post, promotion to senior lecturer, reader and professor may follow.
In the sciences the typical career path requires the completion of two or three postdoctoral research positions, usually followed by an independent research fellowship. Then, subject to a good publications record, you may apply for a lectureship, where promotion to senior lecturer, reader and professor may follow.
Promotion is predominantly based on research performance, with some account taken of teaching and administrative responsibilities. However, if you have a role which is primarily teaching, or research, or knowledge transfer, the emphasis will differ. Institutions will typically have set criteria for academic promotion.
23. Identify the topic of each paragraph of Text 10B.
24. Answer the following questions.
a) What posts do PhD researchers work in?
b) Is having a PhD degree a guarantee of a higher salary?
c) What did the UK Graduate Programme Study survey show?
d) What are the ambitions of doctoral researchers?
e) What are most academic posts characteristic of?
f) Can a PhD holder have career progression? g) What is a PhD holder’s typical career path?
Section 5. SPEAKING
The job interview in English contains specific questions and appropriate answers. This exercise provides some tips on job interview questions and answers in English.
They Want to Know...
About your personality.
Introduce yourself in a confident and informative manner. The statements should be brief and contain your name and some information about your background and experience. Include the type of work you are looking for,
If you have some of the skills required to do the job and that you are easy to work with.
If you can do the job.
Have specific examples prepared. If you have not done similar work before, mention other skills you can bring to the job.
If you have done your research and if your skills match their values and expectations.
A great reason to hire you.
Ensure your “strength” is right for the job. If you are dependable, give an example of a time when that strength came in handy.
How do you see yourself?
This is an opportunity to mention skills like enthusiasm, reliability and efficiency.
Where you might encounter problems.
Turn a weakness into strength by giving an example of a time you overcame a weakness on the job.
| What are your long-term goals? | What your career plans are. Employers want to know if you will be around long enough so their investment in training you will pay off. |
| Are you good at keeping deadlines? | How you handle pressure. Give work-related examples to prove you have handled pressure well. If you do not work well under pressure, tell your interviewer you like to know deadlines ahead of time, so you can prepare for them properly. |
| What would you do in certain situations, such as a disagreement with another employee, or how to handle an irate customer? | How do you react to pressure? How are your problems solving skills? Describe a time when you dealt with a similar situation. Back up your story with technical or personal skills, you may have learned in the situation. Assure the interviewer that you would follow company policies and that you are not afraid to ask questions if you do not know what they are. |
| How do you feel about your previous boss, or how do you get along with others? | How you get along with others. Not only this questioning is a test of your social skills, but also your answer shows the employer how you may describe him or her. Never badmouth your previous boss. |
| What is your worst trait? | Where you see faults in your job performance or skills. Choose a positive “negative”. |
| How much are you looking for? | Answer with a question, i.e., “What is the salary range for similar jobs in your company?” If they do not answer, then give a range of what you understand you are worth in the marketplace. |
26. Practise the following dialogues.
Dialogue 1
A Job Interview for a Software Engineer
Q.: Did you get here easily?
A.: Yes, it took me just about fifteen minutes. It was an easy drive.
Q.. Tell me about yourself.
A.: I hold an engineering degree in software development from New Delhi University. I have been living in the US since I took a job as software engineer with Data Maintenance, Inc in 2003.1 was responsible for creating and maintaining databases for a clientele of 300 companies in various industries. I contacted clients, set up database systems for trial versions until the company was fully capable of running the system, fixed the system bugs, modified the interface to the specifications of user characteristics. I reported to the technical manager and area manager. I learned a lot in this position. I was considered by my superiors creative, resourceful and hardworking. I used my creativity to devise unique incentives to keep my customers motivated. Because of customers satisfaction I was given numerous company bonuses and awards.
Q.: Why did you leave this position?
A.: This position has been eliminated and I was offered another position in the same field but in Phoenix, Arizona. I am not ready to relocate, so am looking for a new position.
Q.: What are your goals for your career?
A.: I want to secure a software engineering position with a company that concentrates on wholesale digital data systems development. Ideally, I would like to work for a young company, such as yours, so I can get in on the ground floor and take advantage of all the opportunities a growing firm has to offer.
Q.: What are your weaknesses?
A.: I am a perfectionist, and this trait in some industries may not be a good fit. But for this software engineering position I believe this trait truly will help me excel.
Q.: Why do you want to work here?
A.: I want to be a part of a global company like yours, which invest in the future. I’m impressed with your investments in research and development of eco-friendly industrial processes.
Q.: I think I have asked you everything I wanted to. Thank you for coming along to the interview.
A.: Thank you. When will I know if I have been successful?
