This course helps you build a realistic, well-argued career plan based on your skills, your motivations and the state of the market.
It is aimed at anyone still weighing up several paths, academic or otherwise.
Programme
Taking stock of your background
- Spotting the turning points in your path and what they reveal.
- Identifying what drives you, the working conditions you prefer and your red lines.
- Setting out your decision criteria and ranking them.
Exploring the options
- An overview of where a thesis can lead: public research, industry, consulting, technology transfer, scientific publishing, the civil service and starting your own business.
- Going after the information: networking conversations, professional bodies and career outcome data.
- Testing your assumptions against reality and refining them.
Building your action plan
- Framing one or two career scenarios and testing them.
- Identifying skills gaps and how to close them.
- Setting yourself a timeline, milestones and indicators.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- articulate their skills, their motivations and their decision criteria;
- identify several career paths consistent with their profile;
- hold a networking conversation to confirm or rule out a path;
- set out a realistic, dated action plan.
Teaching methods
A mix of input, individual exercises and small-group discussion. A workbook supports each stage and stays useful after the course.
Assessment and follow-up
Learning is assessed by self-assessment at the start and end of the session, followed by a review meeting after three months.
