Postgraduate options

Career Advice for Postgraduates

Discover your postgraduate career options with these steps. Use the Careers & Enterprise service to get advice on career transitions, subject-specific options, employer research, entrepreneurship, work experience and job hunting as well as updates on careers news and events.  

Career Planning: Getting Started Guide

1. Assess your qualifications, skills, and experience both in and outside-of-academia. What employers want has links to online skills assessments. For PhD researchers the Researcher Development Framework developed by Vitae gives a detailed analytical tool for self-reflection. The training and support offered at Salford is guided by this framework. 

2. Research employers and job opportunities. Stay informed about companies hiring postgraduates, research organisations, and labour market trends. Find paid/voluntary opportunities on Handshake

3. Training: Join COMPASS (Community Model for Postgraduate Achievement, Skills and future Success) program to develop research skills and transferable skills for employability; academia or other sectors. Open to all postgraduate researchers and staff. 

4. Enhance your CVs, applications, and interview skills. Polish your job search methods with guidance on  CVs, applications, psychometric tests and assessment centres, and interview preparation within academia and beyond. 

5. Explore self-employment. Get support for freelancing or self-employment. Engage in activities fostering innovation and ideas. Launch provides guidance on business planning, logistics, finance, legal aspects, administration, and effective promotion.

Careers advice for Masters students

Career planning for all students and graduates is of paramount importance but timing can be especially crucial for taught postgraduates, especially if your course is only for a year! Here are some tips to start your career planning: 

1. Understand yourself: 

• Reflect on your reasons for pursuing a postgraduate qualification. 
• Recognise the skills and attributes you've gained. 
• Explore relevant career insights in the Prospects Guide: Your Masters…what next? 
• Research employers and stand out by knowing about companies, their values, competitors, and market developments. Impress employers with your knowledge and sell yourself effectively. 

2. Explore your options: 

• Utilise the Prospects website to discover job opportunities related to your field of study. 
• Use resources like Prospects: Options with your subject and Prospects: Occupations 
• Consider pursuing a PhD by exploring Prospects, Jobs.ac.uk and FindaPhD.com. 
• There may also be specific information sources for certain postgraduate programmes, for example, MBAs have a whole host of careers resources available - Top MBA and Online/Distance Learners: Masters. 

Stay proactive, research your desired industry, and leverage your skills to make a lasting impression on potential employers.

Careers advice for PhD researchers

We provide tailored career support for postgraduate researchers. Whether you're aiming for academia or exploring other options, we have resources to help you navigate your career path. 

For PhDs and graduates, check out Your PhD - What Next?  for comprehensive guidance on career pathways and options. Read our Options after your PhD guide.

Academic Jobs: 

• Jobs.ac.uk: The leading UK website for academic job listings. 

• Findapost.com: Discover postdoctoral research positions. 

• Times Higher Education Jobs: Explore opportunities in higher education. 

• UK Research and Innovation: Find fellowships and funding options. 

• Research Professional Jobs: Advertisements for academic and non-academic roles. 

Networking is key to finding a job in academia. Get in contact with your department, supervisor, and connections in other universities to learn about hidden vacancies and opportunities. 

Useful links on other websites: 

• Vitae - information and resources for the personal, professional and career development of doctoral researchers. 

• Jobs.ac.uk - Article ' Post PhD where do i go from here?' 

Jobs outside academia 

Discover exciting career opportunities outside of academia with your PhD. Employers value the unique skills you bring to the table. Don't limit yourself to jobs explicitly requiring a PhD, as it may not always be mentioned in job ads. 

Find employment through:  

• Times Higher Education-Jobs: Academic and non-academic positions in higher education. 

• Jobs.ac.uk: Non-academic higher education job listings. 

• Major newspapers' job websites. 

Explore other sources: 

• Specialist recruitment agencies: you can search for relevant ones at Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and Agency Central 

Useful links on other websites: 

• Vitae: Doctoral Careers Outside Higher Education - suggests more areas of work that may be of interest to PhD graduates outside of academia 

• LinkedIn 

• Vitae: what employers look for - insight into the experiences, attitudes, and recruitment practices of employers in relation to doctoral graduates 

Useful websites for PhD researchers 

• Social Research Association: Forum for diverse research fields. 

• Advance HE: Resources and professional development for all academic disciplines. 

• Universities UK: Representative body for UK universities. 

• The Chronicle of Higher Education: US-based platform with job listings and search skill information. 

• Research Councils: Major funders of academic research in the UK.

Further support

Listen to our Postgraduate Options and Funding Explained LinkedIn Learning Pathway for more information.