Q:. WeTl be making our decision next Monday. We’ll give you a call.
Dialogue 2
Brandon has a Job Interview for a Lab Assistant's Job
I.: Good morning, Mr Brandon. My name is Ms Martin. Please have a seat.
B.: Good morning, Ms Martin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
/.: You’ve applied for the laboratory assistant’s position, haven’t you?
B.: Yes, Ms Martin.
I.: Do you know exactly what you would be doing as a laboratory assistant?
B.: Oh, a lab assistant helps to make sure that all the experiments are done properly.
I.: Do you have any further plans for further study?
В.. 1 hadn’t really thought much about it. 1 don’t know what courses I could do.
Suppose our company would like you to attend an institution to further your skills. How would you feel about this?
B.: If the course helped me to improve my prospects for promotion and to be better at my job, I would definitely do it.
/.: Have you ever had a job before?
B.: No. I’ve really been too busy with all the study I’ve had to do to get a good result.
/.: We have a lot of other applicants for this position. Why do you think that you deserve to get the job?
B.: Well, I’ve found out a lot about this type of work and my research suggests that I would be quite capable of doing the work involved. I also think that I would be able to handle any training course reasonably well to get for the job.
1. Now, do you have any questions you’d like to ask me about the position?
В.: I don’t think so.
OK. Thank you for coming to the interview.
B.: Thank you, Ms Martin. Goodbye.
27. Complete the gaps in the dialogue with the interviewer’s questions in a-i below. Then practise this dialogue.
I.: Good morning.
S.: Good morning, John Smith, it’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs Winters.
I.: Please take a seat. (1)?
S.: Yes, luckily, you have a nice underground parking lot that helped me to avoid the worst of it. I must say this is an impressive building.
I.: Thank you, we like working here. Now, let’s see. (2)
S.: Yes, Mark Abraham encouraged me to apply, and I think I’d be ideal for the position.
I.: Oh. Mark... he’s a great system administrator, we like him a lot... Let’s go over your CV. (3)?
S.: Certainly. I’ve been working as the regional assistant director of marketing at BID Engineering Company for the past year.
I.: (4)?
S.: Before that, I was a BID local branch manager in Seattle.
I.: Well, 1 see you have done well at BID. (5)?
S.: Yes, I’ve been in charge of in-house personnel training for our Internet customer service reps over the past six months.
I.: (6)?
S.: We’ve been working on improving customer satisfaction through an innovative e-commerce solution which provides real-time chat service help to visitors to the site.
I.: Interesting. (7)?
S.: I understand that you have been expanding your e-commerce to include social networking features.
I.: Yes, that’s correct.
S.: I think that my experience in customer relations via the Internet in real-time puts me in the unique position of understanding what works and what doesn’t.
I.: Yes, that does sound useful. (8)?
S.: Well, I think we’ll continue to see consumers spend more of the shopping dollars online. I’ve been studying how sales directly relate to customer satisfaction with online services.
I.: (9)?
S.: Sure... if customers aren’t satisfied with the service they receive online, they won’t come back. It’s much easier to lose customers online. That’s why you need to make sure that you get it right the first time round.
I.: I can see you’ve learnt quite a lot in the short time you’ve been working in e-commerce.
S.: Yes, it’s an exciting field to be working in...
a) Can you give me some more detail about your responsibilities as assistant director?
b) What difficulties and challenges do you think we might run into?
c) You’ve come to interview for the position of e-commerce manager, haven’t you?
example, some lecturers prefer frequent tests throughout a semester while others opt for no tests but require several papers.
4. Present the lecture material which falls outside the regular curriculum of the college or university — in other words, information that is largely unknown to the interviewer.
5. Do your homework on the college or university so that you can be prepared to answer the question: “How exactly will your lectures benefit the students here?”
Section 6. LISTENING
30. Listen to the text “Job or Further Study?”. Answer the questions that follow.
1. What are the options for a student after graduating?
2. Why don’t you have to choose between work and study?
3. What are the forms of part-time postgraduate programmes?
4. How did the introduction of distance learning revolutionise postgraduate programmes?
5. Why may overseas students find it less easy to study postgraduate courses on a part-time basis?
6. What are the sources for funding your postgraduate study?
31. As you listen to the text, say which of these statements are true and which are false.
1. Many students feel tom between the options of receiving their first degree and improving their prospects in the job market.
2. You have studied hard for a year and received your degree.
3. Most postgraduate programmes are available part time.
4. You can attend evening classes to earn a postgraduate degree.
5. It is not worth asking your employer to sponsor you.
6. Many employers usually help with funding your study.