Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

Teaching (UG and MA courses), Engagement, Research, Administration

During term time, I normally wake at 5.30-6am and begin my day with an hour of dealing with urgent student emails in order to respond to queries within a 24-hr turnaround time. I arrive in my office by 7.30-8am. If I'm teaching that day, I'll go through my lecture notes one last time and ensure that the AV equipment in my teaching room is set up.

If I'm not teaching that day, I'll prioritise my tasks for the day. Typically, I will be dealing with student queries, personal tutoring meetings, administrative tasks associated with Departmental, School, Faculty and University activities. Admin activities can involve filling in marking spreadsheets, arranging marking and moderation schedules, photocopying, reading and commenting on documents in preparation for meetings, attending meetings, reading MA applications, completing quality assurance forms of various kinds, analysing student feedback, etc.

I try to prioritise research in the early part of the day - working on a range of community engagement projects, writing and editing papers, working on book proofs, preparing funding applications, editing video, managing research projects, designing new research projects, reading PhD student work, running supervision meetings. But this is not always possible as I typically receive 100-150 emails a day that require response. At the end of the day there are often research seminars, University events and community events to attend. I normally leave the office at 6.30-7pm. At home, I have a family so the evening is about dinner, looking at homework, planning for the next day and heading back to bed.

Outside the teaching-intensive parts of the year we focus on further administrative tasks such as annual programme reviews, curriculum development and planning, strategic disciplinary planning, building and facilitating networks and partnerships with other institutions and communities, and finishing off the research writing that we need to complete by the end of the year.

I really enjoy working with different community groups to find new ways to involve communities in collaborative research. I love being part of a group generating new ideas and potential projects that can make a real difference in people's lives. I enjoy the activity of research - fieldwork, archival searches - more than the 'real' work of research, which is to write it up and publish it. I love filmmaking, which increasingly is seen to be a valid form of research. But that takes a lot of time to do properly and tends to be squeezed out by teaching and admin priorities. I love teaching when it feels as though the students are finding the material interesting, exciting and challenging.

Lack of time and the challenges of balancing so many diverse activities. When students are (rightly) our priority, it can be challenging to find the time to do the other aspects of my job fully. The research that we produce can be seen by non-research colleagues and students as something academics do in order to avoid other priorities. However, research-active academics are obliged by their institutions to generate funding and to publish a certain amount of work each year. It can also be hard to 'turn off' as we are responsible for the pastoral well-being of students. If I receive an email from a distressed student at 10pm, I will want to respond. Flexi-time tends to mean all the time. And when a teaching session doesn't go well, it's difficult to bounce back.

My post-PhD plan was to work in the public sector, not academia. I spent 3 years working in State sector heritage. However, there was no career progression structure to my specialist post and I took the difficult decision to return to academia.

I use all the skills that I gained doing a PhD, plus people management, conflict resolution, financial planning, pastoral care, report writing, data analysis, teaching.

Management courses of various kinds (time, people, financial, change); teaching.

1995-97. Suspended my PhD registration to take up a 2-year Research Assistant post at University of Swansea. This job really helped me to focus my research and I learned valuable skills in qualitative and quantitative research.

1997-2000. Publications Officer for Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Here I worked on guidebooks and statutory publications, designed print tenders, commissioned photography, edited text, designed postcards, worked with graphic designers and reproduction houses, learned advanced project management, learned public sector accounting and reporting systems. Terrific learning experience and wonderful managers. Managed to finish my PhD, submit and have my viva in 1999.

May 2000-Jan 2001. Maternity leave. PhD graduation, 2000

Jan 2001-2005 Research Associate, University of Bristol. Worked on a 5-year AHRC project about practice-as-research. Learned to design, organise and implement symposia and international conferences; worked with tech researchers on innovative database design; managed expectations and desires of a 500-strong network of international practitioner-researchers; website design; financial management and reporting; capital expenditure plans. I gained a Certificate in Management during this period.

2005-date. Still at University of Bristol, I became an RCUK Academic Fellow, which in 2009 converted to a Pathway 1 Lecturer. 2005-09: I was involved mainly in funded research activities, including my own AHRC Network. 2009-12: On becoming a Lecturer I also took on the Head of Education role in my department, which involved an exciting and challenging learning curve as I became responsible for all aspects of teaching management and administration in my department.

Research management, either in academia or in other sectors. With my love of time-limited projects involving mixed audiences, I also consider shifting to a curatorial / producer role. The future is difficult to see due to the rapidly shifting political and economic contexts and their potential impact on higher education. I tend towards the more innovation-focused branches of academia, rather than tradition. Free, online learning will have a major impact on higher education as more employers recognise the value of those courses over a traditional university degree.

Advice? A teacher of mine once said that doing a PhD is not about how smart you are but how determined you are to stick with it. Very true.

Really think about why you want to do a research degree and don't do one just because you can't face the idea of getting a 'real job' or because someone offers you funding. My pathway has been unconventional and I would really have benefited from sound advice in my early 20s. I would probably be doing something very different by now.

So:
1) Don't jump at the first job because you feel flattered
2) Find a good 'critical friend' to help you workshop where your strengths and weaknesses lie and focus your career plans around balancing what you love now with a clear sense of where you'd like to be by 65
3) Perform confidence, even when you don't feel it - we all feel like imposters. But don't be afraid to ask questions either or to tell an employer that you don't know how to do something, but that you'll learn.
4) Keep your covering letters short, to the point and evidenced - and balance what you can offer to an employer with how the employer can contribute to your own growth
5) As hard as this is, remember, you know nothing! in my own journey I think I've become less certain of my skills and abilities over time. I feel embarrassed by my youthful arrogance, but also see it all the time in my students
6) Remember, rejection is not about you and it's not an indictment of your abilities.

I had a wonderful time at Sheffield doing my MA and PhD. While I'm very pleased that postgraduate research programmes now include much more formal training and require robust supervision, I gained so much from having to get on with my project on my own. Sink or swim is a great, if often frightening, way to learn!