Dr Holly Prescott

I’m Holly, and one day in April 2011, I cried into my Espresso Martini in a bar in Birmingham, convinced that no-one would employ me. I was close to completing a PhD in English, and felt rudderless. I had been taking a ‘scattergun’ approach to applying for jobs that I really knew little about; after having been considered a ‘high achiever’, the idea I might ultimately amount to nothing much felt very, very real.

Fast forward to today, I’m now a qualified a career guidance practitioner with 10 years of experience specialising in working with postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers. My particular specialism lies in helping PhD (and other) researchers to explore their career options beyond academia. So far, both in my work as PGR Careers Adviser at the University of Birmingham and as a freelance trainer working across a range of universities and associations in the UK, Ireland, and Germany, I’ve supported thousands of researchers to feel more confident and better equipped to take their next steps.

In 2021, I launched ‘PostGradual’, a blog tackling some of the most persistent questions around post-PhD careers, and which has so far attracted nearly 75,000 unique viewers from over 150 different countries. My book, Navigating Careers Beyond Academia: A Practical Handbook for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers is due to be published by Routledge in 2026. I have also featured on a range of podcasts discussing career development
and transition for researchers, including ‘Careers in Your Ears,’ ‘Research Adjacent,’ and the Nature Careers Podcast.

I offer a suite of online and in-person workshops designed to help researchers understand what they want from their next steps, explore their options, appreciate and articulate their skills, and prepare to job hunt beyond academia. I also design bespoke workshops for CDTs, DTPs, academic departments, and academic associations and societies, and can offer 1:1 person-centred career guidance.

If you’d like to find out more, or would like to discuss bespoke workshops or resources to help support your researchers, then get in touch!

holly@phd-careers.co.uk