Supporting your career ambitions
Develop your professional skills and career profile in a supportive and stimulating environment.
Preparing for success
Whether you see your future in a research, industry, or beyond, we’ll offer you the support you need to achieve your ambitions.
Boosting your skills
Our award-winning Building Research and Innovation Capacity Team (BRIC) provides a range of courses and workshops to equip you with the skills, attributes and knowledge to thrive as an independent researcher. These cover four broad areas:
- knowledge and intellectual abilities
- personal effectiveness
- research governance and organisation
- engagement, influence and impact.
You can also access workshops on topics including presentation skills, project management and networking, and participate in events to share your research.
Living in the beautiful city of York was a wonderful, memorable experience. Thanks to the York PhD training, seminars, conferences and excellent supervisors, I received a structured pathway to undertaking my future research. I now serve as an assistant professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing and my research has been published in journals like Economics Letters.
Weijie (PhD Economics, 2019), Assistant Professor in Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing
Professional Development Plan
You’ll be encouraged to produce a Professional Development Plan. It allows constructive conversations about the skills, behaviours and attitudes you want to develop as a researcher with your supervisor and Thesis Advisory Panel.
As a research graduate, the skills you develop during your studies are highly valued in a wide variety of industries. Even if your future work isn’t classified as research, you’ll find the research techniques you’ll learn will always be useful.
I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities I’ve gained through my PhD. Conferences have taken me around the world and collaborations with industry have given me an insight into other ways of conducting research. I'm excited to be working on taking my PhD research into industry - to see my work contribute to products that are on the market would be amazing!
Nicola (PhD Joint Maths and Physics)
Teaching opportunities
From lab demonstrations to leading seminars and marking assessments, there are many opportunities for research students at York to teach part-time. Teaching can develop and enrich an array of transferable professional skills. You will also have access to development opportunities: from introductory training through to courses to enable you to secure professional recognition as a university teacher.
As a Graduate Teaching Assistant I gained experience in holding seminars, teaching lectures, marking and providing feedback. I found teaching really rewarding and I gained a lot of transferable skills in presenting information and encouraging discussion.
Ro Smith (PhD Philosophy)
Careers support
Our Careers and Placements team includes a dedicated postgraduate careers consultant. They provide information, advice and support as well as access to a variety of recruiters through careers fairs and networking events. Our enterprise team can also offer guidance and help you find funding to start a business. With a rich programme of networking events, you can make connections with established alumni from a range of sectors.
Lifelong community
When you leave us, you'll be part of a global alumni community through York for Life, our global network of over 130,000 York graduates.
Our lifelong community gives you access to continued careers support and networking opportunities with fellow York graduates.
Study or work abroad
Depending on your research area, you may be able to apply for a study or work placement at one of our partner universities or host organisations. There are also opportunities to immerse yourself in a two-week interdisciplinary academic and cultural programme at an international partner university. These global opportunities can offer a life-changing experience which will enrich your study, give you a new perspective in your field of expertise and allow you to make valuable professional connections.
Our Global Opportunities team can advise and support you with study and work abroad opportunities.
Languages for all
We also offer free language and intercultural courses to help you prepare for a period of work or study abroad and a number of general and bespoke language courses, from beginner to advanced level.
I’ve had the opportunity to teach undergraduate students as a Graduate Teaching Assistant since the beginning of my PhD. My teaching has substantially improved while I was doing research. I also gained experience of meeting people at conferences both inside and outside the UK. All these experiences are naturally accompanied by an enhanced academic maturity that makes me feel more confident about my future career.
Alexandre Hefren, PhD Mathematics