Pathways 2009 FAQs

With the Pathways programme of careers events for PhDs and research staff almost upon us, I thought I’d answer some of the questions we get asked (plus some I’ve made up, but you should probably be asking):

• Where can I find out what this is all about?
  Start here for the overview, and follow the links. Updates will be posted on the main page of this blog.
• Do I have to attend all three days?
  No, you can attend Friday 12th June, Monday 15th, Wednesday 17th or any combination, whatever suits your needs. Have a look at what’s on each day and decide. Last year we expected most people who turned up on Monday to have been on Friday – but that wasn’t the case. There were loads of people who specifically came just to the workshops (but the Monday session does follow on logically from the Friday career options panels).
• Who’s coming and what are the workshops you’re running?
  The latest information on panellists for Friday 12th, workshops for Monday 15th and employers for Wednesday 17th are now available on the weblinks indicated (details of panellists will probably require university login). The proviso is always that there will be last minute changes (cancellations and additions) and some details will still be sketchy eg where panellists haven’t yet had chance to return their CV to us.
• Can’t I just wait for the next lot of careers workshops, they’re always advertising them?
  Of course you can – but you probably won’t get these workshops. Instead of running our standard careers sessions (I’ll run more of those at other times of the year), we’ve arranged for some special one-off sessions from a range of external providers, many of whom you may never get the chance to see again – or if you do, you’ll have to wait until next year’s Pathways event.
• What if there’s no-one coming from the company I want to work for or the career I want to go into – is it worth it attending?
  If you just want information about a specific employer or job, you may not get that here. However, if you want to find out about other jobs you never knew existed, how to convince employers to take you, how real people have found jobs through non-standard methods and a whole load more, this will really help. Also, you may find out that one of the panellists has actually done the job/worked for the employer you want to know about in a previous role – then you can get inside info (and maybe even a contact) to help you.
• Why is there no-one from my discipline coming?
  We’ve found the panellists and other guest speakers and trainers from personal contacts, alumni, employer contacts, friends – frankly, we’d take pretty well anyone we could persuade, the only proviso being that all (or most) of them had to have a PhD.

  We have no way of finding, for example, a source of textiles specialists who did a PhD within the last 10 years who have gone into other careers – but if you know any, we’d love to talk to them for next year.

  Also, don’t assume that just because we don’t, for example, have someone in a job called “Archaeologist” that we don’t have any Archaeology PhDs attending – we’ve got at least three that I know of, including a manager at American Express!

• I haven’t registered – can I still attend?
  Yes (though see eligibility below). For Days 1 and 2, we need to know numbers beforehand to judge room sizes and numbers of lunches, but if you didn’t manage to click here and register (go on, it’s quick, easy, helps us and if you register before 10th June, you get entered into the prize draw) you can still attend. We’ll be registering people on Day 1 and 2 by their swipe card, so remember to bring yours. If you don’t have it with you, we’ll still be able to register you, but it will take a bit longer.

  For Day 3, no registration or swipe cards are required, just turn up (from any university).

• How do I make sure I get to the session/speak to the employer I want?
  This is a tricky one. For Days 1 & 2, with such large numbers of attendees and such a choice of sessions, it’s impossible to book in advance for specific sessions (we know from bitter experience that bookings bear little relation to who turns up on the day). To get the session you want, you’ll need to get there in good time.

  On Friday, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem, as rooms for the popular areas are large, and we’ve tried to run most sessions more than once during the day to accommodate clashes. Also, you may be able to have an informal one-to-one chat with a particular panellist when they’re not sitting on a panel.

  On Monday, some of the workshop sessions are only for smaller numbers, so you’ll have to get in early. However, we’ve tried either to run popular sessions in larger rooms, or more than once to give as many people as possible the chance to take part. For example, with “Negotiating Your Salary” (one that brings a glint to the eye of most people when I mention it) we’re running two smaller workshops, plus one larger lecture theatre session at the end of the afternoon so no-one should miss out. We’ll just have to see how it goes, but apologies if you don’t get the sessions you want on the day. Do let us know if there are any you wanted to get into but couldn’t, and that will give us our priorities for organising future training, hopefully before next year’s Pathways.

  On Wednesday, there are no sessions to attend, but if you want to get “quality time” with employers, especially those exhibiting in the main fair, I’d strongly recommend getting there close to the start (10.30am), while their minds are still fresh and their throats are intact (from personal experience of staffing this sort of stand). Please don’t leave it until the last minute as exhibitors are always desperate to pack up and if you turn up at 3.50pm, you are more likely to find that they’re sneakily dismantling their stands than to get extra time to talk to them. Good luck – it’s gonna be busy this year…

• I’m not a PhD or member of research staff at Manchester University – can I still come?
  Yes and no.

  Day 1 and Day 2 of Pathways are open to any University of Manchester PhD or member of research staff, plus “invited members only” from other North West universities (invitations have already been allocated).

  For Day 3 (the PhD Zone at the Graduate Recruitment Fair), anyone can attend from any university, without pre-registering, free of charge.

  If you’re a Masters student, the main Graduate Recruitment Fair is definitely for you. However, I’m afraid the PhD & Researcher events (including the PhD Zone in the Fair) aren’t designed for you – they focus specifically on careers for PhDs. However, if you decide to do a PhD at Manchester, you’ll be able to attend the events once you’re started.