Are you wondering about your career options post PhD? Not sure if you want to be an academic? PostAc is a job searching platform with a difference.

PostAc is a rich, searchable database of jobs suitable for PhD graduates and researchers in a huge range of industries. PostAc is a new kind of jobs search engine that uses machine learning to show you non-academic, research intensive jobs suitable for PhD graduates.

Flinders University has purchased an annual subscription to PostAc, which means anyone with a university email address can access the platform by making an account with their university address on postac.com.au.

You can apply for jobs right now or use the database for research purposes. Each job ad is a wish list from an employer: the text of job ads can tell you what you need to do to be competitive in the job market.

Make an account on https://postac.com.au using your university email address to see what kinds of jobs are suitable for you. The PostAc search functions have been enhanced with machine learning so that they can accept a huge variety of search terms. Try typing in your research interest and a skill that you are proud of and see what happens.

The HDR Development team will be in touch with further information on how PostAc can best benefit you. If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please get in touch with hdr.development@flinders.edu.au.

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Instructions for making an account:

1. Go to https://postac.com.au
2. Click ‘make an account’ on the top right
3. Fill in the form, using your university email account as the email address.
4. You will get a verification email from PostAc to activate your account (if it doesn’t arrive in a couple of minutes, look in your spam folder).
5. If you have any problems making an account, or have any questions, email postac@anu.edu.au

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Attend workshops to find out more

Table below shows the times and dates for PostAc workshops in 2022. All sessions will take place over Zoom, and all Flinders HDR students and staff are welcome to attend. Click on the date and time link to register in the session.

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Two years in: what has the pandemic done to the research workforce?
Wednesday, 23 March 2022 7:30-8:30pm

For many years, PhD students and early career researchers have found it hard to maintain a career inside academia. While many are contemplating a career outside the university walls, it’s hard to know where to start. The pandemic has only increased this anxiety.

Come to this 1 hour briefing by the PostAc team from The Australian National University. Our team studies job ad postings using machine learning and natural language processing. Our product PostAc (postac.com.au) is a job ad platform designed just for researchers. 80% of employers who are looking for researchers do not use ‘PhD’ in the job ad. Our work makes this hidden job market visible.

In this lecture we will discuss how Covid has affected job ad postings in Australia, New Zealand and the UK over the last two years. Come along to this webinar if you want to:

• Enhance your understanding of the changed academic job market, including the effects of hiring freezes and travel restrictions.
• Increase your awareness of career opportunities in industry; which sectors are looking for research talent?
• Help you approach the non-academic job market with more confidence.

We will talk for approximately 40 minutes, leaving 20 minutes for you to ask the team your most pressing job market questions. PhD graduates and students, post docs, supervisors and Higher Education policy makers are welcome to attend.

There are only 500 seats available for this session. Accordingly, we have restricted participants to only the countries we are talking about in the presentation (Australia, New Zealand and the UK). A recording of the session will be made available at a later date.

Your PostAc team hosts will be: Professor Inger Mewburn, A/Prof Hanna Suominen, A/Prof Will Grant

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Introducing PostAc
Friday, 2022 1 April 12:30-1:30pm

When you do a PhD you are encouraged to develop a very narrow area of specialist expertise. We learn to think about ourselves as experts in a particular area, when in reality we are multi-talented, highly trained researchers who can use the skills we have developed doing a PhD to all sorts of roles – inside and outside of academia. This session is designed to help you better understand the skills you have and how they translate (or not) into a range of jobs inside and outside of academia.

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Network your way into a job
Thursday, 7 April 2022 12:30-1:30pm

At least three out of four jobs are never advertised – most people find jobs through word of mouth and personal recommendations. Our aim is to help you find a job you love within six months by growing and mobilising the power of PostAc and your professional networks. These techniques work for finding an academic or non-academic job.

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Preparing for your non-academic job search
Wednesday 13 April, 9:30am – 4:30pm (all day workshop)

Many people spend years preparing for an academic career and then decide to take another path after their PhD. However, getting a job outside academia when you finish a PhD can be a challenge.

This one day intensive workshop will help you identify opportunities and prepare for the job market. We will start by identifying possible career destinations and what you have to offer. We will then spend time preparing your career collateral (specifically resumes and the text for sites like Linkedin) and learn how to write a great cover letter. By the end of this workshop you will have developed a set of materials you can use on any job search.