The presentation will be based on my career from starting out from Liverpool on the work journey to today working as a consultant for a leading IT management consultancy. The work examples will be IT based by definition but will be made general to provide interest to all the room attendees. Examples from two leading management consultancies will be given. Why "Subject Matter Expert"? This term will be used to help interpret employability and how the business world is changing and has changed over the past 20 years or so. Subject Matter Experts are not just people who work in Management Consultancies so we will also take a more interactive look at different types of career opportunities, career aspirations and most importantly job satisfaction. Also leaving University is all about learning life skills and adjusting to the workplace several interactive examples will be used to hopefully to confirm career tips previously heard and rightly so. So in conclusion, the brief will be followed but hoping that the short interactive interludes will help to get everyone involved and mold the presentation to make the session enjoyable and rewarding to all.

Subject Matter Experts:

Are leaders in their field.
Establish trust quickly.
Are chosen by the media more often as sources of information.
Are sought-after as speakers, presenters and industry representatives.
Are the people you want to be associated with and conduct business with.
Become the go-to vendors in their industry.

Put simply, a Subject Matter Expert is someone who knows a particular subject well enough to have influence in decisions, and discussions, over others. These persons are usually the first to be called or to be asked an opinion about this particular area or subject. The good news is that anyone with in-depth knowledge of specific products or services can become a Subject Matter Expert. The opportunity exists for you to influence your own reputation.

In competitive fields like science, IT and healthcare, expert knowledge is a commodity that earns compensation well beyond the norm. Companies want to hire a subject matter expert and leverage that expertise to increase their market reputation. However, job seekers using only their technical skills, certifications, and work history to establish that authority at times fall short. The way to become a Subject Matter Expert depends on more than niche knowledge and practical experience; it requires savvy branding to convey that your skills far surpass the crowd.

Dr Roy Grafton will talk about his experience and offer tips and strategies for becoming a subject matter expert at a technical consultancy.

Presenter: Dr Roy Grafton completed his PhD and BSc Maths and Statistics from the University of Liverpool. He is a Programme Manager / Senior Project Manager at Capgemini. Prior to this, he was Senior Project Manager at Tata Consultancy Services.

The following elements of the Making an Impact 2019 Framework are relevant to this session:

Impact Clusters: Making an Impact on Society; Making an Impact on Public Policy or Services; Making an Impact on the Economy; Making an Impact beyond Academia

Knowledge and Skills Axis: Working with business; Working with the public and third sector; Skills, enterprise and entrepreneurship;

The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) attributes developed during this session are relevant to the following sub-domains: Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities: A1, A2, A3; Personal Effectiveness: B1, B2, B3; Engagement, Influence and Impact: D1, D2, D3

Stay in Touch: For the latest news and information about Making an Impact 2019, resources & research staff development opportunities, follow @LivResearcher & @LivUniAcademy on Twitter and the hashtag #unilivimpact19. Further details about other sessions during Making an Impact 2019 can be found at: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/making-impact/

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How my PhD led me to become a Subject Matter Expert