Empirical Careers... chasing a new vision to support researchers
Last post, I told you where Empirical Careers is coming from... But where exactly, is Empirical Careers going???
Well, if I’m honest, I’m actually not 100% sure.
In the spirit of candid careers guidance, I’ve never had it all figured out. I’m sure some people do, but I’m here to tell you that you can be “successful” without a detailed plan. I know I wish that someone had told me decades ago, not to worry about getting it all worked out. Just start. Just head towards what feels right. And also, you can do that as fast or slow as you need to.
So, to be honest, Empirical Careers (aka my own career) is a work in progress.
What I do have, is a new “fuzzy vision”.
That’s how my original business started too.
Years ago I set myself a goal to create a “successful” business. Sometime last year, when I had to bring on additional people to manage my workload I realised, hey, I did it! I reached my goal!! My business was successful in all the ways I had (vaguely) imagined - I was providing a service that people wanted, and I was earning enough to pay my mortgage. But something I hadn’t planned on, and am super proud of, is that I had also enabled work for the awesome women in my team, to use their brains and skills while working the hours they want, around their kids and family life. Good things had come from letting my interests and values dictate my direction.
But that business was also getting a bit too successful for me, like 7 days a week, 10 hours a day “successful” and I love what I do but… this is just not sustainable (maybe some of you researchers can relate??).
I realised I needed to change something, not only because I was on the road to burnout, but because I had outgrown my own goals.
I got some (overpriced) business coaching (more about that another time!) and I got all kinds of “advice” from the gurus on social media. Most of it saying I should just hire more people and grow the business so I’m doing less. Sure, ok. But I hadn’t started my business to grow a business. I’d started a business to help researchers. Growing for growths sake didn’t and still doesn’t feel right for me. I wanted (want?) something exciting to work towards. Somewhere in the distance I could see a new vista forming… and I decided it was time to direct this career path of mine toward it (and hey presto… Empirical Careers).
What remains central to my “fuzzy vision”, is my passion for supporting research (more specifically, its benefits, evidence-based policy and practice, new technology and medicines, all the stuff that can make the world a little bit less YKWIM). But after reading hundreds (and hundreds!) of grants and the associated track records, I have become more fascinated by the people behind the research projects.
I am regularly blown away by what some people have achieved. They discoveries they have made. The volume of work they have delivered. Their leadership of multidisciplinary teams. Their engagement with diverse stakeholders. Their generation of new knowledge and influence on policy and practice.
And yet, so often, boiled down to a list of top 10 publications (sad face).
So much talent. Such different opportunities. And way too much comparison.
You may have heard the quote:
“Talent is broadly distributed; opportunity is not.”
As part of my new vision I want Empirical to help spread the opportunity and promote the incomparable, so more people can find “success”.
In my previous university jobs I observed that it was the people who were better at marketing themselves that were getting the limelight and the coin, not necessarily the best researchers. I thought (naively?) consulting as a grant writer could help get the best ideas and the best science funded.
Over the last few years I have used my own talents in grant writing, to help less talented writers, international applicants with English as a second language, and early career researchers who didn’t understand the schemes and criteria, write better grants. From the testimonials of happy clients and the repeat business we get (even when they don’t get funded!) I know we’ve supported applicants with their writing skills and grants nous.
But grant writing is just the tip of the iceberg.
With the perspective I have, from the many grants I read, I can see that underpinning the successful research Fellows and Directors and entrepreneurs, is a whole diversity of talents, values and interests. It’s figuring out how you put your own elements together in a meaningful way that’s the hard part. And in order for that not to take you a lifetime, finding how and where to get the right support for your needs, at the right time.
I want to dive down to understand what’s below the surface… and help develop the career strategy and management that underpins successful grant applications…
Supporting people, not projects
So my new fuzzy vision is about supporting all of the iceberg i.e., people’s whole careers, not just their grants. (I apologise for the weird iceberg metaphor but I just went to Antarctica, it’s clearly had an effect on me…). To help more PhD grads put their talents, values and interests together in the most successful ways, I’ve set some new goals for myself. This is how I now want to use all the skills and experience I’ve built up, to help researchers:
Share my insights. It has dawned on me that I need to put myself “out there” so I can share my decades of research facilitation and grant editing experience with more people, in a more equitable way. I’m not sure I love social media, but I’m going to challenge myself… and I’m planning a heap of new online resources… watch this space.
Help early career researchers (ECRs) with practical support. I regularly see talented ECRs with uncompetitive applications and I know they could be much more strategic with their track record development. I also know, while there’s some supervisors who don’t have the best mentoring inclinations, there’s also a heap of great supervisors, who are exhausted! I’m hoping my new services might help take a load off their plates, so they can use their limited time to support their teams with their specialised research skills, rather than covering the basics (aren’t we all trying to outsource these days? Thanks lawnmower man!).
