Career Management Workshops

 

I offer a portfolio of workshops and executive coaching to support the professional development of academics at all levels. These workshops vary in length and focus but all are theoretically informed and structured using at least one of three parts.

Explore

Explore

Employer perceptions, career journeys, motivations and opportunities are explored. This creates an interruption, enables knowledge and opportunity sharing and uses peer coaching to develop clarity around priorities.

Understand

Understand

Selected transition data is presented to enable an understanding of commons trends, challenges and options. This can reduce isolation; provide context and offer stimulation regarding trajectories not previously considered.

plan

Plan

Career-planning tools are presented and applied to identify priorities; peer coaching is used to turn these into goals, a career management timeline. These are presented back to the group and accountability is built in.

Workshops for Staff

Mapping and prioritising workloads within a research environment 

Early and middle career researchers can feel overwhelmed by the diversity of projects, the research environment and the responsibilities of the day to day. Clarity and goal setting can be powerful in enabling meaningful outputs. So can an awareness of the research environment and the challenges and opportunities this presents. This set of 4, half day workshops, Action Learning Sets and accompanying coaching package are set within the context of the current Concordat and can be mapped onto University’s HR Excellence in Research action plan. Staff are able to clarify their professional intentions, develop awareness of the research environment, problem solve and build professional networks of support. This enables staff to navigate, with support, the practicalities of their professional goals.

Workshops for PGRs and ECRs

What can I do with a Doctorate? – I’ve got a PhD, what now! 

Many PGRs and ECRs struggle to pro-actively plan for their post PhD future. PhDs change us, understanding ourselves professionally and making plans in relation to this requires some structure. Developing a post PhD career can reduce procrastination, save time, increase confidence and improve focus in relation to professional goals. Coaching models combined with social theory enable an interruption, an opportunity to reflect, away from the intensity of the Doctorate, in order to gain awareness and clarity regarding post PhD options. Graduates are equipped with the necessary skills to utilise their Doctorate within or outside academia. Workshops can be 1.5 or 2 days, interdisciplinary or subject specific. This workshop was evaluated at Vitae’s Researcher Developer International Conference, 2019. Outcomes:

  • Develop clarity regarding career options and influencing factors
  • Understand PhD transition trends, common experiences and challenges
  • Understand career-planning strategies and create a career plan
  • Build relationships of support and accountability

Mini Workshops, Group or Individual Coaching

If you would like to keep costs down, elements of ‘I’ve got a PhD, what now!’ or ‘Mapping and prioritising workloads within a research environment’ can be bolted together or purchased separately as stand alone 2/3-hour workshops, Action Leaning Sets or one to one Coaching.  For example, ‘I’ve got a PhD, what now!’ can be run as part of series of 3 under the titles: Exploring My Post PhD Career Options’, Understanding Post PhD Career Trends’ andPlanning My Post PhD Career‘.

Feedback From Workshops

Feedback from workshops has been excellent (see testimonials below), participants discuss moments of clarity, support and motivation for their future carer and the submission of their thesis.  Many choose to continue conversations following course completion. Such networks can reduce isolation, provide spaces for conversations regarding career development, enable accountability and support professional development (HEFC Report).

Outcomes are inline with The Concordat principles 3, 4 and 5, thus supporting the HE Excellence Award and the QAA Quality Code for HE.

FIND OUT MORE

If you are interested in running a workshop within your University, please get in touch. If I do not have what you are looking for, I am well connected with other University trainers and am happy to connect you. 

Testimonials from workshops