18 months ago I was lost. I was a principle investigator who realised I no longer wanted to continue in the academic system, but I had little understanding of opportunities in the private sector and a limited network outside of academia. I felt stuck.
However, with some investment of time in career research and networking, I figured it out – what I wanted and how to achieve it. With a bit of trial and error, I formed an actionable career plan, landed an opportunity and now find myself in my bright new tomorrow, optimistic for my future.
For the first time in my life I now have a 5-year career plan comprising an actionable and achievable set of objectives that will provide a prosperous future.
Here I share with you the 7-step approach to career development I used (Figure 1). If you implement this plan in a stepwise manner you can achieve your career goals (without the trial and error). Each of the steps must be performed in the order indicated.
If you’re unsure of your future in academic research, working through this 7-step program will take you from your current situation of uncertainty to one of clarity and focus with an actionable career plan (Figure 1).
Figure 1: 7-Step Career Development Program for Biomedical Researchers. Over the coming weeks I’ll explore each step in detail so you can determine your own actionable career plan.
An Outline of your 7-Step Actionable Career Program
Step 1 (phase 1 – Establishment phase): Establishing core values/strengths
In this first step you have to consolidate your values, needs, and desires to identify careers that fit with your core values. This is an essential first step because without it you won’t be able to highlight career paths you’ll enjoy and that will reward you effectively:
- Evaluate what you need out of life to keep you ticking –learning, discovery, money, status, flexible work, creativity, practical skills, helping others? Whatever it is (and this’ll be multifaceted) you need to get really specific. I used a series of exercises to help me do this (more of this in future posts)
- Next define your resources in terms of free time, financial capacity, personal commitments and the extensiveness of your support network. How much capacity do you have for retraining, salary dips and travel etc.? In the same vein, consider your strengths. What is it you’re really good at, what is it that comes naturally to you and that you bring to the table?
Step 2 (phase 1 – Establishment phase): Identifying suitable roles
Once you’ve solidified and listed the things that make you tick, you can start to identify those careers that incorporate your core values and play to your strengths. The aim here is to cast the net wide – list everything that fits with at least one of your values/strengths. You don’t need extensive hours of researching this. The bigger the list at this point the better, as it provides you with more options moving forward with the plan:
- Think of roles that are obvious for researchers (lab work in corporations, scientific communications, policy, consultancy, patent law etc.) and those that aren’t (software developer, clinician, environmental consultant, police detective, landscape architect etc.). Think outside the box! Yet limit it to roles you think you’d enjoy
- Once you have an extensive list, it’s time to narrow it down to career paths that are realistic for your current situation. Be brutal; pair down the list to those options that align best with your core values/strengths and are feasible given your current situation. Ideally, aim for 3 options at most (certainly no more than 5)
Step 3 (phase 2 – Research phase): Researching possible options
Next move on to researching your focused list of 1-5 options.
- Academic Principle Investigator might well be in your list. If this is the case, be realistic about your chances. If you want to work at world-leading institutions and retain a limited teaching load, your CV should be competitive for fellowship funding
- Now it’s time to hit Google. Take each of your options in turn and focus on the following criteria:
- Salary and benefits
- Working conditions
- Job opportunities and personal development
- Location
- Impact on personal/social life
- Personal interest
- Company/industry ethics
Based on this research, list your options in order of appeal (number 1 being most favourable)
Step 4 (phase 2 – Research phase): Networking in your industry of choice
Taking your number 1 option from step 3, start networking. Although this can be daunting, it’s vitally important. I’ll provide advice on later posts on effective networking.
- Prepare your LinkedIn page to reflect a profile of someone who has skills and interests in the industry you’re researching; have all relevant qualifications, skills and experience outlined. If you are needing to retrain first at least list skills that are useful for that industry (more on this is later posts)
- Use LinkedIn to connect with people in your chosen industry. Not just those doing the job your interested in, but also recruiters and even industry leaders (if you can). Connect with them, introduce yourself and briefly explain your interest in their industry (2-3 sentences at most). Hopefully they’ll connect with you and possibly open up a conversation that can be taken further. The ultimate aim is to establish a one-on-one conversation with those inside the industry. This will provide you with expert advice on what life is like in that career, how to break-in and possibly even a referral if appropriate
The information gained in this step is invaluable and will enable you to cement if this is the correct career for you. If not, don’t panic. Just return to the start of this step, taking option 2 from step 3 and repeat. Repeat down your list until you find your ideal career path (you may have to repeat step 3 until this is achieved).
Step 5 (phase 3 – Consolidation phase): Career planning
Once you’ve completed step 4 you’re now in the ideal position to create a 5-year career development plan.
- Using the information gathered in the research phase (steps 3 and 4), establish where you would like to be after 5 years in your industry of choice. Keep it realistic. If you’re planning to start a fresh in a large industry, it would be difficult to make the executive level within 5 years (perhaps you should incorporate getting an MBA into your plan)!
- Working back from your 5-year point, connect the milestone dots. Where do you need to be at 4, 3, 2, and 1 years? What do you need to do to get to each level? What experience do you need that you currently don’t possess and how are you going to get it? If your decision is to transition into a professionally qualified career (clinician, dentist, architect, lawyer, chartered engineer etc.), it could be that your 5-year career plan consists mostly (or entirely) of training milestones, which is fine
Step 6 (phase 3 – Consolidation phase): Preparing competitive applications
Now that you’ve got your industry of choice and a 5-year career development plan, get down to the nitty-gritty of applying for suitable jobs/training courses.
- Identify suitable opportunities that will enable you to complete the first year of your career development plan. This could be entry-level jobs or training courses (academic or not)
- Note key words used in the job/course advert and work them into your application (CV, resume, application form and covering letter). If you’re lucky you might even get support with this from the contacts you’ve developed during step 4. Alternatively you could choose to pay for support with this from experts (career coaches, industry experts, etc.)
Step 7 (phase 3 – Consolidation phase): Landing an exciting opportunity
In step 6, you prepared yourself to shine in the interview. Some career paths involve additional testing too, but if you have completed steps 1-6 well, your prospects are good.
- Preparation for the interview is key. You should by now have a good idea of the industry as a whole and the position you are applying for. Know how that specific organization is different and know precisely what you bring to them
- Be prepared for disappointment. You may have to interview several times before you land an opportunity, but don’t lose heart. Again you can hire help to assist with interview performance if you are struggling. But persistence is the key
When you find yourself in the position of being offered an exciting opportunity, the hard work doesn’t necessarily stop there. If the offer is for a role in a commercial setting, negotiate a starting salary and benefits package. This could have huge implications for your earning potential moving forward with your 5-year plan and beyond.
When the offer is accepted it’s time to celebrate. Stay focused as you implement the remainder of your plan and continue to develop your exciting new life.
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