"I made some great contacts and became inspired for future career options."

At this year's Vitae Researcher Developer International Conference, employers were invited for the first time to participate in an employer reception. The aim was to facilitate the dialogue between employers, researcher developers and researchers, and also to raise awareness of the value of researchers amongst employers. The reception started with an update on the latest news on the higher education sector and Vitae resources for employers, followed by an ‘elevator pitch competition', where researchers presented the added value they bring to employers. Researchers had the opportunity to present their pitches face to face to employers and researchers developers, and afterwards participants were encouraged to give their feedback and network. The winner of the competition was awarded with a free subscription for a year to THE magazine.

‘The employers reception was certainly one of the most useful career development activities that I have ever taken part in. The act of preparing the pitch prior to the competition encouraged me to really consider the skills that experience as a researcher has given me, which will prove invaluable when applying for jobs in the future. Delivering the pitch to employers was far more enjoyable than I was anticipating – I really didn’t have much confidence that I would be any good at it, since it was a big leap into the unknown. However, I loved the whole experience, and was so happy and grateful to win the competition. The opportunity to network with the employers during and after the competition was incredibly useful - I made some great contacts and became inspired for future career options.’

The winner of the Elevator pitch competition at the Employer reception