Career Planning for HDR Students

1
Career Planning for HDR Students
Tony McAvaneyCareers AdvisorUniSA Career
Services
2
Seminar Objectives

• By the end of this session you will be able to
• Explain the benefits of having a career plan and
  identify resources to assist you with this
• Describe common employment destinations for HDR
  graduates
• Identify job search strategies that are relevant
  to how the employment market really operates
• Describe some basic principles for self marketing
  including how to position yourself in the
  marketplace

3
What is your marketing message?

• A question often asked at commencement of
  interview is Tell us a little about yourself
• What would you say in answer to this question?
• Its a request for a positioning statement - give
  a strong, positive overview of
• Your career background summary of career
  progression
• Your key strengths skills, knowledge, attitude
• Some milestone career (not just academic)
  achievements
• Your aims in going forward in your career (that
  would resonate with a potential employer)

4
Todays career paradigm

• From lifetime employment, to lifetime
  employability
• From job for life, to no guarantees employers
  owing their people less and less
• Nature of work is changing - less emphasis on
  secure job with regular tasks, pay, hours and
  place of work
• Job role and advancement becoming more based on
  contribution, what you know and your skills -
  not seniority/loyalty
• More people opting for roles which offer autonomy
  and life style balance portfolio career
• On the other hand skills shortages some
  organisations having to focus on staff retention

5
So what?

• Organisations ultimately do what is expedient
  much less paternalistic today
• Individuals having to become more self reliant in
  managing their careers
• More career transitions for more people - (e.g.
  careers in future likely to involve 12-25 jobs in
  5 different industries)
• New career paradigm means individuals need to
  acquire skills for career planning and management
  
• If it is to be - it is up to me!

6
The Post Grad Employment Market
7
The PhD

• 2007 GDS
• 88 in full time employment
• 7 work part time seeking FT
• 5 not working, seeking FT
• Traditionally a PhD seen as apprenticeship for
  research and teaching in academia
• Approximately 50 of PhD candidates do not end up
  in academia

8
Employment Sectors for HDR (2007 GDS)

• Education 50
• Private 27
• Government 22
• NFP/other 1

9
Fields of employment (07 GDS)

• Engineering and related 30
• Health 14
• Education 13
• Management, commerce 13
• Society and culture 12
• Natural and physical sciences 7
• Creative arts 4
• Information technology 4
• Architecture and building 2
• Agriculture, environment 1

10
Private sector roles

• 46 in business/finance
• 21 in manufacturing
• 12 in private health
• 4 in private practice

11
Government

• Federal 18
• State 35
• Defence 21
• Public health 25

12
Occupations

• Employment Type
• 13 - Managerial
• 77 - As a professional - specialty area
• 10 - Para professional
• Roles
• 36 - Uni lecturer, tutor
• 10 - Engineer
• 8 - IT professional
• 5 - Vocational teacher
• 14 - Other professional roles

13
Career Planning
14
What is a career plan?

• A plan for the direction of your working life
  this should be a lifelong activity
• Consists of
• An overarching vision for what you want to
  achieve in your working life
• Short, medium and longer term goals for your
  career progression
• Matching your personality, values, beliefs,
  skills and interests to work which is rewarding
  to you

15
Career planning - how?

• Essentially a three step process
• 1. Self awareness - where am I now and how did I
  get here?
• 2. Options awareness - whats out there for me,
  where am I going vision for the future?
• 3. Self marketing - how will I get there?
  action planning to achieve your goals

16
Career planningSelf analysis

• Thorough review of self should enable you to
  summarise
• Your top 5
• Personality characteristics
• Values
• Skills
• Areas of knowledge
• Areas of career interest
• These areas represent your point of difference
  in the marketplace

17
What skills do employers want?

• In addition to professional/technical skills the
  following meta-competencies are commonly
  required
• oral and written communication skills
• creative problem-solving skills
• initiative and enterprise skills
• planning and organising skills
• learning skills
• technology skills
• team working skills
• self management skills
• emotional intelligence interpersonal skills

18
Job Ad Consultant Research

• THE ROLEIn this critical role the successful
  candidate will be part of a cutting edge team
  consisting of industry leading analysts and
  consultants. Paramount to the Consultants
  role, is the sustainability of long-term business
  relationships gained through a comprehensive
  understanding of the client's business context
  and industry challenges involved in the research
  process.THE APPLICANTA Consultant has the
  ability to identify and present the key findings
  of the research in a clear and persuasive manner,
  with concise and actionable reports. Excellent
  verbal, written and interpersonal communication
  skills are essential.An enthusiastic,
  proactive, and confident approach to business is
  essential. The successful candidate will thrive
  on gaining trust, credibility and establishing
  rapport with Managers and will be used to working
  in a fast paced, collegial work environment.The
  successful candidates previous experience will
  include working in a corporate environment and/or
  managing projects in small to medium sized
  organisations, ideally by using quantitative
  and/or qualitative research methods and drawing
  on keen analytical skills. A strong academic
  background having completed a Masters Degree or
  PhD is highly desirable.

