Reflecting on your PGR ‘Career Decisions and Transitions’

University of York/John Houlihan

We hope the first term of this academic year is off to a great start for you all. It will certainly be a year like no other. One reassuring familiarity, amidst much uncertainty, is the change of the seasons here in York. And with Autumn now in full swing, you might find yourself taking stock of your PGR journey so far, or perhaps thinking ahead towards your own season of change and transition. 

Now, as you look to the academic year ahead, it might be the perfect time to consider how you would like to transition from PGR to the next stage of your career. To support you in this process, we are offering a series of two online workshops designed and delivered by one of our favourite external trainers, Dr Sarah Blackford. These workshops will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss and reflect upon your career decision making and planning, and an opportunity to receive tailored advice within a supportive and confidential group environment. 

Tuesday 20th October – Workshop 1 ‘Career reflection and recognising strengths and opportunities’ 

This first workshop aims to set the scene and help improve your self-awareness using some recognised tools and techniques. By reflecting on your current skills and interests and identifying your strengths and areas for development, you will feel more confident to plan and manage your career.

Wednesday 21st October – Workshop 2 ‘Making informed career decisions

In the second workshop, you will have the opportunity to use this new self-awareness to identify how to enhance your employability and career prospects. This will include reviewing time management and determining a personal and effective career development plan. Following a career planning overview and information about what influences career decisions, you will come away from this workshop with an understanding of how to apply this knowledge to make informed career decisions and identify areas for continuing professional development.

Each online workshop will require students to take part in short pre-preparation tasks in order to achieve the learning outcomes below. Registered attendees will receive details of these short tasks prior to each workshop. There will also be the opportunity to share and discuss as part of interactive exercises during the workshops. As well as presenting, Sarah will facilitate on-line discussions and offer informal support post-workshop.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the workshop participants will:

● be more knowledgeable about the career planning process

● be better informed about their strengths and opportunities

● have reviewed their work:life balance with particular focus on time management

● have formulated a personal career development action plan to follow up after the workshop.

Please register for this training via SkillsForge. There are a limited number of spaces available for this training, places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. 

Dr Sarah Blackford is a qualified higher education careers adviser (MA, Warwick University) and an honorary teaching fellow (Lancaster University). She specializes in providing career development education to doctoral students and early career researchers and has experience of delivering career workshops and one-to-one coaching for over 20 years in research institutions and universities.

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