Grow your future career

It’s never too late to start growing your future career. And shaping your future starts with you.

This 3-day training, by Dr Robin Lefebvre (Grow2Excel), will help you to build the brand called YouTM, by starting from your strengths, values and passions. Starting from why you do what you do, how you do it and what you stand for. Afterwards, you will learn how and where to sell it. This includes getting insider information on how talent-based recruitment works. As well as learning about how to prepare, the do’s and don’ts for your resume and how to shine in your interview.

The training will include a mix of different working methods to ensure interaction and engagement. It combines a concise presentation, short video clips, individual tasks, breakout group work, guided small-group discussions and plenary debriefs as well as individual feedback moments.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the workshop, you will be able to ...

• increase your self-awareness by building your Brand You™ and know how to sell your personal brand effectively,
• understand what recruiters seek across different types of organisations, including academic institutions, small and large industries, government bodies and NGOs,
• understand the market trends and the different organisational cultures,
• prepare and practice each stage of the job application process, including networking, job searching, online and email applications, crafting a CV and cover letter, building and optimising a LinkedIn profile, preparing for online assessment tests, excelling in assessment interviews and negotiating salary,
• understand the purpose of a CV and the key do’s and don’ts for creating a non-academic CV.

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:

• personal effectiveness:
  • self-development
• interpersonal competences:
  • customer-orientedness
  • stakeholder awareness
  • oral communication
  • persuasion
• intellectual competences:
  
  • creativity

For whom?

• PhD students and postdocs
• There are 15 places available.

When and where?

• January 12, 13 & 30, 2026 - 09:00-13:00 
• Location: campus Diepenbeek, building D, room C22.

Preparation?

Before the training, participants share their personal learning goals and complete an in-depth online 360° competency review, inviting peers, colleagues, friends and family to rate them on key competencies and values. They also bring their latest CV and a relevant job posting. The program spans two sessions: after the first two days, participants update their CV or cover letter and receive one-to-one, personalized feedback from the trainer on their revised documents.

Registration?

• Register here from September 25 until December 14, 2025.
• Please register only if you can attend all days.
• 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 HLS: category 'transferable skills' - compulsory elective course
• DS ST: category 'career & personal development' - workshop on career management