Career development - online tools

Are you approaching the end of your PhD or postdoc? Then you might start to wonder what the next step in your career could be ...

What are my professional strengths as a young researcher and in which non-academic jobs can I apply them? How do I learn to better profile myself and build a professional network? How do I create a convincing CV? What kind of organisation would make me feel at home?

So many questions, so few answers ... But don't worry! That is where myCareerCompanion comes in.

This cutting-edge online career orientation platform will be an invaluable asset in gaining insight in your professional profile and will allow you to take a jump-start to brand yourself. It offers you personalized output on jobs that suit you as well as the type of organisation and working environment that will make you feel at home.

Grab the opportunity to thoroughly prepare yourself for the job market!

myCareerCompanion is a scientifically based online career orientation platform that helps you make the most of your talents. It guides you through your entire job search, from discovering what you want till landing your dream job. You will learn about your strengths, interests and career drivers, and receive a shortlist of possible job functions and working environments that naturally fit your profile.

Furthermore, myCareerCompanion offers a wide range of courses which will help you to shape your career. Acquire actionable knowledge and improve your skills.

Get to know yourself
Based on five questionnaires, you will learn about your strengths, interests, and job preferences. Our scientifically validated algorithm translates your results into possible job functions and company cultures that naturally fit your profile. All nicely made visible in your myCareerCompass section.

Learn and develop your skills
The myCourses section of your account on myCareerCompanion offers a wide range of courses that will help you to shape your career, build your brand, acquire actionable knowledge and improve your skills.

Job introductions
myCareerCompanion has a great record of coaching PhD students towards the labor market. If you want to be offered job opportunities matching your profile you can simply indicate this in your account.

Want to apply?

• Send a motivation statement to careercenter@uhasselt.be. It is important to explain why you think access to this platform may be useful for you, as we want to make sure that assigned accounts are actually being used. Only people providing a clear motivation will be assigned an account. Please also include your faculty and the start and end date of your contract.
• It is possible to apply for an account at any time throughout the year, except during the summer holidays.
• Once you have been assigned an account, you will receive a unique access code which can be used to log on to the platform a first time. You will need to create an account, after which you do not need the code any more. When creating your account, it is recommended to use an email address which will remain active indefinitely, as this will allow lifelong access to the platform.
  
  

The five Flemish universities are excited to present their interuniversity recruitment platform, PhD Talent Pool Flanders, designed to better and faster align the supply and demand for PhD talent.

This new career board is a major step to smoothen the transition of skilled PhD degree holders to the labour market, and support employers in their search for the best employees. It contains (both academic and non-academic) vacancies, company profiles, events, and much more.

Take charge of your career and create your profile now! Tips and tricks are available here.

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
Milton Berle

1. Start thinking about your career NOW. Don’t postpone it.
   
   
2. Dare to question yourself and your career. Take your professional life into your own hands. Other people cannot tell you what to do.
   
   
3. Know yourself. It’s the first step in any career planning. What do you want? What do you think is important? What makes your heart sing?
   
   
4. Build up expertise and develop a broad skills package. Personal development is key. You can always become a better version of yourself. (Make use of the doctoral school programme! Exploit it to your benefit.)
   
   
5. When thinking about career prospects, focus on skills/competences, rather than diploma or title. Transferable skills are at least equally important as technical skills, in any job or sector.
   
   
6. If you have a certain goal or position in mind, make sure you know what is expected and – if necessary – think of intermediate steps in order to get there.
   
   
7. Persist. If you really have it in you (be it teaching, research, management, …), you will be able to shine. It might take a while, but don’t let this discourage you.
   
   
8. Get out there and talk to people. Actively invest in building a network.
   
   
9. Show your competences to others. Always bring value, in your job but also when simply talking to people.
   
   
10. Go for international experience. It is valued in both non-academic and academic contexts and will moreover be highly beneficial to your personal development.
    
    
11. Don’t exclude anything based on fear or ignorance. Don’t be scared of new opportunities.
    
    
12. Don’t consider leaving academia as failure. There are interesting and challenging career paths ‘out there’ as well.

These tips were derived from testimonies of PhD holders working in various sectors (industry, teaching, policy, European Commission, politics) during the event ‘Beyond academia: How to pursue a career in the non-academic job market' on September 24, 2015.