Introspection
Introspection is a self-analysis. This should be the first step in your career development: knowing about your interests, values, and skills.
List of online career resources
Online career resources, which we´ve summarised and commented on for you. With these, you should be able to find relevant jobs, funding sources, salary benchmarks, and general orientation for your job hunt.
(Alternative) career options
Alternative career options in industry, academia, government, patent law, entrepreneurship, consulting and publishing
Your skillset
Competition is fierce. For PhD holders, this means being exposed to an increasingly competitive labour market: often hundreds of applications are received for a single position. Standing out from the crowd is more important than ever.”
Example cover letters
Successful and commented example cover letters by scientists for professorship, patent examiner and sales positions
An eye-catcher for your CV
Today it is common to start your CV with a section that depicts the best of your CV and personality for THAT particular job you are applying for. It is a great way to catch the eye of the employer with points that might otherwise end up hidden on the last page of your CV.
Interview questions
Let´s look at individual interview questions and what the intention of the interviewer is when they ask you. Take the questions from this handout as exercise and play them through for yourself.
Salary/contract negotiations
Salary and contract negotiations: Salary benchmarks and what to negotiate about apart from the salary itself.
Navigating the gray area
Gray area interview: Questions are legal if they allow the employer to assess whether you can, in general, fulfill the job’s tasks.
We’re talking about the same thing
We’re talking about the same thing. Fresh graduates are reluctant to describe their skills with terms like project management since they assign such terms solely to industry. It is more helpful if you look at the substance of what you’ve been up to over the last few years; then describe it using terms that are familiar to your readers. This is not bragging, but translation work.