Transcript You, Grad School, and Your Career: Making the Connections

You, Graduate School, and Your
Career: Making the Connections
Pathways to Success: Graduate Student
Professional Development Summit
February 13, 2012
Janet Sheppard, PhD, Counselling Services
Learning Objectives:
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Understand the context of career at this moment in history;
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Identify the essential role of self awareness in your career
development;
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Reflect on your unique interests, skills and values;
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Describe some critical elements of your successful career (core
motivators);
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Analyze your graduate experience for highlights, learning goals and
connections to your career motivators;
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Recognize how to research career possibilities and turn them into
opportunities (networking and informational interviews)
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Identify UVic resources to help you achieve your goals
The Changing World of Work
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‘Global networked knowledge economy’ is
increasingly complex and uncertain;
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Change is speeding up;
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More change and uncertainty = more freedom;
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You will have more career-related decisions to
make than any previous generation
YOU are a career manager
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Your unique qualities, skills, knowledge
and interests help identify where you will
THRIVE;
Academic and work experience, enjoyable
activities and accomplishments provide
important clues to your Core Motivators.
Motivators:
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(Ian Robertson, UVic Coop & Career Services)
3.Lifestyle
2.Work Environment
1.Core
Enjoyable Activities/
Accomplishments Activity
Identifying More Core Values…
 Student
Transition Services
website: http://transition.uvic.ca,
Values Exercise (Senge, Smith,
Roberts & Weiner, 1994)
to help you explore your core values in
more depth
Reflecting on the Core…
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What parts of your present school and life
activities do you thoroughly enjoy?
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What do you love to do in your spare time?
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What would you describe as your best qualities?
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What are the first two or three sections you
head for in a bookstore?
Your graduate school experience:
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What are you most proud of in your graduate
experience? (core)
What skill(s) have you developed/used in the
experience? (core)
What have you learned about yourself in your
graduate experience? (core/work env/lifestyle)
What have you learned about the project or
problem you are working on? (core/work
env/lifestyle)
What Kind of Work Environment?
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Rank the following in order of their importance to you:
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Setting my own schedule
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Influencing others’ opinions, attitudes or actions
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Variety with many changing duties
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Responding to challenging situations
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Making decisions based on personal judgements
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Knowing exactly what is expected of me
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Taking responsibility – being in control
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Work requiring precision
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Freely expressing ideas or emotions
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Working closely with people
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Working alone
What type of Lifestyle?
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Lifestyle is that which your career allows you to
do in other areas of your life. E.g., money, time,
travel, relationships, hobbies = work/life
balance;
How much time are you willing to devote to your career
so it balances with the rest of your life?
What kind of income do you need to have in order to
support the kind of life that you want to build?
Networking and Research
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What might you do to relate your
values, interests, skills, and graduate experience to your
career...to help you find your dream job?
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*Research and participate in professional development
opportunities;
Attend conferences;
Join professional associations (attend meetings);
Ask people you know for names of people you should/could
talk to;
Ask for and conduct informational interviews (lived experience
research)
E.Q.= Emotional Intelligence
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What do all of these forms of research have in common?
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Self knowledge
Relationship skills
"The currency of real networking is not
greed but generosity."
--Keith Ferazzi
Seek Out & Use Resources
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Counselling Services:
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Thesis Completion Program
*Graduate Student Career Exploration Group
Individual and Group Counselling
Coop Education & Career Services:
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Drop-in sessions, resume support, career coaching,
free services after degree completion!
Thank You!
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To contact me:
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Dr. Janet Sheppard, Counselling Services
University Centre, B270
250-721-8341
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[email protected]
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