PhD Career Builder for institutions
One program, two ways to deliver it, for a cohort of your PhD students, graduates or postdocs. It addresses identity, direction and decision readiness first, then strategy and tactics.
What participants work through
The program follows the Nine Foundational Job Search Elements in their three stages:
- Stage 1 — Identity & Direction: career vision and direction; mindset and transition readiness.
- Stage 2 — Market Alignment: identifying target markets; mapping skills and competencies; Accomplishments Narratives.
- Stage 3 — Execution & Momentum: résumé, cover letter, interview preparation, and an action plan with tracking.
Participants leave with industry-ready materials, a job-search plan, and a wider professional network. The Career Claimers Index™ profiles each participant at the start and measures change at the end.
Two ways to deliver it
Recommended
Workshop: 2 or 3 days
An intensive in a meeting room for a cohort of 24, followed by coaching for participants as they put it into practice. In my experience, everyone attends a 2-day workshop, while attendance falls away over 12 weeks, and attendance predicts outcomes.
Program: 12 weeks
The same material over 12 weeks: a one-hour knowledge session and a one-hour lab each week, in a classroom. For units whose schedule or culture suits a term-length program, as with ChemPD.
Your program, your name
Organizations or units often give the program their own name, we are happy to accommodate. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Alberta runs it as ChemPD.
Measuring what matters to you
Results are measured on two tiers. What the program controls: completion, industry-ready materials, active job-search engagement, network growth, satisfaction and skill gains. What it influences: employment in roles that use graduate training within 12 months, time to offer, job satisfaction and salary competitiveness. Each proposal selects the measures your unit and your funders need to report.
How it comes together
- A conversation, often after a talk to your students: what your unit needs and what it must report.
- A proposal with scope, schedule, measures, and sections ready for a grant application.
- Funding: usually the unit’s budget, with grants as an offset. I help write the application.
- Delivery and results, reported against the measures you chose.