University of Manchester Careers Blog

Written by Elizabeth Wilkinson, Postgraduate Careers Consultant at The Careers Service

If you are a science researcher, masters or undergrad, it’s not always easy to find the jobs to apply to amongst all the engineering, IT and finance/business roles on offer.

However, by using your research skills, you can uncover lots of scientific jobs and employers – here’s how.

1. Look for science jobs which are being advertised:

• The pros – you know there is a job to be filled.
• The cons – so do lots of other people, so the competition will be high.

2. Look for scientific employers and see if they have any jobs:

• The pros – they may have jobs to be filled, but if a job isn’t available now, they may keep you on file; this means that when a vacancy does occur, they may contact you before even considering advertising, so there is less competition.
• The cons – may not be recruiting when you need a job.

Expand your tactics for finding science jobs

Here are some resources to get you started searching for scientific jobs.

Scientific recruitment agencies

• SRG – www.srgtalent.com
• CK Science – http://ckscience.co.uk
• Network Scientific – www.networkscientificrecruitment.com
• Vector Recruitment – www.vrl.co.uk
• Find more agencies (& employers) currently recruiting – www.reed.co.uk/recruiterdirectory

Online profile – make it work harder for you

• Join professional networks eg LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), update your profile (include scientific skills/technologies so they appear in searches), join specialist groups for jobs in your field, follow employers represented in those groups & others you know – become findable!
• Specialist job ads are becoming more common on LinkedIn – search for jobs in your field and set up job alerts.

Online search for job adverts – use specialist sites

General science jobs websites such as

• New Scientist – http://jobs.newscientist.com
• Nature – www.nature.com/naturejobs
• Science – http://jobs.sciencecareers.org
• Research Gate – www.researchgate.net/jobs (mainly science jobs)

Graduate (and postgraduate) job sites – can filter for science jobs

• Employers targeting University of Manchester – www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink – login required
• UoM Careers Service “Which career?” – includes job sites for over 20 sectors including science, environment etc – www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/whichcareer Example sites include:
  • Brightrecruits (from the Institute of Physics) – http://brightrecruits.com
  • Chemistry World Jobs (from the RSC) – https://jobs.chemistryworld.com
  • Environment Jobs – www.environmentjob.co.uk
  • Royal Society of Biology Jobs – https://jobs.rsb.org.uk
• Gradcracker – www.gradcracker.com/search/sciences-maths/graduate-jobs

Find scientific employers and engage with them

University of Manchester Careers Service

• Employer database – www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink – see Organisation Search.
• Which Career? – Scientific Work, include sources of scientific employers – www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/whichcareer/science

Look in science and innovation parks – search members

• UK Science Park Association – www.ukspa.org.uk/members/our-members
• International Association of Science Parks – www.iasp.ws/Our-members/Directory

Explore research institutes, centres and companies interested in researchers

• www.jobs.ac.uk/employers – browse employers by type (not just universities!)
• UK Research Councils – www.ukri.org/about-us/our-council – government funded research centres and institutes.
• AIRTO is a membership organisation for a number of commercial and government funded research organisations and institutes – www.airto.co.uk/about/members

Find networks of scientists & get involved

• Professional bodies – get involved with a relevant scientific professional body to meet scientists in your field.
• Trade associations – www.taforum.org/trade-associations often have lists of members.
• For example – Pharma/bioscience: ABPI (national – http://careers.abpi.org.uk), BioNow (North West/North East – www.bionow.co.uk), One Nucleus (Cambridge/London – www.onenucleus.com), OBN (Oxford/South – www.obn.org.uk)

Let others know you’re looking – they might lead to a useful contact

• Tell everyone you know what you’re looking for, social and online contacts included. You never know who a friend or distant cousin might know…
• Attend recruitment events, talk to employers, link with them on LinkedIn
• Update your social media and professional online profiles (eg. LinkedIn)

Send speculative CVs to specialist employers, especially smaller scientific employers. Include a link to your online professional profile – this allows you to keep your details up to date and offers the chance for them to connect online with you, for future reference.