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Your Career Compass
3-Part Workshop Series
Your Career Compass Workshops
- designed specifically for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
- each session builds on the previous so must be taken in order
- are offered every term
- are facilitated by a career education specialist from Career and Volunteer Services
- have limited seating so sign up early
How much time will this take?
Each workshop is 2 hours (online). Total in-class time is 6 hours (for all three sessions). You’ll undertake some small activities on your own time in between each session. You may choose how much additional time you wish to invest in career-life clarification and intentional exploration and some of the complimentary exercises you’ll be introduced to each session. Sessions must be taken sequentially.
What career-life questions are you asking yourself?
Would you like to get clear about what really matters to you, what might be possible, and create a plan to move forward to your future?
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partnership with Career and Volunteer Services offers a three-part career clarification and exploration series for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to help you answer these questions.
Whether you would like to narrow your career options inside or outside of academia, this series will guide you to chart your own course.
What’s in it for you?
A three part sequential workshop with your peers
An evidence-based narrative assessment experience
Tapping into events and experiences in your life up to now to clarify your values, strengths and interests
Discovering new career-life possibilities
Creating action plans to guide your next steps and career management strategies
Substantive takeaways and tools that you may return to again and again
Our Professional Development Wayfinder and Career Compass are designed to not only make the most of your graduate student experience, but to also discover the skills you've built in order to pave your own career journey.
Learn more about why this is important in Ph.D.s should separate their degree from a singular career path and consider new narratives
Planning for life after grad school when you're about to graduate (University Affairs, March 2021) outlines some of the things that Your Career Compass Workshops helps you to navigate, regardless of the stage you're at in your graduate student journey.
Read about how Your Career Compass Workshops can be useful for you in considering the right Postdoc position for you.
Spring 2022 Dates
Session 1:
Thur, Feb 17, 10:30am-12:20pm
Session 2:
Thur, March 3, 10:30am -12:20pm
Session 3:
Thur, March 17, 10:30am -12:20pm
Registration for the Spring 2022 series is now open!
Sign up and enroll for all three sessions.
Workshops will be held remotely.
If you have questions or trouble registering please contact Stevie Benisch at scb@sfu.ca
Getting Started
Pre-requisites: None
Session 1
Use an evidence-based narrative assessment method to:
- take stock of your current situation, interests and strengths
- explore your values and priorities
- identify future career possibilities inside and outside of academia
Connecting the Dots & Prioritizing
Pre-requisites: Session 1
Session 2
Distill and prioritize what matters most to you and craft a statement that will act like a compass and set you up for creating, recognizing, and acting opportunities to move forward.
Taking Action & Moving Forward
Pre-requisites: Sessions 1 & 2
Session 3
Develop action plans for different possibilities and identify ways to take meaningful actions to make well-informed career, work, and life choices.
About the tools used in Your Career Compass
Clarification Sketch
A snapshot of your desires, strengths, assets, and possibilities from your significant career and life events and experiences; essential bits of data that help you frame choices for creating your inspired next move with confidence.
Statement
Capture the essence of who you are, what matters to you, and how you want to be in the world in your own words. Use this tool to navigate our unpredictable and changing world, in conversations, and have concrete language for your LinkedIn Profile, resumes and cover letters.
Exploration Plan
An interactive worksheet to help you notice clues and identify intentional actions which will set you up to strategically explore possible future scenarios.