What employers want
More than 70% of employers would welcome more applications from doctoral researchers. (Source: Vitae, "Recruiting Researchers", a survey of employer practice, 2009)
See at a glance the competencies sought by employers.
Messages and attitudes
Below you will find some common messages and attitudes from employers, taken from a survey conducted by the University of Reading in 2009.
(Source: University of Reading Employer Survey, 2009)
Further sources of information:
Careers Fairs and other events
Employers regularly visit our campus and other locations which might be convenient. Take a look at the Careers Service Event Diary to find out what is available.
Virtual Fairs
These are increasingly common and might be more convenient for you. An example from the Institute For Computational Fluid Dynamics (ICFD) is illustrative.
Job advertisements
These can be revealing about the attributes sought by an employer. For example, a current vacancy for a Lecturer in Metabonomics at the University of Reading (March 2010 ) seeks:
The applicant will be expected to conduct human studies and supervise other researchers. The ability to attract funding from research councils and other funding bodies (especially industry) is vital. The successful applicant will play a major role in the future development and success of the FMSU group.
Nationally published reports and surveys
These provide insight into what employers want from researchers. For example, the Vitae report Recruiting Researchers, a survey of employer practice conducted in 2009, states:
"Employers ranked doctoral graduates' competence highest in data analysis and problem solving. Next came their drive and motivation, project management and interpersonal skills. Leadership and commercial awareness were ranked lowest relative to the others."
A survey of employer attitudes to postgraduate researchers, conducted by the University of Sheffield in August 2006, states:
"For the majority of respondents, the key benefits of recruiting postgraduates included: specialist knowledge, research/analytical skills, future potential and maturity. This picture has not changed significantly in the last five years. What does seem to have changed, however, is the steady increase in PhDs going into small and medium-sized companies. Recruiters in these companies praise these recruits highly in terms of their specialist skills and ability to move quickly within the organizations."
Another key piece of advice from the Univeristy of Sheffield survey is:
"Encourage researchers to explore commercial awareness through industrial placements, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, employer-led skill workshops and research-specific seminars in areas such as grant writing, intellectual property and budgeting."
A full set of comments and advice from your recent peers was collected in the University of Reading survey in 2009. Two appendices are particularly useful: Appendix 2: The Job Hunting Process and Appendix 3: Advice to other Researchers
