UKCCSRC held its annual meeting for ECRs on the 23rd June 2015 at University College London. This event was dedicated to providing information and ideas on potential career pathways for ECRs. We aimed to produce an event that allowed ECRs to gain a better understanding of a range of career pathways that might be open to them and explore what they should be doing now to maximise their chances of successfully pursuing their preferred career. - See more at: https://ukccsrc.ac.uk/news-events/events/ukccsrc-annual-ecr-meeting#overlay-context=news-events/events/ukccsrc-events

1. Early Career Perspectives – Tales
from an Interdisciplinary Social
Scientist
Dr Leslie Mabon
UKCCSRC ECR Workshop
23 June 2015

2. Useful things I learned
• Make the most of any overseas conferences /
fieldwork – try to visit institutions, give
seminars, develop your own potential
collaborators;
• Grants and publications – aim high, but don’t
get excessively hung up on huge numbers /
impact factors…small grants can lead to bigger
grants, papers in discipline-specific journals
can also be influential and read!

3. What I wish I knew
• Career can go in unexpected directions –
something that’s a tangent in your PhD could
become a core research interest;
• Interdisciplinarity – interdisciplinary research
great, but retaining theoretical / disciplinary base
helpful for hiring? Or – how can you make
yourself attractive to a range of departments?
• Don’t be too competitive? Different people’s
careers move in different ways and at different
speeds depending on personal circumstances,
specialisation, discipline etc etc…