PhD Programme: Organisational Behaviour
Completed: 2021
Research focus: PhD researcher in Management exploring the social psychological processes of leadership.
What has your career path looked like since completing your PhD?
- Research and Insight Manager – Kent Union (Oct 2012 – May 2022)
- Business Performance & Data Improvement Officer – University of Kent (May 2022 – Sep 2022)
- Data Analytics and Research Consultant – Self employed (Sep 2022 – present)
- Data Insight Analyst – Royal College of Nursing (May 2024 – present)
What is your current job title?
Data Insight Analyst at Royal College of Nursing
How would you describe your current role in one sentence?
Freelance data analytics and behavioural research consultant providing advice and insight on statistical analysis, data visualisation, research design and more. Currently also teaching data analytics including skills in SQL, Python, Tableau, Power BI, statistics and machine learning.
How did you find your career opportunities, and what application or interview tips would you like to share?
Self-employed. Initially I found my work contracts through LinkedIn or through networks (my PhD supervisors have been a big help with networking!) but I now also get work through referrals or general word of mouth.
What advice and reflections would you like to share with current students, particularly those considering a transition from a PhD into a non-academic role?
Keep in touch with your supervisors, they’re a great source of networks and job leads. Also just apply to everything very broadly! The jobs I work on now have more or less nothing to do with the topic of my PhD but instead use all of the transferable skills I built up along the way (research, data analysis, programming, report writing, project management). Many of the contracts I have came from just hitting the “Easy Apply” button on LinkedIn and not really expecting anything to come from it!
Which skills developed during your PhD do you use in your current role?
- Data analysis
- Research design
- Report writing