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| Organizing Career Development Workshops |
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Return to: Postdoc Office Toolkit
Career workshops are an excellent means of getting good career information and advice to postdocs en masse, and work well to complement the one-on-one approach described in the first section. Getting StartedCareer development workshops come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and can be designed and tailored to any general or specific subject or audience. Institutions wishing to provide a workshop series have plenty of options to choose from (see the list below). Required skill sets (the so-called “soft” skills such as resume and grant writing, interviewing skills, or giving targeted presentations) are a good choice for a professional development program – there will be no shortage of interested audiences, and many speakers can be found within the institution. Many faculty members can be recruited to give presentations and workshops on how to successfully write grant proposals, for example. Junior faculty members are also often willing to talk about their interview process experiences, and along with institutional departmental chairs or industrial human resources personnel, can form the basis of a panel discussion on interviewing skills for postdocs. An important issue is the time of day career workshop series events are held. There are pros and cons to holding a workshop at any time of day; at lunchtime more people will be available and willing to come away for one hour, but it is more likely to find a clash with previously-organised institutional events such as seminars. Conversely, clashes are less likely to occur with early-evening workshops, but the audience for such an event may be smaller. A method that works well is to organise one-hour seminar-style workshops for the lunch period, whereas panel discussions, which tend to be more open-ended, are best saved for an evening format, so the audience has a chance to interact personally with the panelists after the event. Another alternative to these formats is to schedule an all-day workshop. A Saturday is usually better for this type of event, so that more postdocs can attend. This type of workshop can usually cover lots of ground, and people have the opportunity to take in and store a lot more information. The structure of each event should also be considered. Some topics naturally lend themselves to more interactive workshops or panel discussion formats, for example interviewing skills. A workshop on this subject could consist of mock interviews, mini-presentations by experienced panelists, and question-and-answer sessions. Other topics may not be quite so amenable to interactive formats, and may be more useful in terms of a seminar presentation, with an opportunity for questions and comments. Obtaining feedback from the audience is an incredibly useful exercise, and worth instituting at the earliest possible opportunity. Any good series of workshops should be shaped as much by the postdocs themselves as it is by the organizers. An evaluation form works well, with a series of questions designed to give constructive feedback on the applicability of the workshop, how useful the format was, and how suitable the speaker(s) were for that topic. Some sample evaluation forms are available on the web (please note, some of these are for very specific subjects and fields, but all ask similar introductory questions, and have useful format ideas): Finally, it is a good idea to start thinking about career development workshops in terms of a structured curriculum. How often do certain workshops need repeating? Soft skills workshops could easily be repeated every one-two years, for example, as postdocs are always interested in acquiring this type of information. Workshops or seminars on a more focused subject, for example careers in forensic science, are more appropriate to be put on once every three years. How often should an institution put on workshops, and how much advertising is necessary? Postdocs can feel a little “workshopped-out” if events are held too often, particularly if the advertising is a constant barrage of emails and posters. Once every two months is a reasonable number to consider for a career workshop series, meaning an institution can cover six subjects each year (or alternatively five, plus one Career Fair: see below). This way, over a three-year period, certain core subjects on soft skills could be repeated twice, whereas more specific issues could be addressed only once, allowing for postdocs to cycle through the institutional system. In terms of advertising, posters around one month in advance of the event are a good starting point. If an institution has a postdoc email listserv, then reminders can be sent out one day in advance of each event. A web or email-based sign-up can also give a good idea of the size of the expected audience (and information about any subgroups of postdocs that marketing drives are not targeting well), and provide a starting list for feedback. Participation Certificates – How Postdocs Get Something BackSeveral institutions have increased the value of their career development workshop program by offering a Certificate of Participation to postdocs who attend a certain number of career development events, or those events that constitute a defined curriculum. This has several advantages: postdocs are attracted to the idea of workshops, as something tangible is gained by attending them; attendance at workshops increases, which encourages faculty and administration support; and certificates provide an additional level of assessment and evaluation for the program. Validity of the certification would require the approval and support of a senior representative of the institution, such as an Associate Dean or Vice-Provost. This is therefore an excellent and relatively simple idea for an institution to consider implementing in its workshop program. A potential criticism of the certificate program should be addressed explicitly. Such a certificate, essentially a sheet of paper with a Vice-Provost or Dean’s signature, may not be of any tangible benefit with regards to future employment. This type of certification has no state or federally-approved accreditation value, and potential employers may choose to either consider the document or not, entirely at their discretion, as to its training value. Essentially all a Certificate of Participation can demonstrate is that an attendee has demonstrated interest in learning about various professional aspects of his or her chosen career. An institution should bear this in mind when considering how much time is required for any postdoc to attain a Certificate of Participation. Model Workshop Programs and ServicesThe following list comprises a sample package of some of the different styles and formats of programs that postdocs have participated in. These are not just hosted by institutions – note that many professional societies also run professional development programs (primarily at their annual meetings) that their members can participate in. These can also make excellent working models for consideration by institutions. University of Alberta: Professional Development Program Probably one of the best programs that currently exist, this is well worth reviewing as a starter model for a career development workshop series. There are three components of the program: Career Development, Communication, and Professional Practice. In order to receive a certificate of participation each postdoc must complete 10 hours of sessions for each unit (each session is usually either 1.5 or 2 hours). The program is offered at no charge and upon completion, the postdoc is presented with a completion letter and certificate. University of Pennsylvania Career Service for Postdocs This Web site is organized into different schools, so many of the services and programs are subject-specific. This is a good source of information and ideas on more specific workshops and services that institutions could offer.
University of Pittsburgh Survival Skills and Ethics Program This is a monthly Saturday series of workshops, scheduled as all-day sessions, and is an excellent model for institutions considering this format of workshop. New York University The Future Science Educators at NYU School of Medicine, and the Center for Teaching Excellence at NYU are two examples of workshops and services that are aimed specifically at promoting teaching skills for future academics. Both run regular workshops and seminars, as well as maintaining links to find local teaching opportunities for postdocs. Emory University Postdoctoral Career Resources University of Minnesota Professional Development Workshops Northwestern University BMBCB Career Development Programs The Scripps Research Institute Career Workshop Series MIT Careers Office for Graduate Students and Postdocs University of Massachusetts at Amherst FASEB Career Resources and Workshops American Chemical Society Postdoc Network Articles Lastly, many PUIs (Primarily Undergraduate Institutions), have career development services and workshops that are intended for undergraduates and alumni, rather than postdocs. However, the basic issues covered in these courses are very similar to those that postdocs need, and so reviewing or contacting local PUIs can be a good source of information and speakers. Temple University Career Development Services New Jersey Institute of Technology Career Development Workshops |