Pathways preparing for life after your PhD University of Manchester Careers Blog

Pathways â€"preparing for life after your PhD You’re always being told that networking is the key to exploring career options and strategies for getting into work, but where are you supposed to find the time and the contacts when you’re concentrating on your research? Well, each year, we try to make it easier for you. Instead of you having to find a load of contacts, set up meetings, and take multiple days out of your diary to talk to them, we find over 50 PhD qualified professionals and bring them to you â€" to Manchester, on campus, all on the same day. Our Pathways event has been running successfully for 6 years, attended by hundreds of researchers each year. Why are you always told that networking is good for you? 1.             Making friends is a positive thing . Having people who understand you, listen, ask questions, give advice and information, provide support is essential to life (and you get the satisfaction of returning the favour). 2.             It raises your profile. If you are known to potential employers, it helps your application stand out from the 90 other ones on their desk.   And having a higher profile… 3.             …puts you in the way of opportunities. Have you, or do you know someone who has, got a job through networking?   You acquire information through networking â€" this gives you leads about jobs. It could also help you find out about jobs before they are actually advertised. Networking is not about asking for a job.   It’s about making friends and conducting research two things PhD students should be pretty good at.   Good career decisions are based on reliable information.   Pathways 2015 is a treasure house of career information â€" you have upwards of 50 panelists to learn from, but also 350 or more other PhD students to talk to. Research with postgraduate and undergraduate students shows that, just like studying for an exam or practicing a conference talk, preparing for networking helps to contribute to a more positive outcome.   Here are 2 simple things you can do right now to prepare so that you can make the most of Pathways:                   Read the Art/Science of Academic Networking and watch the video           Start working on this Networking map. Who do you know? Who do they know? Who would it be helpful to know? Could you meet this person at Pathways? Register now Online registration is now open. If you want to be sure this event goes ahead, and that we book enough lunches to go round and venues large enough to seat participants, please register! Detailed information is available on the University of Manchester Postgraduate Careers blog. Follow us on @manpgcareers and join in the conversation using   #PathwaysEvent2015 All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate career planning networking Options