myCareerCompass: Discover your professional DNA

Is it a challenge for you to identify or articulate your strengths? Or to translate your skills to a professional context? No worries, you are not alone. The online tool myCareerCompass (part of the larger career platform myCareerCompanion) helps you sharpen your professional DNA: ‘what are my skills, where do I get energy from, what motivates me, and which jobs and companies align with me’.
Based on scientifically founded exercises, it assists you in making your preferences concrete and tangible.

You will get the chance to explore myCareerCompass in a threefold manner:

1. Digital introduction session (Career Week)
June 11, 11:30-12:00

This intro session is a first dive into myCareerCompass. Specifically, this session will shed light on:

• the alignment between your career path and your strengths and interests,
• the driving forces that shape your career choices,
• several corporate cultures and organisation types.

2. Your personal career compass: digitally & individually

In this step, you individually complete the questionnaires in myCareerCompass (at home) and receive an elaborate, personalized report afterwards. The online report gives insight into interests, skills, possible job descriptions, fitting corporate cultures, and also provides tips and tricks. The results in this report will, among other things, be discussed during the live workshop (step 3).

Note: If you have already completed the tool in the past, it may still be valuable to attend the intro session and workshop. You may keep your earlier obtained results or choose to refresh the output based on your current insights.

3. Workshop and Q&A
June 19, 11:00-12:30

Did you complete the myCareerCompass? Great! Now turn insights into action: Learn how to take actionable steps and identify the most fitting work environment for your success.

Discover how your personal myCareerCompass output provides:

• Practical steps to concretize your professional journey
  • Which skills are in demand on the market today and which skills are transferable to various contexts? How can I use my compass to create a strong elevator pitch, CV or LinkedIn profile?
• Insights into suggested job descriptions and ideal work environments for you
  • What type of management style can I expect in different organizations/organizational cultures? How to choose an organization based on employer brand rather than consumer brand?
• Support in deciding between various possible career paths after your PhD
  • Postdoc, R&D, policy advisor, entrepreneur, … How to decide which is a good fit?

After the explanatory part, there is a Q&A session in which you can get all of your questions answered. You may ask them during a plenary Q&A at the end of the workshop or opt for a one-on-one conversation afterwards.

Competences

You will not only reflect upon your strengths, you will also (further) develop certain competences by participating in this workshop. The following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:

• personal effectiveness:
  • self-development
  • self-confidence
  • autonomy

For whom?

• PhD students & postdocs

When and where?

• June 11, 2024
  • 11:30-12:00 - digital introduction
    
    
• June 19, 2024
  • 11:00-12:30 - workshop
    • campus Diepenbeek, A4

Registration & preparation?

• Register here until May 31.
• Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).

Acknowledged as?

• DS ST: career and personal development - course/session about career or personal development
• DS BSH: career and personal development - 1 session aimed at career management
• DS HLS: category 'transferable skills' - half of a transferable skills course

This workshop is part of the 'career week' (10-14/06/24) and is organized by the career center in collaboration with the doctoral schools. Check out the full programme here.