Why not try looking at a career in Higher Education? It may seem strange at a time when University funding cuts are being widely talked about but for me the pros far outwiegh the cons.

I worked in a corporate environment before I took a job in Higher Education and the contrast is startling. To work in an atmosphere that was not entirely focused on making money was a refreshing change. Most of the staff in HE both academic and non-academic are focused on improving the students’ experience. This is becoming increasingly so as the students are expecting more for their increased fees.

There are a wide variety of jobs (As the blog title says it’s Not Just Teaching) that are required in order to keep a university functioning. From marketing and PR jobs, careers advisers, administrators and even graphic designers, so any job in a university brings you into contact with a wide range of people with differing skills.

The pay and benefits are also good at most UK universities – they haven’t suffered the pay freezes that the public sector have and wages are still competitive with similar roles in the private sector. Many universities offer cut-price childcare and gym membership as additional benefits.

Holidays too are generous with most universities giving around 5 closure days/concessionary days over the year including a long break at Christmas without any extra holidays taken.

Opportunities for progression are often very good with opportunities across various departments allowing you to develop a wide range of skills.

Of course there are downsides too and not everyone will have found their experiences as good as mine; Funding cuts are a cause for concern and some smaller universities may merge which would cause some job losses. However, I think for those of us who are lucky enough to work in Higher Education should take the time now and again to appreciate how much worse our working lives could be and how fortunate we are.

 Tip#1 – Knowledge of the sector: Like in every other industry, your recruiters will want to see evidence that you understand how things work in the sector, what challenges are ahead and how to overcome them. A good start for you to find out what’s happening in the field, is to start reading the relevant newspaper sections and any relevant online articles you can find, which will help you get a clear idea of things.

 Tip#2 – Networking: Networking is always key in any job search. Not least in higher education. So if you know or are related to people who work in the industry, take advantage of their knowledge, experience and practical advice on what to look for, what to avoid, what attitude to adopt when interviewing, and how to present yourself to make an impact. If any person you know happens to know any of your recruiters, ask them to put in two good words for you. This may help a lot!

 Tip#3 –  Make your experience sound relevant: When writing an application form or when interviewing for a higher education position, don’t feel intimidated if you don’t have previous direct experience in the sector. As long as you can relate your past experiences to the position’s requirements, you still stand good chances. The secret on how to do this is to carefully read the job description and the person specification, and to try and think of one or two examples of when you fulfilled similar requirements in your previous positions.

 Tip#4 – If you’re coming from outside HE, make it sound positive: You may think that you don’t stand many chances because you have no similar background. Wrong! In fact, if you are able to convince your recruiters that you will bring a fresh perspective into things (always desirable in HE) and that you past experiences will help you address the present challenges of the sector, then there you really have a very good shot at getting this position!

The challenges

Challenge number one:  It’s a no-brainer. Working for a central service, you are absolutely in need of numerous non-central departments to do your job. Just in order to plan an event, write up a bid or even schedule a meeting, you have to develop good relations with all the people involved from different departments, as you often have to rely on their knowledge/ expertise/ contacts/ advice/ good will to complete important parts of a project.

Challenge number two:  Working for a central department, it’s almost impossible to gain “in-depth expertise” on things. As the remit of central services is extremely broad, more often than not you find yourself covering a big variety of tasks and responsibilities, but without having the time or the resources to actually gain expertise or in-depth knowledge on any particular task. This links with challenge number one, as non-central departments are usually more likely to develop expertise in certain fields, which is why their contribution is necessary to cover our own gaps.

Challenge number three: This one actually links with challenge number two.  Because of the traditionally broad remit of central services, they are often the first ones to blame if and when things go wrong, although they may not be directly responsible. Although in-depth knowledge as described in challenge number two is not expected by central departments, they are expected to have a good general knowledge of how things run within different departments, who is who and who does what, and generally be some sort of “supervisor” for the work of non-central departments. Which explains why, when something goes wrong, central departments are normally the first “usual suspects”.

What does this mean in practice?

