Polishing your Professional Profile

Kate Daubney, PhD Careers AdviserAuthoring a PhD – 2009/2010

Endgame

Where are you heading…?

• What is your next career step?– Academic– Non-academic– Both… Between the two…

• All the ‘polishing’ should lead somewhere• Time to step back and assess honestly if you

are ready to begin applying for jobs

Today’s Session

• Is about:– Assessing whether your CV will get you to where

you want to be– Working out how to improve it and prepare

yourself better for your career• Is not about:

– Helping you work out what to do with your life

Today’s Topics

• Reviewing your CV - is it fit for purpose?

• Adding value without losing sleep

• Selling yourself, not your soul

Your CV – Fit for purpose?

• Take a few minutes to review your CV• Jot down a few words to describe how you

feel about it• What are you proud of?• What do you worry about?

You and your CV

• It can be frightening to summarise yourself!– ‘But I’m so much more than this’– ‘Have I done so little?’

• At this stage, your CV often sets the tone for your professional reputation

• One size does not fit all – find the layout to suit you

General Principles for a CV• Bones not flesh• See it through the reader’s eyes

– What is important to them?– What is the first thing they will see?– Never send identical CVs out to different jobs

• Keep the layout clear– Dates– Qualification/job title before uni/employer– Divide relevant and less relevant work experiences if

appropriate

Academic CV• Education

– PhD title, supervisor, expected submission or viva date

• Academic work experience– Combined

teaching/research if not much

– Separate research and teaching if possible

• Publications– Published– Under review– In preparation

• Conference and seminar presentations

• Other work experience, language skills, IT etc.

Non-Academic CV• Skills/Professional Profile

– Optional– Useful if you have done a lot

before your PhD– Leads the reader

• Professional Experience– Relevant work experience– Or, work experience made

relevant

• Education– PhD title, supervisor,

expected submission/viva date

• IT and Language Skills • Other Professional

Experience• Optional

– Publications, seminars– Voluntary work

Skills ProfileCommunications Specialist

– Write reports, speeches, press releases for wide range of audiences– Experienced spokesman and media liaison…

Fundraiser – Experienced fundraising strategy developer…

Programme Manager– Directed outreach programmes for small NGO with international offices– Designed and implemented programmes with external accountability…

HIV/AIDS, Health and Development – Principal expertise drawn from extensive professional experience in Africa– Practitioner and researcher…

Whatever your career choice

• Academic CV length – as long as it takes• Non-academic CV length – 2-3 pages max

• Present information so its relevance is clear• When describing a job or experience, show

skills as well as achievements

For example…

Spouse Employment Adviser, Foreign and Commonwealth Office– Delivered career guidance in one-to-one and

group scenarios– Designed and wrote handbooks and web material

for guidance purposes– Trained employment advisers in other foreign

ministries– Built international spouse employment network

So your CV looks OK, but…

What does it actually say about you?Will employers feel something is missing?Are there gaps you want to fill?

Your CV is probably much better than you think! Job specifications are rarely as rigid as they seemThink positively about what you add as a PhD, as

opposed to what you are missing

Polishing is all that is required

• No.1 priority – FINISH YOUR THESIS!• Don’t overburden yourself with commitments• Small activities can add a lot• Allocate limited but regular time out of the

week for purposeful activity

• If your CV needs a lot more added, don’t try to do it all now!

So how can you add value without losing sleep?

Adding Academic value• Teaching

– UG dissertation supervision, tutoring• Research

– Seminar/conference presentations outside LSE, including quasi-academic venues

• Public profile – book reviews for journals – panels and workshops at think tanks– affiliations to research centres– memberships of relevant professional/sector associations– Build your network of academics

Adding Non-Academic value• Find non-academic outlets for your research

– Translate your work for stakeholders• Volunteer or intern with relevant organisations

– Manage your time carefully though– Be clear about what you will gain

• Build your network– Research related and/or professional futures

• Organisation open days/workshops/visits– Knowledge is power!

General value

• Audit your skills – do you need to improve or train in:– IT skills – Languages– Presentation skills

• Review, maintain and expand your network– Being known almost always helps!

Over to you

• Consider which areas you would like to work on

Also:• What opportunities have you already taken to

promote yourself professionally?• What opportunities have you ignored?• What opportunities could you create?

Kate who?

• How do you rate your professional profile at the moment?

• Make an inventory of your public identity:– Academic– Non-academic– Social– Voluntary

Chalk and Cheese

• How well does that inventory match your career goals?– Are you known academically outside LSE?– If you want to set up your own business, do

people in your network know?– If you want to move into an organisation, how

have you shown an interest in them?

Selling yourself, not your soul

• Work/volunteering/internships are not the only ways to promote what you offer

• Wealth of public and semi-public events available in all fields

• The rewards come in your network and your profile

• Be clear about which ‘you’ is being presented

Who am I?

• Important to have clear ways to describe yourself

• ‘I am a PhD student’ is not always the best place to start

• Project a future you – ‘I’m interested in…’• Use the business card activity to frame your

skills and expertise

Business Card (1)

Dr Kate Daubney

Writing Research EducationMusic in film and popular culture

Business Card (2)

Kate Daubney

Training design & deliveryProfessional development in Higher

Education

Business Card (3)

Dr Elsie Graduate

Fundraising - Budget management - Programme delivery -HIV/AIDS in West Africa

Over to you

• Have a go at the business card activity• Try an academic one, and a non-academic one• Finding ways to talk about yourself non-

academically can help with self-objectivity• Translate the business card into ‘introductory

sentences’ to use socially and professionally

Any Questions?

• Kate Daubney, PhD & Post-Doc Careers Adviser

• K.daubney@lse.ac.uk• 1-to-1 appointments, email guidance• www.lse.ac.uk/careers> Info for current

students > PhD students