Exploring Options

This section lists useful sources of information to help you explore different careers in depth and decide which ones could be right for you.

There is no single way to find out about careers, but one approach is to read occupational information, do further research into particular areas and then find out more from people in those careers.

Your PhD - what next?

As a basic starting point, you might want to download a copy of our information sheet available on the right hand menu.

Vitae Website - what do researchers do?

This section on Vitae’s website provides access to a number of resources which illustrate the wide range of options open to doctoral graduates. As well as providing basic statistical information on the status of doctoral graduates 6 months after graduation, these pages include: longitudinal studies exploring what graduates were doing three or four years after obtaining a research degree; detailed general career profiles of over 40 graduates and profiles of 30 graduates who are self-employed or running their own business

Graduate case studies

The Graduate Case Studies section provides a database of case studies from graduates (including doctoral graduates) offering a realistic insight into the world of work. In addition, graduates provide advice and comments about their experience since leaving university.

Information Resources

The "Careers in..." section of Information Resources provides links to the websites of a wide range of professional bodies and other information sources. The Information Resources pages also provides links to employer databases.

Explore Types of Jobs

This section of the Prospects website includes a large database with details of graduate-level jobs. These include information on: the content of the job: entry requirements; training salary and conditions, typical employers and sources of vacancies. Most of the profiles are also accompanied by case studies of graduates currently working in the relevant occupation.

Beyond the PhD (an Academic career)

This site, which was developed by the University of Manchester provides detailed information on: the nature of an academic career; different career paths within academia; job-seeking strategies and the recruitment and selection process.

This website is aimed primarily at researchers in the arts and humanities but some of the profiles of doctoral graduates will be useful to researchers from other disciplines as well.