In practice, we are going to have a challenging year ahead. Lots of colleagues have left or will be leaving in the next few months – some have chosen to, some have had to be made redundant. At the same time, lots of new people will be joining to take on the new roles that are opening up, whereas some will be just changing positions internally. Until all the changes are in place – which is estimated to take about a year – there is no way we can avoid some sort of confusion, uncertainty and maybe a little bit of chaos in practical terms.  Just a simple example of what I mean: if a person I would regularly cooperate with is now gone, and even worse, if their position doesn’t exist anymore under the new structure, then who do I speak to if I need help? And for a central department like ours, where cooperation with a vast range of departments is the norm, this may prove even more challenging.

So how do we manage change?

Bring in external consultants? Run special courses? Just play it by year and take things as they come? I wish I had the answer to that and it’s likely that it’s not going to be just black or white. For the time being, and until the changes are fully implemented, nobody can predict the future. I think the best response to change is to just keep a smile on our face, be positive to change, and do the best we can under the circumstances to do our job as best as we can.

Are recruiters in the sector looking for specific things?

The answer is yes, although these specific things obviously vary among different positions. Here are some of them:

• Good fit for the role. It sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many applications hiring managers receive that fail to illustrate how the candidate is a good fit for the role. If you were on a very similar position to the one applying for, things become easier for you, but you still need to make an effort to demonstrate the relevance of your experience and qualifications to the position. If your background is not exactly similar, don’t give up. Focus on the value you can bring to the position and organization. It’s often the case that recruiters decide to hire candidates with a different background to benefit from their fresh perspective on things.
• Good interview skills. If you’re invited to an interview, make sure you are aware of the requirements of the role and be prepared to address each and every one with specific examples of past achievements. However impressive your background may be, it’s unlikely that you will get selected if you fail to get your point across in the interview.
• Personal rapport. This is an equally important factor which you should try to establish with your interviewers. At the end of the day, they could become your colleagues, and they are also trying to assess whether they could see themselves working with you on a daily basis.
• Good recommendations. Or networking. If you are in the industry and are looking for a position in a certain organization, try to think if you have any contacts who are already working there. This will give you a valuable insight into the organization, and maybe information that other candidates don’t have. If by any chance those contacts know any of your interviewers, try to get them to give a personal recommendation to your hiring managers for you. If they do, your chances of getting the job are significantly boosted. This is because there’s a certain amount of risk involved in every hiring process, and a personal recommendation from someone the interviewers already know and trust reduces their own risks of making a bad choice.

1. Find out what your department’s core needs are and get to know how to cover them as best as possible. These may not always be the “sexy” duties, and they may even be boring or tedious sometimes. However, if you are perceived to be the all-rounder, the person who can run the whole department if necessary, your employers will be much more reluctant to let you go.
2. It is equally important to not isolate yourself in your specific department. Whenever you get the chance, actively seek interaction and co-operation with other departments. Get to know how they work, what their needs are, and how your department can work with them for mutual benefit. Try to gain an understanding of your university as a whole and of its broader activities.
3. Never stop seeking new training opportunities. No matter how senior you may be and how much expertise you may have acquired in your area of work, there will always be new things to learn – be it a new piece of computer software, a new professional qualification, or simply keeping up to speed with developments in your field.
4. Offer something extra than what was asked for. If every once in a while you give away some of your time to assist in university activities where an extra pair of hands is needed, or to do some work on top of what is in your job description, this will no doubt be much appreciated, admired, and remembered.
5. Network as much as you can, whenever and wherever you can. Network with colleagues from your institution and other institutions, with management staff, with industry people, with whomever possible. You never know when a contact may come in handy, and if you ever get to the unpleasant position of being let go from your job, you will already have a wide network of people who you can ask for help with finding new opportunities.
6. Finally, it is worth remembering those simple things, which, if not followed consistently, can ultimately cost you your job. Arrive at work on time, make up for any time lost, listen to your managers, be respectful to colleagues, maintain good working relationships with everyone, and give your best when executing your duties.

Who is affected the most?

It is no secret that inflated staff-related costs are more associated with the academic rather than with the non-academic staff. Yet, academics are there to serve the principal purpose of every university, which is to educate students. They are in charge of a university’s core business, which is teaching and research. Therefore, when redundancies become a necessary measure, it is the non-academic staff who are unfortunately the most vulnerable. That said, academics unfortunately can and do occasionally lose their jobs too, such as when universities decide to remove their modules from the timetables. However, mass redundancies of academic staff, especially of those in permanent positions, are rather unrealistic.

