This episode focuses on changing career from postdoctoral research to project management. Ruth Winden talks to Leeds alumni Dr Shirley-Anne Paul, Project Manager at Drax plc.

With a background in Psychology, Shirley made the switch to project management after nine years as a postdoc at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leeds and the University of York. She has had an illustrious project management career ever since, starting out in the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), then moving to Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, the University of Leeds, the fintech sector at My Money Matters, and most recently to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.

Key highlights from the podcast conversation:

- Postdocs possess many transferable skills that are ideal for project management roles, such as organisational, time management, stakeholder engagement, and strong written and data analysis skills.

- Making the move from academia to project management can feel like a significant leap of faith, even involving a period of grieving over leaving one's research behind. But PM offers fulfilment and a rewarding new career path.

- Experience in different sectors and organisations can give project managers a distinct advantage, allowing them to manage diverse projects, work with different stakeholders, and adapt to multiple project management methodologies like Waterfall and Agile.

- To be successful in project management, Shirley-Anne Paul recommends that researchers who consider project management roles connect with other project managers 9also via LinkedIn groups), pursue formal project management qualifications, and strategically transition first into roles that align closely with their previous postdoctoral experience, to ease the move. After securing that first project management role, it is common to move into different sectors and roles, as PM is such a flexible and varied career option.

Technical Terms used:

SME = Subject Matter Expertise | Project Management Methodologies: Prince2, Waterfall and Agile.

If you'd like to find out more about Shirley's or Ruth's career path, please go to their LinkedIn profiles: Dr Shirley-Anne Paul | Ruth Winden

All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:

1. Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
2. Research Impact Heroes with Ged Hall
3. Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
4. Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
5. Research talent management
6. Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Bluesky and LinkedIn)
7. Research co-production
8. Research evaluation
9. Research leadership
10. Research professionals
11. Academic failure with Taryn Bell (follow Taryn on Bluesky and LinkedIn)

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