June 3, 2015, by Lisa Chin
Coffee and Cake Session: What’s Next After PhD?
Devote yourself to an idea. Go make it happen. Struggle on it. Overcome your fears. Smile. Don’t forget ~ this is your dream. – unknown
A Coffee and Cake session was held on Friday, 29th May 2015. The session featured an informal yet interactive discussion on the opportunities available for postgraduate students after the completion of their PhD studies. A multidisciplinary panel of speakers – Professor Andy Chan [profile], Dr Seow Hsin-Vonn [profile], Dr Zainal Abidin [Senior Assistant Director of Tax Compliance, Department of Inland Revenue Malaysia] and Dr Tissa Chandesa [profile], were invited to provide their insights on what to expect after the completion of PhD studies. The session aimed to:
- discuss the opportunities the current postgraduates can consider after the completion of their studies;
- address the concerns that the postgraduates may have about their future undertakings.
From left to right – Dr Jiin Woei Lee (Facilitator), Professor Andy Chan, Dr Seow Hsin-Vonn, Dr Zainal Abidin and Dr Tissa Chandesa
The session started off with a brief self-introduction by each speaker and their journey from PhD to a career. One thing in common that was highlighted by the speakers is “perseverance” – an essential quality of a postgraduate. PhD life is described as a journey where mishaps are bound to happen no matter how much you try to avoid it and perseverance is one of the important attributes to surviving PhD. With this quality as one of their most treasured attributes, perseverance can surely contribute to career development in a long run.
We have compiled some useful advice given during the session and we hope that it will be beneficial to you.
- Doing an analysis requires a lot of research skills. This can be one of the fields postgraduate can look at for career pathway.
- PhD is made out of intelligence plus perseverance.
- The level of study may determine the level of job you will be doing, in view of the skills you gained through your level of study. For example, you gain analytical skills through bachelors degree while through PhD you gain the skills to synthesis.
- Match your passion with the skills that you have gained through your postgraduate studies.
- Thorough skill sets can be advantageous if you know how to use them accordingly.
- Emphasize what you possess and what you can do. That will show your determination and willingness to contribute to the growth of the field.
- Post-Doctoral is useful in building your CV or credibility in research area. During this period, you can focus on continuing with your research and writing journals.
- Have a normal conversation daily. As PhD is a lonely journey, having normal conversation will help to keep you sane and more aware of what’s happening around you.
- Be humble and stay grounded, and you can go far and beyond.
- A few drawbacks of PhD are working alone, no time for social and being ego-centric. You must know how to work your way through and out of the challenging situation.
- You should have the mind-set of ‘willing to learn anything, not limited to new things’.
Few questions worth asking yourself:
- What are the contributions of my research?
- What are the qualities I possess and should possess in this field?
- How do I explore my potential?
The session was video-recorded. The video will be made available soon and we will make the necessary announcement through email and Facebook platforms in due course. We hope that the session has helped you in some ways or another in determining your future path. We will be providing feedback that we have gathered from a few prominent individuals on campus based on the questions that we have received. Stay tuned for more update on this!
We would like to express our heartiest gratitude to all the speakers for their time and valuable input. The session was indeed beneficial to the postgraduate community in preparing for the next phase in life after PhD.
If you have any feedback regarding the session or anything related to the Graduate School, please direct them to Amirah.Zin@nottingham.edu.my or Lisa.Chin@nottingham.edu.my.
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