Why are non-academics in more trouble?

The answer is quite simple. While all those specialized modules need somebody with relevant expertise to teach them, it is assumed that, for example, one administrative assistant can carry out the work of two if necessary, or one finance officer can complement the role of another colleague. The demand for specialization is much lower in non-academic personnel. This makes them an easier target when job cuts are considered, simply because they are seen as easier to replace.

So is it all doom and gloom?

I don’t believe so. The purpose of this post is not to add to the general uncertainty of the times, but to analyze a situation that may seem incomprehensible and even unfair to some. Even more importantly, the aim is to offer some suggestions on how non-academic staff can try to “recession-proof” their career. So read part II for hints and tips on how to stay employable.

This could not be more relevant nowadays, given the current economic climate. Students from any discipline should be given the opportunity to develop transferable skills that will ultimately make them more employable. I recently attended a lecture of the MSc in Sports Science as a guest. Not your typical enterprise-focused students, you would think. However, those students were given the task to work in groups and present their suggestions on how a real business, a sports rehabilitation centre, could improve its output. Students came up with bright and innovative ideas which they presented eloquently and convincingly. They were a joy to watch and made their teacher really proud. Which confirms what I said earlier – any student can be enterprising and entrepreneurial as long as they are given the right stimulus and sufficient guidance.

This is the very reason why universities need to embrace similar initiatives and think outside the limited academic box of ways to help students develop their full potential. After all, surely this is the very purpose of universities. To develop students as individuals needs to be a top priority for any higher education institution today.

What does this have to do with higher education? The debate about how the education system fails to provide students with soft skills and how little it does to prepare them for real-life challenges once they embark on a career has been going on for decades. The argument that higher education modules need to escape the stereotypical classroom learning model and discover more connections with the real world couldn’t be more relevant. Employers are complaining that college graduates, who are undoubtedly bright people, have difficulties grasping the practical issues of work and adapting to workplace requirements. These graduates are just used to different ways of thinking – more academic than practical – and they definitely need, and do indeed take, their time to adjust.

This is the challenge that enterprise modules at universities aim to tackle. They are designed to teach students those all-important transferable skills that sadly tend to be overlooked while at university, yet constitute essential requirements for any career: communication, teamwork, public speaking, problem solving, leadership, creative thinking, and business acumen. In other words, enterprise modules aim to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace. My university has started to realise the importance of these classes and has introduced enterprise modules across different degree disciplines, from business to sports and life sciences. By learning and practicing how to write effective business plans, overcome challenges, solve day-to-day problems, and pitch their ideas, students develop the soft skills that will allow them to be successful outside academia and will prepare them for a range of careers beyond graduation.

A novel idea

If employees are required to spend a whole afternoon attending that kind of training, they might as well have some fun doing it. I’m sure someone has had this thought before.

With this in mind, the university took a whole new approach on equality and diversity training, bringing actors on campus to impersonate real situations that can happen in any workplace. These have to do with all sorts of uncomfortable situations including peer bullying, sexual and racial discrimination, autarchic management, prejudice, etc. Staff members were asked to sit through a number of short acts each representing different workplace situations. Each act was followed by an open discussion, where we were asked to give our opinions and possibly suggest ways of challenging problematic behaviours like those we just watched.

Was it fun?

Yes! For several reasons:

• A very innovative training model – none of the attendees had done anything like that before.
• Audience participation was encouraged and expected – and on several occasions audience suggestions were used to replace the original script.
• We felt like we were included in the action and were given the “power” to make changes and recommendations.
• Who wouldn’t enjoy a free theatre performance on an afternoon that they would otherwise spend working?

Was it useful?

Yes! The reasons for this are quite obvious:

• Diversity and equality are indeed key priorities in any workplace and all members of staff need to be aware of the relevant policies. Instead of filling our heads with useless details, we were presented with situations we had seen, or were able to see, ourselves in.
• By watching the acts we were able to see the practical implications of specific behaviours within the workplace.
• We were engaged in discussion among ourselves and with the actors, and a lot of useful conclusions were drawn out of this.
• At the end of the day, we had started contemplating our own behaviour in the workplace and challenging ourselves.

And that, I think, was the most important lesson we learned that afternoon.