Promote diverse paths to success. We know EMCRs do it tough, it would be great if there was more funding for research fellowships. But for those that aren’t able to carve a research only career path, there are others ways to stay “in the game”. I want to find and work with the hidden talent who need a bit more time or a bit more nurturing to build their research careers. And remind them there’s different paths to success. Those who are not quite there (yet) because they didn’t have decent mentors, didn’t have parents who were academics, reproduced at an inopportune time, don’t understand Australian research expectations, or haven’t been shown what the ‘competition’ actually is.... etc. I want to promote diverse paths to success and help researchers get creative with building their career paths.
Courageously explore careers. Given my own background, I want to support other PhD grads like myself to figure out what they really want to do post-PhD. There’s lots of different reasons why we start a PhD, but figuring out what’s next can be overwhelming. I’m particularly interested in supporting those that know they want to leave academia and perhaps start their own small biz or social enterprise. I know having had zero experience in business, it can be scary. And it’s taken me way too long to feel confident as a businesswoman... maybe I can help someone else get there faster?
The new vision, I’m exploring....
EMERGE: Career & track record development
The competition for fellowships is fiercer than ever. And while I’m not a fan of some of our research culture, I’m also realistic. If you want to be successful you need to start early and plan strategically, so you maximise your opportunities.
There are some key track record ingredients in grant applications, but, after years of editing grants across all kinds of schemes, disciplines and career stages, I also know there are more than a few ways to have a successful research career.
EMERGE will be an online program to help ECRs plan for their future – focussed on fellowship applications but also thinking about the variety of ways you can have a successful research career. I want ECRs to get strategic about their track record and career development so they can cultivate the content and experiences they need to achieve their research funding and career goals.
This is intended to be a self-paced program with weekly sessions to discuss ideas and get peer support to navigate your careers. We are planning to launch in the second half of 2025... see my draft flyer here.
ELEVATE: Improve your grant writing skills
Whether you’re from a rich lab or poor lab, had a good supervisor or bad supervisor, you should have access to practical grant development training. Knowing that some researchers don’t have access to as many resources (physical or intellectual) as others, I want to spread our support widely.
This is also about trying to get people on the same page. When reviewing grants, we see common misinterpretations across different schemes and it’s clear some applicants don’t understand key terminology (or maybe their supervisors don’t understand it?), but if your assessor is on a different page about what research impact means (hint, it’s not citations), we’re all in trouble.
So, I am going to trial a new online resource hub so you can access our grant writing resources. We aim to Elevate your grant skills, so it’s your ideas and track record that’s getting judged - not your lack of writing skills or scheme knowledge. Think scheme webinars, masterclasses and templates for a variety of the core ARC and NHMRC schemes.
Our online grants support means you can watch our videos at your leisure but we plan to have live sessions ahead of major grant schemes so you can ask your burning questions. We will be building up our content throughout the year…
EXPLORE: PhD careers beyond academia
Having spoken to many a PhD graduate, I know that not everyone wants a career in academia. And in 2019, we know that about 51% of PhD students hoped to enter business or the public sector.
The development of various HDR training programs over the years means there are now more opportunities to develop skills to help get those non-academic jobs... but there’s still a big gap in how PhD students are being supported to explore the best post-PhD possibilities, for them.
You can use your research skills in lots of ways, the question is, what do you want to do? What impact do you want to have? What would you enjoy?!
When I started Empirical, I couldn’t believe I was so lucky to be doing what I love. For the last ~10 years I’ve been reading research grants with the latest ideas across fields as diverse as genetics, ecology, chemical engineering, social sciences, mathematics and history. But guess what, I have new interests. And I’ve got a lot more experience. And now I want to help others figure out how to use their transferrable (PhD-cultivated) skills to do what might bring them as much joy as I get from helping turn ideas into a compelling narrative (ok and addressing the complex selection criteria of grant schemes, I like following rules too!).
There’s so many people that I think could have more impact (and fun!) if they started their own business or social enterprise. We need people with research skills to get out into the world and apply their expertise to problems NOW... like Dr Kate who is saving dolphins or Dr Loz who is helping kids of all capabilities learn about science. For those not sure academia is for them but not sure what else to do… You know I’ve been there, and I want to share my insights and help you reflect on all that you are and all you want to be….
Later this year, I am planning to launch an online program called EXPLORE. I’m not actually sure what this looks like yet, I just know it’s something I want to head towards… this is where my career vision is pulling me… I want to help you carve out a path to continue to have “research impact” in a way that is matched to your talents, interests and goals.
This year, as I chase my new vision, I’ll keep sharing the creation of my own path because, it turns out, finding a fulfilling career is a constant work in progress...