After leaving my PhD my careers advisor read my job applications, and helped me prepare for the interview for the new job I just got.
I would also encourage PhD students to take the courses the careers service offers, like work experience workshops and chances to work on your CV.
Was there anything that surprised you about doing a PhD?
I think I, like a lot of people, didn’t really appreciate what doing a PhD would be like. When you are doing a PhD you are less like a student, you are an apprentice researcher. Your job is to learn the craft of research.
What advice would you give to someone choosing a PhD?
I would stress the importance of how carefully you need to choose your supervisor because a PhD is a long time to work with someone.
It is like getting married to someone - you need to stay together through the good times and the bad. You do ultimately have to take that leap of faith and choose someone, but don’t get married at first sight.
Find out about your future supervisor - read their work, talk to other students that were or are doing a PhD with them, and talk to their colleagues about them.
What advice would you give to someone doing a PhD now?
Make time to do things outside of your PhD itself because you will get a much richer experience and a wider view of the research community.
Doing this might also open up career opportunities you hadn’t thought of. A lot of people doing a PhD don't end up doing research, many of us end up doing jobs adjacent to academia like I am doing now, and we're good at it. These jobs provide an interesting and valuable career.