1. Want to make a difference? A career in policy Dr Robert Reid, Senior Policy Advisor, Which?
2. A bit about me I love research! Its not a bad job… Argh!! Now what ? 1998 BSc (Hons) Molecular biology 1998 – 2003 Research Assistant and PhD + 2004 – 2006 Post-doc researcher
3. Leaving research science: A Brick Wall? No commercial experience Over qualified No experience of an office environment How do I get experience if nobody will give me a chance!!?? Cost of retraining, voluntary work or internships is prohibitive
4. A first step on the ladder 2006-2008 Research Analyst - A short term contract in a friends office and a careful assessment of transferable skills leads to my first proper job outside of the lab 2008-present day Senior Policy Advisor, Which? Good quality careers advise would have made this process much less frustrating!
5. About Which? Core business - Which? magazines and Which?.co.uk, but it is not all we do….. We also campaign to ensure that consumers are as powerful as the organisations they deal with on a daily basis
6. Policy at Which? What will the consumer issues of the future be? Impact assessment – how many people are affected and how? What evidence do we have of harm? Can we commission or conduct research to plug any gaps? What does positive change look like? How can we achieve it?
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8. Achieving positive change for consumers Which? research showed it was difficult to work out the real, upfront cost of Budget's car hire. After we revealed the problem Budget agreed to amend its online booking process. After consumers told Which? that their energy bills were confusing, we put pressure on energy companies to make it clearer what people were paying for. N Power and EON both responded by launching new and improved energy bills that give their customers more control. Three years after a facelift left Denise Maitland with permanent scarring, she won a settlement for £15,000. Denise said of the challenge, “Without Which?’s support, I don’t think I would’ve taken on the organisation." A Which? member brought our attention to law firms who were accusing people of illegal file sharing. We took up the challenge, which led to hundreds of charges being dropped, and one of the law firms taken to a disciplinary hearing.