19
Job Ad Process Dev. Mgr

• Multinational biotech company dedicated to the
  discovery, development and commercialization of
  novel class drugs
• Lead the Process Development team and be
  responsible for designing and setting up the
  laboratory, managing technical and financial
  aspects of the projects and developing a
  strategic plan and tactical methodology for
  scaling up production of product candidates to
  support clinical trials, and eventual
  commercialization and distribution to market.
• Prospective candidates will have
• B. Sc. and PhD
• Several years experience in the biotech or
  pharmaceutical industry
• Training in GMP compliance
• Experience in development of therapeutic protein
  product
• Proven leadership skills
• Project management experience
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Experience in working with CMO to technology
  transfer process development and production of
  clinical trial products

20
Your career plus

• What are your strongest values, needs, motives
  and goals for other aspects of your life
• Family
• Relationships
• Mental
• Physical
• Social
• Financial
• Spiritual

21
Self assessment resources

• http//www.windmillsprogramme2007.co.uk/frames.asp
  - tools to explore and audit Me Pty Ltd
• http//www.careerexplorer.net/aptitude.asp - a
  range of self assessment tools, including
  personality assessment
• http//www.seek.com.au/if.asp?locdirection
  free assessment of preferences and competencies
• http//www.careers.qut.edu.au/courseplanning/selfa
  ssessment/ - basic tools values, skills,
  interests, working environment
• http//www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca/index2.asp - a very
  good resource, step by step approach to career
  planning
• http//www.careers.mq.edu.au/sub/students/PGRSWork
  book.pdf - Macquarie Uni workbook for Post Grad
  research students

22
Options awareness

• Decision making in relation to employment
  targeting is difficult for some
• A targeted approach generates better results than
  any job will do
• OK to have several options
• Start with big picture decisions and narrow
  choices down from there

23
Develop a work target

• Define the criteria for the work you want to do
• The nature and level of the work
• Type of organisation and industry environment
• Management environment
• Remuneration and location

24
Generating options

• Which sector?
• Public Federal, State, Local -
• Private which industry sector or market niche,
  reach, size,
• NFP/NGO which sector/niche
• Reach or market? - global, national, local,
  regional etc
• Large bureaucracy/corporate, SME, self employment?

25
Targeting options
Health Care
Public Health
Clinical
Allied Health
Natural Therapies
Health Infrastructure
Health Intervention
Health Intelligence
26
Create a target list

• Final step - develop and maintain a data base of
  your targeted list of potential employers
• Directories search
• Yellow Pages
• Online directories
• http//www.dlook.com.au/
• http//www.nationwide.com.au/
• Google search

27
Career planning - summary

• Through structured self-analysis develop a
  concise picture of what you have to offer, and
  also your needs
• Identify employment options that match your
  capabilities, interests and values
• Next step your self marketing strategy

28
Self marketing strategy
29
What do employers want?

• Landing a job involves selling a successful
  sale occurs when the buyers needs are met
• Your sales pitch must address how you will meet
  these employer needs
• CAN you do the job your skills,
  professional/technical and meta-skills, knowledge
  (and qualifications)
• WILL you do the job interest in the position,
  overall motivation to perform the role, work
  ethic etc
• FIT personality, values, communication style,
  likeability, personal presentation

30
The employment marketDid you know?
31
Job search strategy - balance

• Everyone looks at applies for work through the
  advertised market
• Your job search stops if there are no advertised
  positions reactive vs proactive strategy
• Few of your colleagues (competitors!) are likely
  to be effectively networking

32
The advertised market

• Newspapers, journals, newsletters etc
• On-line register at least with seek.com and
  careerone
• Industry associations, specialist job boards
• Recruiters identify and work with 2 or 3,
  complete list at SA Central
• Graduate recruitment UniSA careers website

33
Explore the hidden market

• Accessed through networking
• Job search networking means meeting people you
  know personally, or on a referral basis to
  conduct information interviews
• Seek advice or guidance about how to find work in
  your chosen field
• Research the industry and job roles you have
  targeted
• Research individual organisations their needs,
  recruitment processes, decision makers/key people

34
Referral based networkingAdvantages

• No cold calling strangers
• Contacting people you know who provide easy
  access to those you dont know
• Target your contacts its about connections 6
  degrees of separation!
• If your contact cant help, ask if they know
  someone who can

35
Other networking strategies

• Some of the more obvious ways to expand and
  cultivate your network
• Join professional associations
• Seek mentoring
• Develop contacts in your discipline, involve
  people/organisations in your research
• Publish your work, write book reviews
• Attend/help organise conferences, seminars,
  workshops
• Cultivate referees, relationships with associates
  through your employment

36
Positioning

• Develop a personal commercial
• A strong, positive overview of
• Your career background summary of career
  progression
• What you are doing now, and why
• Your key strengths skills, knowledge, attitude
• Some milestone career (not just academic)
  achievements
• Your aims in going forward in your career (that
  would resonate with a potential employer)

37
Summary

• In this session we have
• Discussed the changing employment paradigm and
  its impact on career planning generally
• Looked at some of the factors to be included in a
  career planning and self assessment exercise
• Identified job search strategies you can apply in
  both the visible and hidden employment market
• Described the importance of positioning yourself
  in the marketplace being able to articulate who
  you are, what you have to offer in terms of
  experience and capability, and where you are
  wanting to go in your career