Tips on applying for PhDs April 6, 2011
Posted by Jeff Riley in : Careers Advice, careers, courses, postgraduate , add a commentOne of my colleagues, Terry Jones, has spent the last few years providing support to King’s College London Phd students. I got some tips from him for those applying for arts and humanities PhDs. Here’s what he told me
- “You will need an area of specialism. Even when you are on well trodden ground such as Byron there may be angle that hasn’t been covered. So for example one of our students has taken a niche topic like ‘embarassment’ in Victorian literature and is studying ‘blushing’ as an aspect of that. To come up with that kind of angle requires a level of knowledge about what is going on in your field and what has already been done.
- “You will need to be clear about why you are interested in the topic. Deeper than that you will need to provide evidence of the intellectual underpinning below the interest – demonstrating a relationship to the theory.
- “You will need to have an idea who might supervise the PhD. This is crucial in many ways and it would be good to find someone you will be able to build a relationship with. It’s fair to say that academics can interpret the supervisor role in different ways. Some will have undergone voluntary training in how to be a supervisor and others may feel they already know what is needed because they are experts in their field. You won’t need to have settled on a supervisor at the application stage but you should have got some conversations going and the amount of time and research this stage takes shouldn’t be underestimated.
- “You will also need to have opened up dialogue with the department that will be considering your application. They would expect and welcome these kind of conversations and, of course, they may well have approached potential applicants in the first place. You need to be talking to them about your draft proposals for the research area. At this early stage it doesn’t have to be so precise. Really as vague as pointing to an unexplored region on a map.”
I asked Terry whether the kind of advice we give to students applying for Masters bears any resemblance to that given to PhD applicants.
“Not really. At Masters level it can sometimes be important that students understand how the Masters fits in (or not) to a career destination. With PhD applicants the default assumption is that the destination is an academic research career.
“Similarly the skills agenda doesn’t show up much in PhD applications. Even highly relevant skills such as research, independent working and communication don’t tend to get scrutinised. It may be more of a feature if you are applying for a funded PhD when the awarding institution may produce specific guidelines. What you will need to demonstrate though is a willingness to be flexible in the direction your research takes. By definition we are talking about relatively unexplored territory and you need to show a capacity to navigate around an area as things are uncovered. Your supervisor ideally is someone who can then help you as things unfold supplying insight, support and even useful contacts and lines of enquiry. Your draft research question probably won’t survive till the end of the programme . By the end of the MPhil stage which is typically 12 to 16 months in depending on the institution your area of research will have clarified.
“There really isn’t a specific CV format for PhD applications. Applicants might make sure though that their autonomous research skills are clearly evidenced. Ensuring that their breadth and depth of reading around their proposed area of study is clear. Engagement needs also to be demonstrated in other ways. For example conferences attended and key players connected with. They wouldn’t expect any publications in academic journals from Masters level students. Material published in anything other than peer reviewed journals –student magazines, for example, wouldn’t carry any weight.
You can read Terry’s blogs on PhD matters at http://kclgradschool.wordpress.com/
Other useful site include
Careers Tagged search term ‘phd’ http://bit.ly/gA5MPv
FCO Internships 2011 (women only) March 28, 2011
Posted by Jeff Riley in : Careers Advice, Government, careers, internships, politics, work experience , add a commentMarissa Bell is a third year Geography student. Last year she did an internship programme with the FCO called the ‘Partner University Placement Scheme’ (known as PUPS – details at www.partneruniversities.co.uk). The scheme is being advertised again for the summer of 2011 (female, penultimate year undergraduates only and closing date 6 April) and we talked to her about her experience
How difficult was it to secure the placement? Well the first stage was a fairly thorough, competency based, application form – a bit like a graduate recruitment application. After that I had to take online aptitude tests and finally, after security vetting, I was offered the position. I was delighted there wasn’t an interview as I was on holiday in the States. In fact I completed the application form when I was recovering from jet lag after arriving in the USA.
What is the placement for? The PUPS scheme is to encourage under-represented groups to apply for the Fast Stream and hopefully end up in the diplomatic stream but other government departments as well.
What did you expect from the programme? Naively I thought I could progress from the scheme to be considered for direct recruitment after the programme but I soon realised that it was really a good preparation for the Fast Stream which I would still have to go through.
What did you do on the placement? I was in the ‘Protocol Directorate’ which looks after overseas diplomatic missions in the UK, they deal with overseas visits by foreign heads of state and even Royal Weddings! The kind of things I did included administration. This meant drafting letters to embassies and other diplomatic missions about things such as diplomatic immunity and rights to stay for diplomat’s children. I dealt with the database registration of new mission staff and issuing ID cards for them. I also spend a day with the visits section of the Directorate which meant I accompanied the Secretary General of OECD on a UK visit. This was great – I was driven around to Treasury, Parliament and 11 Downing Street and we were greeted by David Cameron!
Then there was preparation for the Fast Stream. This involved interview training, a review of the competencies needed and a chance to do a group presentation to a board of FCO directors.
What was it like? Incredibly enlightening. It shattered some preconceptions. For example, I wasn’t actually surrounded by middle class white men. There was a really diverse range of people. Different cultures, ethnic backgrounds. People were incredibly friendly as well. I thought they would be distant and intimidating but it wasn’t like that. I felt very welcomed and supported.
What did you learn? Well I realised that there was a high level of cooperation between the FCO and diplomatic missions. This was also true of the different departments of the FCO as well. Lots of support and sharing of information.
Did it make you want to apply to the Fast Stream? Yes. It made me feel I would be able to fit in there and that it was a supportive and friendly environment. I also realised it would be a challenging place to work, considering the range of things they have to deal with – everything from the drugs trade to climate change. It made me a better candidate because I had greater awareness of the FCO culture and the range of issues they deal with. The preparation also helped me realise what I needed to focus on in my application.
What advice would you give to applicants? Make sure you get your application checked early – don’t forget you only have a two week window to apply in. The Careers Service is the obvious place for this. Check the recruitment process and if they are still using aptitude tests then make sure you practice because it made a difference for me. If you are successful make the most of your time there. For example I was able to secure another internship with the British Embassy in Zagreb by being proactive and getting advice and support from your FCO colleagues. They encouraged me to write to the Ambassador directly – I was impressed when he wrote back within an hour
We beat Google: No, really March 18, 2011
Posted by Jeff Riley in : Careers Advice, Careers Resources, careers, careers help , add a commentIt’s not often anyone can say ‘Google’s great but we return better results’ but I’ve been looking at our careers search engine ‘Careers Tagged’ and I think you should too. Say, for example, on ‘conflict’. Google will throw up 152 million results starting with the usual Wikipedia definition of conflict and news about a rock band called conflict and a pot pourri of other stuff. Interesting but not especially a direct line to organisations that have something to offer those seeking a career in conflict.
Try the same search term at careerstagged.co.uk and you’ll get far fewer (or, depending on your perspective, more manageable) results (about 60) . They do, though, include really useful links. For example to organisations such as Peace Brigades International who offer monitor roles in conflict zones and the Quaker Peaceworker internships (one year paid roles in peacebuilding organisations). Think tanks and research institutes feature as does the less well-known ( to most students anyway) defence industry section of Ernst & Young . There’s a great link to The European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) – the platform of European NGOs, networks of NGOs and think tanks active in the field of peacebuilding. It includes a list of their member organisations and publications. You also get a chance to get a handy print out of all the results and links to further resources. Most of the links have been reviewed by careers staff and selected to be of relevance to our students. They will flag up the reason why they have been selected. For example, because they offer entry level roles, internships or lead to further information. So c’mon Google make us an offer!
