Careers in academia

Does anyone have any experience they can share with regard to working in academia? What sort of jobs are available? How easy/hard is it to get into? What sort of personality traits suit an academic career? Is it a good choice?

I'm starting an MSc in October in social research after which I might persue a PhD, although not earning for those three years is a big off put considering I'm 23 already. But once you've completed a PhD, how easy is it to secure an academic career?

Any views greatly welcomed.

I live in the UK by the way, if that makes a difference.

I am an academic in the UK, although in a quite different field to yours (neuroscience), although I have previously been in Humanities (music) and Social Science (psychology) faculties, so I have some experience accross the board.

In terms of how easy/hard it is to into, it depends on the field, and frankly on how good you are. A motivated top quality student interested in becoming an academic, and willing to go where the work is (including abroad if necessary, though it will not always be the case) will always be able to get into the field. On the other hand, an unmotivated poor quality student has no chance whatsoever.

The usual path in is a Master's degree (most commonly MSc or MA), PhD and then Post Doc (Research Fellowship). The challenge is to get funding for these, and the availability of that varies considerably by field (Humanaties is especially difficult on the whole).

While doing your postgrad study, and especially when you become a Post Doc, the emphasis in terms of career must be on one thing: publications. This is, unfortunately (in some ways at least), the academic currency, and there is a very strong correlation between volumne of publication (quantity as much as quality, I'm sorry to say) and job offers.

So, if you do well at your study, get a PhD with a respected supervisor, preferably funded otherwise you'll struggle to make ends meet, and then publish a few papers in peer-reviewed journals as a Post Doc (and preferably even one or two during your PhD), as well as delivering at conferences, then your chances are good.

The other factor in getting jobs in academia, as elsewhere, is networking. A large proportion of advertised academic jobs are actually unofficial in-house jobs, i.e. the post is created by grant funding with a specific person in mind, and is advertised nominally (because they have to be), but in fact is not really open to anyone else. If your PhD supervisor has grant money available, that's an obvious first step on the academic ladder to be a Post Doc. Alternatively, meeting and getting to know relevant people at conferences increases your job prospects somewhat.

In terms of traits, ability to organise yourself and work to deadlines without too much care about what specific hours are being worked is obviously essential. Similarly, the ability to work with other people, and create opportunities for yourself really does make a difference in terms of career success. It's about managing people and projects as much as the ability to actually do the academic part of the job, which is taken as read for all academics.

And finally: if you decide to go for it, good luck and I'm sure you'll enjoy it! It's not an ideal world by any means, but it does have an awful lot going for it, and is rarely dull.

Thanks karvala that was useful.

I'm not sure whether I would consider myself top quality; I guess it's hard to know without knowing what the competition is like. I did win student of the year for one year of my degree though and I came out with a first. I really enjoy writing, analysing, criticising and thinking about things. The trouble is I'd say my skills would be lacking when it comes to the teaching side. Is teaching a required part of being an academic? Could you not just do research instead? I don't know if I'd have the confidence to take seminar classes for example.

What does delivering at conferences entail? What happens at a conference?

Thanks again

The previous person's advice is absolutely correct!

I am an academic myself. Teaching is not important as being a researcher, as funding for the project depends on the quality and quantity of research publication. Of course, being a good teacher is important to have, but it can develop over time if you have little experience.

If you are unsure about starting a PhD, then you might want to talk to other current PhD students for advice.

Remember, doing a PhD is not for everyone and it doesn't mean to those good students, but more of an overall person with good organisation skills, persistence in seeking the solution or ideas beyond the current work etc.

Good luck.

Thanks karvala that was useful.

 

I'm not sure whether I would consider myself top quality; I guess it's hard to know without knowing what the competition is like. I did win student of the year for one year of my degree though and I came out with a first. I really enjoy writing, analysing, criticising and thinking about things. The trouble is I'd say my skills would be lacking when it comes to the teaching side. Is teaching a required part of being an academic? Could you not just do research instead? I don't know if I'd have the confidence to take seminar classes for example.

 

What does delivering at conferences entail? What happens at a conference?

 

Thanks again

If you won student of the year one year and came out with a first, I think we can safely assume you're a top quality student (and congrats!). That will help with the funding considerably. Just make sure you get a Distinction in the MSc as well, and you should be well placed for PhD funding, which is quite respectable these days in the UK (something around £1100 pcm tax free).

As puppy says, teaching is not as important (at least in terms of getting a job) as research ability in HE (apologies to any undergrads that read that!). Lectureships of various grades still form the majority of academic posts in the UK and US, but there are an ever-growing number of research-only posts. If you do have to teach, chances are you'll get at least some training first (of variable quality in my experience), and I can promise you that you'll find it easier, and be better at it, than you think you will. Most people dread teaching at first, and in the end surprisingly most actually don't mind it (apart from the marking, which is almost universally hated, and the preparation time needed to do a good job).

Delivering at a conference means presenting a paper (in reality, a Powerpoint/Flash presentation is most common; you shouldn't literally read a paper you've written although some people do) in front of your colleagues. It can be an intimidating experience at first, as you're presenting in front of world experts who will spot anything that's questionable, and raise any difficult questions they can think of, but you get used to it, and it's a necessary part of the job. It does give you useful feedback on your work, which can be invaluable at its best, and at the conference you'll also get a chance to see what the opposition (um, I mean your colleages ) are up to.

Thanks for your input Karvala it's really helpful I'm pretty sure this is the path I'm going to take, I couldn't picture myself doing anything else. I'm going to give everything for my MSc and see where I go from there.

I work in academia and have a PhD, but I chose not to run my own research laboratory. After several years of working in other people's laboratories as a postdoctoral fellow and then research associate, I switched career paths and now work in academic/hospital research, but helping researchers and clinicians with their grants, reports, program promotional material etc. I no longer do research and instead play an administrative role. I love what I do now much more than being at a laboratory bench and I am learning so much. In the type of work I do now, I don't present at conferences (which is good for me because I am not comfortable giving seminars) but I occasionally attend conferences to learn things that are helpful for my job...for example, I am being sent to a two day conference this week which will be helpful for a new project I will be working on.

My point is, with a PhD you don't necessarily have to choose a research/teaching career path. There are other options open in which a PhD can be a real plus.