Sam Brown Careers Centre Career Planning for Masters students in Renewable Energy Systems Technology
Mar 28, 2015
Sam Brown
Careers Centre
Career Planning for Masters students in Renewable Energy
Systems Technology
– Objectives
– Career Planning• Options• Career fitness!• Processes• Handouts/Resources• Exercises
Content
– to review career options– to identify key competencies, values and
interests– to create an effective career-management
strategy– to identify sources of further information
Objectives
Requirements for Career Planning
– self knowledge– awareness of opportunities– a structured action plan
Good career planning leads to successful career management
Career Options
– How will you move forwards after your MSc?• develop existing expertise
• new direction
Developing Existing Expertise
Apply for a industry research in this area
Start your own business
Register for a PhD in this area
Apply for a job in a similar area
A new direction
Gain voluntaryexperience ofnew direction
Apply for newtype of work
Develop outsideinterests with a view to changing direction
Apply for full-timetraining for a different occupation
Identifying key competencies, values and interests
– your skills
– your personality and interests
– personal values
– individual constraints
• Handouts
Skills inherent in your masters course
– Problem solving skills– Technological skills– Numeracy– Project-management skills:
• leadership/teamwork• goal setting• time-management• motivation
– Communication skills:• academic writing • presenting• influencing & persuading
– Research skills:• information retrieval• analytical ability• networking/contacts
Skills inherent in your masters course
– Look at the list of 21 skills– Identify your 6 best skills– Rank them from 1 for the strongest to 6 for
the weakest
Skills reflection exercise
Values
– What is important to you?:• autonomy• altruism• security• leadership• variety
• salary• advancement• intellectual
challenge• collaboration
Influences on career planning
– life stages
– life events
– family
– peers
– social norms
– labour market
Getting the right balance
An exercise to help you look at:
- aspects of your career thinking
- how satisfied you are with it
- what you can do to change it
Walls & Windmills – Dr Hawkins 1999
Taking control Things within my control
Personal barriers Things stopping me but still within my control
Supporting opportunities People – resources – opportunities – stepping- stones
External forces Things outside my control
The self-audit
– Thinking - Where am I now?Check your career fitness exercise
– Thinking - How do I get to where I want to be?Check-list exercise
– Action - Getting there
– Review and improvement
How do I get where I want to be?
Key actions• T1 - Focus on skills• T2 - Finding your ideal job• T3 - Finding hidden jobs• T4 - Selling yourself• T5 - Action thinking• T6 - Boosting your career• T7 - Measuring your career
performance
Awareness of opportunity
– careers centre
– academic departments
– personnel department
– your contacts
– networking
– work experience - of any kind
– professional associations and publications
Careers Centre Resourceswww.careers.lboro.ac.uk
– one-to-one discussions
– Prospects Planner
– Employment sector booklets
– employer files, directories
– list of relevant websites
Successful Career Planning
S elf K n ow led g eC om p eten c ies /S k illsP erson a lity/In te res tsV a lu es /C on s tra in ts
K n ow led g e o f O p p ortu n it iesL ab ou r M arke t In fo rm ation
C on tac tsE ffec tive N etw ork in g
P os it ive M arke tin gS tru c tu red career d eve lop m en t s tra teg y
E xce llen t C VW ell-d eve lop ed in te rview in g tech n iq u es
S u ccess fu l C areer M an ag em en tfo r life
d ep en d s u p on
Next sessions