Did you know that an Academic Cover Letter is essential when applying for academic jobs? In the following article, I will share with you why you definitely need one and what you should include. First things first. Why would you bother with a cover letter when you have already included…>
Academic Careers
How to Become a Lecturer
There are numerous routes to get into the field of academia. In the following article, I will share with you some invaluable insights into the traditional way of how to become a lecturer. Qualifications If you wanted to become a lecturer fifty years ago, a post-graduate qualification was not necessary. A…>
Become a Researcher – 5 Skills You Need
I have cherry-picked five skills you need to become a researcher for those who are aspiring to step into the field of academic research.
Five Skills You Need to Become a Lecturer in Higher Education
Many of the articles on the jobs.ac.uk Career Advice site focus on tailoring your experience and describing the needs of employers. In this article, I will share with you five essential skills to develop if you would like to work as a Lecturer in Higher Education. If you are currently…>
Top Questions To Ask Your Mentor
Why have a mentor? Wherever you are on your career journey, from starting a PhD to your first permanent academic post or to taking those initial tentative steps as a manager, other people have been there before and are often willing to share their valuable advice and insight. They understand…>
What You Need to Know About Widening Participation
One of the most important government initiatives of the last few years is the Widening Participation agenda. As an academic jobseeker you will have to show that you know a great deal about the job you are applying for, not only about the institution where it is based but also…>
Writing Meeting Minutes
So you have been asked to take the minutes of a meeting? Here are some tips and techniques to do this effectively. 1. Before the meeting If the meeting is one of a series, check the previous minutes for the format expected. Most professional minutes are now in ‘short-form’, with…>
Collaboration, Co-operation and Contribution
Collaboration, cooperation and contribution are the necessary ingredients for a recipe of enriched learning, knowledge consolidation, and active participation in further and higher education. I often reflect on the ever-changing world of learning. Our educational institutions have become somewhat vast yet empty; popular yet disfavoured; necessary yet peripheral. Too often,…>
Report-Writing: Some Questions And Answers
Is the report really necessary? Not always. Could the report be replaced by a long-ish but informal email, by a phone conversation followed by a summary email, or by a short oral presentation at a departmental meeting, recorded by ‘bullet points’ in the meeting minutes? You may not have the…>
Seven Top Tips for Resilience
When faced with adversity, how do you cope? Do you adapt, spring back to action or feel stuck? Resilience means ‘bouncing back’ from a difficult experience, as defined by the American Psychological Society. In this article, I have selected for you seven resilience boosting tips. These have been tried and…>