It was a pleasure to facilitate the opening session of the Beyond the PhD: Career Readiness Series with ADVANCE CRT (Research Ireland Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies). The researchers come from a range of universities including UCC, MTU, Maynooth University, TU Dublin and Trinity College Dublin.

They brought fantastic insight, curiosity and openness as we explored motivators, values, strengths and transferable skills, and how their PhD experience translates into real career opportunities – both within and beyond academia.

The multidisciplinary nature of the group made the discussion even richer, highlighting just how versatile and impactful PhD‑level skills truly are. I’m excited to continue supporting them throughout the remainder of the programme as they shape their next career steps.

Thanks so much to Luis Gómez de Membrillera and the ADVANCE CRT team for all the hard work and effort in putting this programme together.

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🛑 Last Friday, our PhD research community funded by Research Ireland hit pause for the morning to reflect, recalibrate, and think strategically about what comes after the PhD, with the brilliant career development coach Lorraine Shine facilitating the session 💬

🤔 We kicked things off with a bit of self-awareness and honest introspection, giving our PhD researchers space to reflect upon their values, motivators, strengths, and transferable skills and how these often-underestimated assets play a big role in career satisfaction and long-term impact ✨

From there, we got practical. Together, we explored how those values and skills translate into real roles across academia and industry, unpacking how core PhD competencies, such as critical thinking, project management, communication, data analysis, leadership, and resilience, translate into day-to-day work across NGOs, civil society, the public sector and state agencies, industry R&D, and academic research.

Importantly, the conversation went well beyond the “classic” career pathway 👀 We looked at a wide range of options, including:

* traditional academic routes
* research-adjacent roles
* industry-focused R&D positions
* policymaking, public bodies and civil society initiatives
* and other professional pathways that sit slightly off the beaten track but are no less impactful

By bringing both STEM and AHSS perspectives into the mix, the discussion really reflected the breadth of our multidisciplinary research community 🧠

This session is part of our Beyond the PhD: Career Readiness Series—a targeted online training programme supporting PhD researchers as they approach the final stages of their journey. The goal is simple: to help them think strategically about their next steps and make informed career decisions that truly recognise the value of the skills, experience, and effort invested during a PhD 🎓

Next week, we’re tackling another essential (and often daunting!) topic: networking, personal branding, and making LinkedIn work for you 🤝 Looking forward to continuing the conversation and supporting our researchers as they plan what comes next.

Onwards and upwards! 🆙

Previous post It’s January and I’m excited to be designing content for several career development and employability programmes within the higher education sector. Next post Last Friday saw our PhD researchers continue on their training with career development coach, Lorraine Shine. This training aims to prepare our researchers for the next stages of their careers as they come to the end of their PhDs. This week’s session centred on Personal Branding, Networking, and LinkedIn (so be prepared to see a lot more from ADVANCE Researchers on here!)