Research Assistant, Careers and Placements, University of York
Background
Careers and Placements provides opportunities and support for students at all degree levels to develop their employability skills and ability to make career decisions. We do this through a programme of events, in-curriculum activities, opportunities to develop skills and experience through placements, internships and volunteering and the provision of careers information, advice and guidance.
Careers and employability support for PhD students at York, known as Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs), is offered by a range of providers including: Careers and Placements; Building Research & Innovation Capacity (BRIC); York Graduate Research School (YGRS); Doctoral Training Centres; departments and research centres and supervisors. Whilst feedback on central provision from BRIC and Careers and Placements is generally positive, engagement is low and so only reaches a minority of the PGR community. In the 2021 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) only 30% of York PGRs agreed with the statement that they had ‘received advice on career options’.
Anecdotally, we know that some PGRs put off engaging with career planning until the end of their PhD and may not be encouraged, or may not wish to, explore a wide range of career options in academia and other sectors. We also know that PGRs can face other challenges in engaging with career planning activities, such as limited time, stress and mental health issues.
Careers and Placements, with the support of the Postgraduate Experience Committee (PEC), would like to undertake research to understand more about how PGRs approach career planning, their views on the careers and employability provision at York, and whether the changing labour market has had an impact on their career decision making.
Project details:
It has been almost four years since Careers and Placements last surveyed PGRs’ opinions about careers and employability provision. Since then, we have created a new Careers Consultant role specifically for postgraduates which has led to the introduction of PGR-specific careers advice appointments, new careers workshops in the researcher development programme and careers web pages on the YGRS website.
During this time, the Covid pandemic has accelerated changes to the labour market, the workplace, and employer recruitment practices and led many to re-evaluate what they want from their career.
As a result of these changes, and the low engagement with the current employability offer, we believe this is a good time to carry out a new research project. The outcomes will be shared with the PGR Experience Committee and other providers of employability support to enable us to review and develop activities and resources that will engage the PGR community and result in higher levels of engagement.
Working on this project, you will use a questionnaire and focus groups/interviews to seek answers to the following:
- Where do PGRs go for career information and advice ?
- Do they know what support is available to them at York and what are their views on the current provision ? Are there ways in which it could be developed ?
- Do they experience any barriers to accessing the provision ?
- Their experience and opinions on work placements/internships during their PhD
- What is the best way to communicate information about careers related activities ?
- Whether the pandemic has had an impact on their career plans and/or experience of the job market
You will analyse and write up a report that will be used by Careers and Placements, BRIC and the Postgraduate Experience Committee of York Graduate Research School. There may also be opportunities to present the findings to this committee.
We are looking for someone with:
Essential
- Strong ability to carry out a focused literature review and experience of carrying out research that involves survey design, delivery and analysis, and focus groups/interviews
- Awareness of GDPR, research ethics and the need for confidentiality
- Ability to analyse data and present it in formats appropriate to different audiences
- Excellent written and oral communication skills and able to build relationships to engage effectively with PGRs, university staff and other stakeholders
- Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and demonstrate initiative
- Strong planning and organisation skills in order to manage time effectively and meet deadlines
Desirable
- Working towards a postgraduate degree
- A professional interest in any of the following: labour market issues; employability; careers education; PGR professional development and support; university support services
What the intern can gain from this internship:
- Develop their research portfolio by working on a project whose outcomes could influence future content and delivery of employability support for the PGR community at York
- Insight into the work of a university professional support department which could be valuable for someone considering a career in HE teaching, administration or student support
- Understanding career opportunities and support for PGRs
Application details
This post is brought to you by York Internships. This post is for 15 hours per week on a flexible working basis. Interviews are expected to take place on 25th May.
Please note that if you are offered an internship through York Internships, it is a condition of the agreement that you participate fully in the training elements of your project, which includes maintenance of a learning journal and completion of a short project report or video about your experience.
Employers choose to advertise their roles via York Internships, therefore we ask that you do not contact employers directly with your application. If you have any questions about your application, please email careers-placements@york.ac.uk.
How to apply:
To apply, please click the red ‘apply’ link.
- Please download the York Internships application form. You can find this on the York Internships company profile as an attachment. Alternatively, the application form is attached to the internship vacancy. Once you have completed this, please re-upload along with your CV.
- Please note that if you do not receive a confirmation email following your application, we have not received it. Therefore please be sure to save a copy of your application in case you need to reapply, and email careers-placements@york.ac.uk if you wish to check your application status.
- Please note that details of this project will not be accessible through Handshake following the closing date; please save a copy of this opportunity for your reference.
- If you have not heard from York Internships within two weeks of the application deadline, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.
- You are encouraged to seek support when putting together your application. You can access CV and interview advice at york.ac.uk/careers/applications
INTERNSHIP ELIGIBILITY: YOU MUST READ THIS INFORMATION BEFORE APPLYING.
Please send any queries to careers-placements@york.ac.uk.
The hourly rate for this position is subject to tax, National Insurance and people’s pension. The intern will be paid monthly in line with the casual payroll process based on the submission of timesheets via Dashboard.
This internship is open to all students of the University of York who will be registered with the University, and who will be based in and have the legal right to work in the UK, for the duration of the internship.
For postgraduate students, we consider term-time to include the summer vacation. Please note that students studying on a student visa may not exceed 20 hours of paid work (including voluntary work) per week during term time.
Right to work documentation: Any applicant who is offered this internship will be asked to provide evidence of their right to work in the UK before beginning the internship. This will involve providing a copy of your passport to the University’s HR Team. If you are a non-EU national your passport should contain details of your student visa confirming that you have obtained permission to work. You will be contacted with further instructions on how to complete a Right to Work check if you are offered the role.
You must be eligible to work in the UK and have a valid National Insurance (NI) number to complete this internship. If you are in the application process for an NI number at the time your internship is due to start, you can start work, however please note the University of York Casual Worker Team will require you to provide your NI number as soon as possible. Further information on NI numbers can be found on the UK Government website.