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| How did you go about getting your current job? |
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When I started looking for a job I subscribed to a UK-based weekly list of academic jobs. As lecturers tend to work in specialised areas I did anticipate that I would have to work abroad for a number of years, to gain experience and wait for a job to become available in Ireland.
Fortunately, I was nearing completion of my doctorate as DCU Business School entered into significant expansion. I heard about my job through a number of sources - it was advertised both in the Irish Times and on the DCU website.
At that point I was getting the Times every week, as were my parents. I was also told about by a fellow PhD student in Trinity, who was also working in DCU. I applied by filling in an application form, which was available on the web. I was given the opportunity to include additional pertinent information, so I sent in an extra document to accompany the form.
In this I emphasised the fact that my research interests were complementary to those of members of the HRM/Organisational Psychology group, as well as to those of the Learning, Innovation and Knowledge Research Center. I was also excited at the prospect of joining the Business School as it entered a dynamic expansion phase.
The selection process had two components, which were a few days apart. First I had to come in and make a presentation. This was to assess my teaching and communication skills. There was a panel with the Head and Professor of the Human Resource Management and Organisational Psychology Group, which I was applying to join; the Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning; an external representative; and a representative from the Human Resource Department.
In the next stage, I had an interview with what seemed a big panel at the time. The Dean of the Business School, the Professor of HRM, the Head of the HRM and Organisational Psychology group, two external Professors and a representative of the HR group asked me questions about why I wanted to work in DCU; my teaching and research experience and philosophy; course design and delivery.
The panel made an obvious effort to make me feel comfortable, but I was still pretty nervous - I really wanted to work here!
I was contacted by telephone two weeks later and was told that they would like to offer me the job. The offer was quickly followed by a formal letter and contract.
The decision to take the job was easy. I had also applied for and been offered two other jobs - one in Ireland and one in the UK. But DCU had a very clear fit with my research interests, I was very impressed by their strategy and I'd really enjoyed meeting my potential colleagues through the interview process. I had really enjoyed being in college in Trinity so moving into a similarly welcoming and collegiate culture was very important to me.
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| Describe a typical day? |
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The most typical thing about my days is the fact that they all tend to be busy!
Days vary quite significantly in and out of term. Out of term days will be focused on course development, lecture preparation and research. In term, I generally try to have one day a week where I try to focus on research activity - at the moment I'm preparing two papers, one to present at a conference of researchers, and the other I'm preparing to submit for publication in a journal.
However, in reality this time tends to be distributed throughout the week. I have a network of people with whom I am developing my research. They are predominantly based in Ireland and the UK, but I am also developing some projects with European academics. So there may be e-mails or phone calls about something!
Otherwise, my days consist of a mix of teaching, an open office-hour where students can come to discuss their courses, assignments or concerns and administration.
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| What are the main tasks and responsibilities? |
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I have outlined the primary tasks and responsibilities according to the three components of the role; teaching, research and administration.
Each is emphasised quite strongly; DCU has strong links with industry and good reputation for producing graduates who are well equipped for the workplace. It also places emphasis on research output. Doing both well has led to its ranking among the top 300 universities worldwide this year.
Teaching - Designing and delivering lectures at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Typically this is undertaken for three courses a term;
- Designing and marking assessments;
- Supervising students who are undertaking a degree through research, or who have to complete a research project at the end of a taught degree
Research
- Undertaking research.
This is really about asking and answering question. So for example, my PhD research explored who takes responsibility for initiation, leading and implementing service-improvement in hospitals. It also looked at the cause of problems which arise in implementing service improvement.
To do this I interviewed people in a number of hospitals. The people I interviewed included representatives of senior management, middle management, consultants, nurses and the allied health professions. I am about to begin to liaise with those involved to prioritise and develop action plans on the basis of the findings. I did my doctorate myself, but lots of research projects are done by teams of researchers, sometimes within DCU, but also with collaborators in other universities.
I am fortunate to be in a highly active research group, associated with the Learning Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre, so there are lots of opportunities for collaborative research in DCU.
