The PhD Career Ladder Program

Step One: Self-assessment

 

1. Before the meeting: complete a self-assessment

   • we used myIDP, which is designed for science-related PhDs (registration for the site is free but required)

   • there are many other self-assessment tools you can use (if you find one that works, let us know!)

   • *the advantage of the myIDP assessment is that it provides career options based on the results; therefore if you use another test, you will have to find career "matches" independently - consider adding another step to accomplish this
      

2. Individual member introductions

   • program of study

   • thesis project

   • goals of your participation in PCLP
      

3. Individual reports on results from self-assessment

   • general reflections on the process

   • were you surprised by the results?

   • what are your top 3 most interesting career matches?
      

4. Connect students with similar or shared interests

   • have students with similar career matches exchange contact information to facilitate information sharing
      

5. Assignment for Step Two: choose 1-2 of your career matches and research them further

   • start Googling!!

   • what are the job titles of your favorite career (YFC)?

   • what companies or organizations require YFC?

   • what are the daily activities of YFC?

   • the idea is to learn more about the career option and figure out if it's really something you'd like to do