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I found it important to discuss the application with my line manager, the department head and faculty dean early on in the process to gather support for the application and review
I first applied to enter the Career Track two years ago, and was unsuccessful. The panel suggested that I may want to re-apply in 4 or 5 years when I had better publications, grant income and evidence of leadership. The following year I applied for promotion following the LSTM promotion procedures, and the promotion panel approved my promotion and encouraged me to consider application to career track: I applied again and this time was successful.
My CV at the time of application included a current grant income of £4.6 million and previous grant income of £118,000. I had 30 peer reviewed publications – 23 empirical research publications, 4 reviews and 3 viewpoint articles, and one book chapter. My CV also showed evidence of: growing leadership in my research area; experience, excellence and commitment to teaching; and citizenship roles within and outside of LSTM.
I found it important to discuss the application with my line manager, the department head and the faculty dean early on in the process to gather support for the application and review it. I also received support and constructive review and suggestions from within the health systems group (including from those who had been through the process themselves). The reviews were helpful in demarcating my unique selling point and academic trajectory and achieving the right balance between promoting myself versus overselling achievements and capacities.