- Publishing research findings in journals or books.
As a preliminary or development phase in the publication process, papers can be presented at conferences
- Gaining funding for research is an increasing marker of the quality of the research and facilitates larger scale projects. As a result, applying for funding is an important research-related task.
Administration - Any administration associated with teaching or research duties.
I am tutor for a group of students, who are allocated to me in their first year in DCU. I am their point of contact for issues arising throughout their time in DCU.
I organise the Learning, Innovation and Knowledge research seminar series with Professor Patrick Flood. This entails organising seminars by academics from DCU and internationally;
Other activities as required.
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| What are the main challenges? |
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The main challenge in the job is successfully balancing the wide range of responsibilities associated with the role. This can lead to some tension between the desire to perfect lectures and a wish to move my publication plan forward.
Managing this tension requires self-discipline and clear boundaries on the amount of time allocated to each component of the role. As an early career lecturer I spend a lot of time trying to ensure appropriate and engaging content and teaching delivery methods. This can be challenging as there are a variety of different audiences to consider - undergraduates, postgraduates and executive students with significant work experience.
However, I have a really supportive group of colleagues who I can chat to and the culture here is very supportive of innovative teaching methods. I'm still very much learning what works effectively through trial and error.
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| What's cool? |
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There are lots of cool things about this job. One of my favourite is the brilliant facilities for teaching in the Business School. I have a lot of fun with them!
There are big screens which my power-point slides are projected onto, and I can use them to show videos or DVD's. I can even link to the internet to show things during class.
Coming a close second is getting to travel abroad to present my research at conferences. I was subsidised to do this as a student too, but now it's funded by DCU because making a research contribution is part of my role.
Another major benefit is the flexibility and autonomy associated with the job. While I work hard, I do so in my own office, organise my own time, and am free to do so once I do my job well.
I also have huge flexibility around my working hours and some flexibility to work on my research at home, if I'm not teaching or meeting students. While I don't get summer-long holidays, it's really wonderful to have block of time over the summer to develop my research. Essentially having research time is being paid to explore ideas and issues that I have an interest in.
I really value having a job where I have the freedom to choose the direction of my work - and to change it if I want. At the moment I don't see myself moving away from conducting research in healthcare service-delivery - this is a really rewarding growth area - but it is great to have the choice.
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| What's not so cool? |
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There's no aspect of the job that I don't like. Rather, it can be frustrating to have to my work spill over into my personal time, to finish things to the standard that I want. But really that's a personal choice.
Next term I have a class with over two hundred students, so getting all of their assignments marked within a reasonable time will take a bit of a push! And sometimes it can feel like there are a lot of meetings - about specific degree programmes, about the HRM group, faculty meetings etc. But it is a huge advantage to work somewhere that emphasises including its staff in decision making, so there is a significant upside to that.
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| What particular skills do you bring to your workplace? |
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There is a common notion that being a lecturer entails spending time in an ivory tower, conjuring up theory and occasionally emerging to rant about it to students. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Being a lecturer requires a significant amount of interpersonal work and a very broad skill set. Luckily for me, this has become gradually apparent and I've had, and will continue to avail of, lots of opportunities for skills development.
While there are common skills across the three components of the role, there is some variation and differences of emphases.
The first component of the role, teaching, requires analytic, presentation, communication and inter-personal skills, in addition to proficiency in specific tasks such as course design, assignment and exam design. Teaching responsibilities can also include the supervision of research projects by undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The second component of the role, research, entails analytic skills to identify appropriate areas for research, knowledge of the theory and practice of appropriate methods for collecting and interpreting data, writing skills to present and publish findings and a significant level of determination and tenacity to see a project through from design to completion. It can take 3-5 years to see a project through from initiation to a publication in a journal - and, of course, there is no guarantee that any article submitted will be accepted for publication.
The third component of the role, administration, can entail being a chair of a degree programme. At the moment I don't have such responsibility, but basic administration associated with my role still takes time. Across all of the components of the role self-discipline is possibly the most critical skill to ensure efficacy.
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