Profile: Katie
Key facts
PhD discipline: History
Area(s) of work: HR; primary school teaching; full-time mother; freelance writer
Year of graduation: 1999
Date of Interview: 23/06/2008
Year of graduation: 1999
Date of Interview: 23/06/2008
Timeline
How can the value of the PhD be translated for non-academic employers?The careers advisers discuss how employers may...
How feasible is it to build a career as a freelancer?The group discusses freelance work and compares...
Katie - advice Katie reflects on the value of her PhD, and the difficulties of envisaging work beyond the academic environment.
Katie - career building during the PhD Katie recalls the activities she undertook during the PhD, and explains her approach to managing her career.
Katie - did you anticipate an academic career?Katie briefly sums up her earlier attitude to the possibility of an academic career.
Katie - do you have any continuing interest in the area of your PhD research? Katie sums up her current attitude to her PhD research.
Katie - expectations of where the PhD might lead Katie reflects on her own and others’ expectations of her career after the PhD.
Katie - feelings about teaching and an academic career Katie describes her enjoyment of teaching and how this affected her career after the PhD.
Katie - finishing up and moving on Katie recalls applying for corporate graduate jobs as a PhD researcher, her experience on a graduate training scheme in human resources, and her decision to move into primary school teaching.
Katie - full-time mum, free-lance writer, HR manager, primary school teacherKatie discusses her current role, how it has evolved and how it may develop in the future.
Katie - has the PhD equipped you for the different roles that you have had?Katie examines the skills she feels she gained from her PhD and where she has subsequently used them.
Katie - how does the desire to have children affect career decisions?Katie looks at how family and career have influenced each other.
Katie - inspiration and influences Katie talks about support networks, family opinions of the different work she has done, and her own agency in those choices.
Katie - the importance of prestige in a post-PhD job Katie considers what is important for her in a career.