 Pickering began his professional career as an industrial market research executive (1961–62) before being appointed as a lecturer at Durham University (1964–66) and University of Sussex (1966–73).After a brief period at the Administrative Staff College, Henley (now Henley Business School) he joined University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) as professor of industrial economics (1975–88), later serving as both vice-principal (1983–85) and dean (1985–87).Between 1988 and 1990, Pickering served as vice-president of the University of Portsmouth (formerly Portsmouth Polytechnic); he was also the institution's acting president (1990–1), deputy president (1991–92), and deputy vice-chancellor (1992–94).