Many research participants spoke about their networks, how they built them and drew on them. PhD candidacy presents many opportunities for networking, yet many people did not invest in developing networks during their studies. Those who did build networks during their PhDs recognized networking as a powerful resource that would help them to join relevant communities, e.g. Jennifer describes the importance of online and practitioner groups to building her network:

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I’m tapped into a few networks in the UK …coming from [PhD university], which was one of the biggest specialist centres, has been one of the key parts …but then also going to the different specialist conferences, as well as just being a member of different kinds of online groups actually …I kind of keep my eye on, participate in from time to time …they’re more practitioner sites. 

 

Epsilon also describes the importance of networking, which he did primarily at conferences:

 

I’ve gone to conferences and I’ve met people in the field who are doing similar research and I’ve been able to maintain sort of a relationship with them.  I’ve now got this whole sort of cloud of people that I can bounce stuff off when I’m ever stuck.

 

 

 

Useful resources 

• For a successful career – notes the difference between networking and old boys network: https://www.academics.com/science/networking_for_a_successful_career_in_academia_30577.html

• Deals with networking among other skills like time management, resilience: http://www.academiccareer.manchester.ac.uk/about/do/skills/