Course Overview
A goal without a plan is just a dream. Luckily, career planning is a skill you can learn. This course helps scientists plan and prepare for their career journey. After taking this course, you will feel empowered to take ownership of your future by creating effective and achievable goals, timelines, and strategies. As a scientist, career planning is a skill that you will call upon again and again, and we are excited to start this journey with you!
Career Planning for Early Career Scientists is a FREE, 3-week course that will guide you through fundamental principles, skills, and strategies to prepare you for the next steps in your career. This course uses the Individual Development Plan (IDP) as a framework for career planning. Whether you are an undergraduate, a graduate student, or a postdoc, this course is for you!
Learn Valuable Career Planning Skills
This course was designed with early career scientists in mind. However, the learnings in this course are applicable to anyone interested in creating effective goals and taking control of their career planning. We discuss why you should start your career planning process as early as possible and provide strategies to execute your goals one step at a time. You will learn the importance of leveraging your networks as you plan your future and how to effectively create a community of mentors that will enrich your career. We also cover how to plan and execute your goals to prepare you for the next steps of your career, and the importance of reflection and iteration as you grow as a scientist.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Learn how to use the Individual Development Plan for your career planning
- Engage in self-assessment and career exploration
- Learn how to set and execute SMART goals
- Utilize your mentoring network for career planning
- Revise and update your plan at each step of your career
Course Structure
The course includes 3 modules with activities, reflection questions, readings, and additional resources to help you ideate, plan, and work toward your career goals.
- Module 0: Getting Started: Outlines the structure of the course and covers the importance of career planning, how to engage with other participants, and how to successfully complete this course.
- Module 1: Starting to Build an Individual Development Plan: Self-assessment and Career Exploration: Introduces the Individual Development Plan as a framework to use in career planning and provides skills for intentional reflection, career exploration, and decision-making.
- Module 2: Strategies to Create and Execute Your IDP: Provides strategies to create and execute an effective career plan to achieve your career goals.
Built with Your Schedule in Mind
We built this course for busy students, researchers, or professionals like you! The modules are meant to be completed in about three weeks, allowing you to do course activities while attending to other responsibilities. Each module takes about 1 to 3 hours of work to complete.
Requirements
There are no requirements needed to take this course.
Format & Certification
Career Planning for Early Career Scientists is a self-paced online course. Once you pass the course, you can apply to receive a digital badge and Certificate of Completion to share and keep for your records. Passing requires you to complete all the required activities for the course, which equals 60% of the total activities.
