Take Charge of Your Career Workshop

The Adelaide Graduate Research School is pleased to offer HDR students access to a New Virtual Workshop ‘Take Charge of Your Career’.

Research careers are sought-after and increasingly competitive. It has never been more important for HDR candidates to be strategic about career moves, develop effective networks and master the right skills to get into their careers of choice.

This workshop is for you if you want to be proactive about your job prospects, looking for practical ways to structure your progress and succeed in your preferred career - in academia or beyond.

  • About Take Charge of your Career

    This workshop is delivered virtually over 2 consecutive mornings

    It delivers:

    • tools to help you develop a career plan tailored to your strengths and preferences;
    • a personal roadmap for the career path that will work best for you;
    • analysis of your current network of contacts and how to expand it to benefit your career;
    • practical advice on marketing yourself and your skills;
    • strategies for developing transferrable skills suited to a career in, or outside, academia.

  • Workshop Dates

    Join us for our upcoming workshops.
    Each workshop runs from 9.30am to 1.30pm over two consecutive days, delivered via Interactive Zoom Meeting.

    Faculty specific dates:

    • Science, Engineering and Technology students
      9.30am - 1.30pm on Tuesday the 3rd and Wednesday the 4th of September, 2024 OR Thursday the 14th and Friday the 15th of November, 2024
    • Arts, Business, Law and Economics students
      9.30am - 1.30pm on Tuesday the 1st and Wednesday the 2nd of October, 2024
    • Health and Medical Sciences students
      9.30am - 1.30pm on Thursday the 31st of October and Friday the 1st of November, 2024

    Each two half-day workshop qualifies for 8 CaRST Credits in Domain B.

     

    Day 1 Agenda: Why and how to plan your career

    from 9:15

    Zoom room opens, please connect a few minutes early for a 9:30 am start

    9:30 - 10:00

    Introduction and overview of the day

    Context: the employment market for researchers and what it means for you

    10:00 - 11:30

    Session 1 - Aim: Know your strengths, know your options

    • Preface: taking charge of your career 
    • Exercise Theme A: Capabilities and preferences
    • Exercises Theme B: Exploring your choices

    11:30 - 11:45

    Tea / coffee break

    11:45 - 1:00

    Session 2 - Aim: Create your career plan

    • Preface: the art of ‘bringing the future into the present’
    • Exercises Theme C: Mapping your career

    1:00 – 1:30

    Post-workshop Q&A as required
     
    Day 2 Agenda: How to implement your plans

    from 9:15

    Zoom room opens, please connect a few minutes early for a 9:30 am start

    9:30 - 11:15

    Session 3 - Aim: Build your networks, develop your profile

      • Exercises Theme D: Define and strengthen your networks
    • Presentation: how to market yourself and create linkages that get you ahead

    11:15 - 11:30

    Tea / coffee break

    11:30 - 12:40

    Session 4 - Aim: Develop and sell the skills that win you jobs

    • Preface: Skills and track record requirements for positions in academia, government and industry
    • Exercises Theme E: How to capitalise on transferrable skills

    12:40 - 1:00

    Mastermind exercise and closing

    1:00 – 1:30

    Post-workshop Q&A as required

    Please note there will be additional 5-minute breaks at regular intervals throughout both days.

  • About the facilitator

    Dr Kerstin Fritsches Managing Director of PostdocTraining

    Kerstin is a former research fellow who spent the majority of her 12-year research career on grant funding, with first-hand experience of the challenges facing early career researchers and a strong track record in postdoc affairs and career development. 

    A lack of effective career training for PhDs led Kerstin to found PostdocTraining in 2011, to bridge a gap in professional development by delivering support tailored specifically for PhD candidates, postdocs and other early career researchers. 

    PostdocTraining delivers career development support in the form of online training and workshops for researchers worldwide and Kerstin has become a sought-after workshop facilitator on topics such as career planning, time management and research leadership, both in Australia and Europe.

  • Testimonials

    “Fantastic and very useful course! The course gave me many ideas, tips, open my mind to new / unknown directions / approaches and showed me how to plan my career.”

    “Excellent combination of theory, individual brainstorming and discussion in small groups. Good duration of sessions. Very good structure and transitions between sessions. Kerstin has a research background so very knowledgeable about the field and excellent moderator.”

    “Very good format that was well suited for online. The workshops were time efficient and introspective, which I appreciate rather than a series of cliché lectures. The lessons were quite general but structured in a way that you can make it applicable to yourself and take concrete actions based on the content.”

    “The workshop really covered things that I need to reflect upon…. It was a great mix of listening and discussing, I really liked that we got the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation.”

The Adelaide Graduate Research School will fund a limited number of HDR students to participate in the workshop.

The Application has now closed for 2024.

Further information

For further information contact: carst@adelaide.edu.au