New PhD Recruitment Event – 17th June 2009

I’ve kept this under wraps for a while in case it didn’t come off, but we’re now ready to launch the first

“PhD and Researcher Career Zone“

as part of our annual Graduate Recruitment Fair, and all researchers are invited.

On Wednesday 17th June, at the Armitage Centre (the University of Manchester sports centre in Fallowfield) we will have a small select band of employers who specifically want to promote themselves to PhDs and researchers. The aim is to allow you to talk directly to recruiters to find out:

• how they view PhDs and researchers
• examples of some of the jobs carried out by PhDs and researchers outside academia
• the skills which PhDs and researchers can offer to the workplace
• any current or potential future demand for PhDs and researchers in their organisation.

We’ll also have careers advice and information from “careers consultants with specialist knowledge of the PhD and researcher employment market” (OK, so far that’s me and Fiona Christie from Salford, though I’ve got feelers out for a couple more to join us).

Vitae, the national organisation which supports skills development for researchers will be there, and we’ll have information on how you can further increase your employability to make you even more attractive to potential employers.

This is the third day of our Pathways programme of careers events for researchers. However, whereas the other two days are only open to Manchester University researchers (and invited guests from other universities), this event is open to all.

Who will be there? So far we’ve had confirmations from:

• AMEC Group Ltd
• AREVA T&D
• BG Group
• Cabinet Office
• Doosan Babcock
• National Nuclear Laboratory
• National Physical Laboratory
• Tessella
• EDIT: Astra Zeneca, Invitrogen, Detica added since this blog post originally written

… and now some of you have rolled your eyes, saying “But I’m not interested in any of them”. However, before you click away, here are some reasons to consider attending:

• Recruiters often have experience of more than one employer, and should be able to give you an insight into the recruiter’s mindset and views of PhDs, irrespective of their current employerFor example, one of our careers consultants was a recruiter for PwC, but her knowledge doesn’t stop at finance, as she previously worked in HR in the aerospace/engineering sector – HR is a very transferable occupation, and many of us have worked in a range of sectors
• There are over 70 other recruiters exhibiting in the main area of the Graduate Fair on Wednesday, including Accenture, Bloomberg, Deloitte, Qinetiq, Rolls Royce, Shell and a whole range of Government employers such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HM Treasury, and lots more – nothing to stop you going and talking to them as well.You might also be interested in the other day of the Graduate Recruitment Fair. On Thursday 18th June, we have a second day of the main fair with different exhibitors, but there won’t be any PhD Zone.

One very important caveat though is that not all employers in the PhD Zone will have immediate PhD vacancies, but then you’re not all looking for a job to start immediately. However, they all have sufficient interest in PhD recruits to come to Manchester and talk to you directly – and why would they do that if they weren’t genuinely keen to recruit PhDs?

To be honest, when we first dreamed this up, we must have been foolhardy/brave/ludicrously optimistic to launch a new recruitment event in the midst of a recession, particularly aimed at a market where it’s notoriously difficult to get employers interested in sufficient numbers to make it worthwhile.

However, luckily we decided to laugh in the face of recession, and with the support of the Vitae North West Hub, we’re up and running – come and support us.

If you’re got any questions about the event, just add a comment to this post and I’ll reply.