Exciting book news, and your help is required!

I have been commissioned by Trotman Publishing to write a book this year for careers professionals. It is an introductory guide for anyone working frontline in the careers sector (in its widest sense) on how to get started with doing research.

I am currently seeking careers professionals to contribute insightful comments and help me ensure I have pitched the textbook at the right level for what you need.

📖 About the book

Many practitioners want to use their workplace as the basis for research but are unsure of where to start. You might have a specific client group whose needs you would like to better understand, or a project to evaluate. You might want to unpick some fundamentals of practice, or propose a new way of working, but you feel under-confident and do not know where to begin.

My book explains why it matters that you conduct research, and guides you through how to plan, deliver and share robust, ethically sound research with the right audience.

📖 How you can get involved

Throughout the book there will be helpful tips from fellow practitioners and stakeholders, and this is where you come in.

I have three asks and I am certain that any of the career development professionals in my networks can respond to at least one of them!

  1. I am looking for practitioners who have conducted research, of any form and of any size (and I am really keen to reinforce here that a research project doesn’t have to be huge to be of value!) to help demystify the process for those feeling daunted. It would be great to hear your insights on the process (everything from what the biggest challenges were for you, through to what made the whole process worthwhile).
  2. I am also really keen to hear from you if the mere threat of doing a research project fills you with fear, dread or imposter syndrome! What’s stopping you from getting started? (The answer to this will hopefully be “nothing!” once you’ve read my book!)
  3. I’m also looking for a practitioners to test out some of the accompanying resources for the book.

If you are keen to get involved, please let me know by contacting me by email, sending a direct message on here or by posting a comment. I can attribute your comments to you in the book or make them anonymous (please let me know in your replies) but what matters most is that the thoughts, feelings and experiences of those working frontline in the sector inform what I am writing.

📖 And some thank yous so far

I am absolutely delighted to have this text book underway, and need to give a nod to Claire Johnson and Siobhan Neary. Thank you both for the excellent initial chat, some time ago, that I typed up, talked through with the wonderful Alexandra Price and have finally transformed from a one page document in my OneDrive into a fully fledged book!

Thank you also to all of the careers practitioners who have fed back on the resources I have already written on this topic, or studied with me on my researcher CPD courses or as masters students. The comments you have made over the years about the challenges and rewards of research have been what inspired me to undertake this project. The book came about because the work you do, how you do it, and the difference it makes, matters.


Spines of books and text saying practitioner-led research my forthcoming book for careers professionals


 

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