From academia to industry - personal brand building in your resume (2026)

A picture or no picture on your resume? Only facts and figures or poetry? Include your publication list or exclude your publications altogether? What are the do’s the don’ts and … what are the myths? What do recruiters say about resumes and why? And what do you want your resume to say? All of the above questions are just a few of the most commonly asked questions by academic researchers with an interest of going to the industry.

In this 2-hour workshop, by Dr Robin Lefebvre (Grow2Excel) we will start by giving you an insider’s guide to how a recruiter works and how you can pitch your personal brand via your resume. We will touch on the basic, and less basic insights on a resume. And … why your PhD CV is special.

In addition, you can also register for 30 min one-on-one CV coaching by Robin. 

This event is part of the career week 2026. The Career Week is a joint initiative of the Doctoral Schools and HR Department. During this week, it’s all about exploring your opportunities, discovering which career path suit you and preparing for a better transition after finishing your PhD. The full programme can be viewed by clicking on the red button on top of this page. 

Learning outcomes

At the end of the workshop, you will have learned ...

• how an industry recruiter thinks
• how to start building your personal brand, and understand how AI Agents can help with this
• the key difference between an academic and an industry CV
• what a recruiter wants from a CV, what you want to convey…and why that is not the same thing.

Competences

An important part of preparing for any further professional step is becoming (more) aware of the competences you have developed and/or want to develop. In the current workshop, the following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:

• interpersonal competences:
  • stakeholder awareness
  • written communication
• intellectual competences:
  • critical judgment
  • creativity
• personal effectiveness:
  • autonomy
  • entrepreneurship
    
    

For whom?

• PhD students and postdocs
• Only people attending the workshop are eligible for individual coaching.

When and where?

• Workshop:
  • October 9, 10:00-12:00 (online)
• Individual coaching (30 min, individual timeslots to choose from):
  • October 19, 8:30-17:30 (online)

Registration?

• Register via this link from June 4 until September 14, 2026.
• As places are limited, registering does not automatically imply that you will be able to participate. You will be notified by email after the registration deadline has passed.
• Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).

Acknowledged as?

• DS BSH: category 'career management & personal development' - workshop on career management
• DS ST: category 'career & personal development' - workshop on career management