How does this relate to your career? Dr Lorna Dargan Careers Adviser for Medical Sciences

An everyday activity Most organisations have a PDR process Review of performance: strengths and weaknesses Review your future plans Evidence of competence Commitment to own progression/development An opportunity to make yourself heard! Newcastle University PDR.

An everyday activity Most organisations have a ‘professional development review’ (PDR) process Review of performance: strengths and weaknesses Review your future plans Evidence of competence Commitment to own progression/development An opportunity to make yourself heard! Newcastle University PDR

The challenge for PhDs... Ultimately, the only person who can be responsible for your career development is you. Nobody cares about your career as much as you do. Be your own cheerleader. Remind this is not a one-off activity Draw link between PDP process and Careers Management Cycle of development ……not a one-off activity. Remind that there will be overlap between the skills for example: G1 – F1, G4 – E1, G1 – E4

Employer Perspective “PhD researchers can be perceived as lacking in skills. There is an assumption on the part of employers that PhDs do not have generic employment skills and that their three years of academic experience has not helped them to develop key competences.” Survey of employer attitudes to postgraduate researchers, University of Sheffield 2006

Temptations

Form good habits Helpful to start viewing yourself as an ‘[…] in training’ Focus on your career as well as your thesis Get the most out of your PhD.

Make use of ePortfolio Make use of the PDR section even though you might not get asked about this in review! Build evidence of skills: academic and transferrable Preparation for applications and interview Evidence: tell me about a time when... Reflection: what are your weaknesses? Development: what are your training needs for first six months? Planning: what is your publication strategy post-PhD? A good application takes a long time!

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