Build Your Research Profile

Excellent research is only one part of a successful academic career. Making sure other people know about what you’re doing, and getting your name and your research to the academic community are crucial to building on your work and developing new opportunities for the future.

While it might be tempting to think that good work speaks for itself, developing a strong professional profile will greatly increase the impact your work can have, and help get it to a wider audience. It can also lead to opportunities and invitations to participate in activities, which in turn spark further possibilities.

Based on research at a number of large organisations, this chart lays out the three most significant factors for advancing your career:

Performance	10%	What you do
Image	30%	How you show people what you do Do you appear: confident? Assertive? Knowledgeable? What impression do you give of yourself and your work?
Exposure	60%	Who you show what you do Colleagues / College / Academic community / Wider society

Adapted from: Harvey Coleman, ‘Empowering yourself:  the organizational game revealed’ (Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2005)

While it may seem unfair to think that your performance only accounts for 10%, in actuality your work is expected to be of a high standard, so the other two criteria become more important in order to set you apart.

So how do I go about it?

The good news is that while it may require a little effort, there are many straightforward, concrete things you can do to increase your visibility.

We’ve put together some resources that we hope will guide you through the process, so click on the links below to get started.

Online Tools
Networking
Checklist: Things to do to raise your profile