Profile: Russell
Key facts
PhD discipline: History
Area(s) of work: BBC archives; university teaching
Year of graduation: 1998
Date of Interview: 02/06/2008
Year of graduation: 1998
Date of Interview: 02/06/2008
Timeline
Related resources:
Audio Clips
Russell recalls the preparation he undertook before academic job interviews.
Russell discusses the rewards of an academic job, and the potential difficulties of securing one.
Russell provides some background to his PhD and the work he did before embarking on it.
Russell admits to a general lack of career preparation, with the exception of his graduate teaching assistantship position.
Russell talks about the moments of intellectual insecurity he experienced during the PhD, his financial worries whilst searching for academic jobs.
Russell recalls the supportive attitudes of friends and family.
Russell explains why he didn’t seek any paid work during his PhD.
Russell remembers how the initial struggle to secure full-time employment came as a surprise.
Russell talks about encouraging his own students to think earlier and more broadly about careers after their PhD than he did.
Russell recollects how it took him a while to feel comfortable with teaching.
Russell revisits the stress of the final year of his PhD, when time and money were running out. He also recalls the manoeuvring he had to do for several years afterwards in order to secure academic work.
Russell describes his current role as a lecturer/reader in history. He talks about his work environment and practices and his future plans.
Russell considers that the benefits of networking for the sake of one's career are worth any initial sense of discomfort.
Russell feels that his PhD was worthwhile because it made an academic career possible, and was enjoyable in itself, though stressful too.
Russell recollects how his experiences of working outside HE made him want to return to academia.
Russell recalls how his supervisor encouraged him to publish articles and helped him to continue teaching after completing his PhD.
Russell briefly explains how he accumulated teaching experience during his PhD.
Russell discusses the alternative careers that he explored, such as school teaching and journalism.
Russell tells how his supervisor encouraged him to publish after his PhD.
Russell recollects his naivety about competition for academic posts.
Russell considers a few things he might do, if he had his PhD time over again.
