2014/04/25
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Workshop “Career Essentials: Leading without Leadership Position”, 19 June 2014

We are happy to announce the first workshop “Career Essentials: Leading without Leadership Position“.

Date: Thursday, 19 June 2014, 9:00-16:00 o’clock

Place: GZMB building, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, seminar room 0.232

Duration: 1 day

Content:

Postdocs often work with other scientists and scientific staff without a formal leadership position. The challenge is to lead people despite the absence of managerial authority. How to deal with experienced and much older scientific and technical staff? How to lead young scientists (Master students, doctoral students) who pursue own scientific interests? How to cooperate with scientists from other institutions for applications, project management and similar?

The workshop trains how to lead people without “right of command” and how to motivate and engage scientists and staff who are not direct reports. Leading without leadership position is a frequently occurring situation and dealing with it skillful can be learned.

Registration:

If you would like to take part in the workshop, register for the GGNB Career Services here (http://ggnb-career.uni-goettingen.de/) and write an e-mail to the coordinator Katrin Wodzicki (ggnb-career@gwdg.de). The e-mail should include a short motivational statement (Why do you want to take part in the workshop?).

More information about the trainer Dr. Gudrun Henne is available here.

2014/04/25
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Introduction of Workshop Trainer Gudrun Henne

Dr. Gudrun Henne works as a consultant for change management and executive coach since 2005 when she set up her company “Viveka International” with an office at the “Gendarmenmarkt” in Berlin. As a lawyer with a PhD in International Law and a former researcher, she knows the context of science and scientific institutions very well. As a certified trainer in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a systemic organizational consultant and a Master Coach by the European Coaching Association and with her long experience in working with people she offers a broad spectrums of methods. Trainings with her are not only instructive but also great fun.

2014/04/24
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Career Fair “Praxisbörse” in Göttingen, 3-4 June 2014

Do you consider a career outside Academia? Do you not have the time to travel to a career fair? Here is your chance: On 3-4 June 2014, the next Praxisbörse takes place in Göttingen. The Praxisbörse allows you to get in contact with potential employers and to get information about several career issues. On Tuesday, 3 June 2014, potential employers and other organizations will present at the NordCampus in the building of the Faculty of Physics.

The accompanying program includes, among others, (German) talks about

“Arbeitgeber EU – Einstieg und Perspektiven” (Guido Kemmerling, Leiter Personalpolitik und Dienstrecht in der EU, Auswärtiges Amt),
“Do’s and Don’ts bei Bewerbungen” (Daniela Müller, HR Service Partner, Sartorius Corporate Administration GmbH), and
“Arbeiten im internationalen Umfeld” (Claudia Bölter, Leiterin Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, KWS Saat AG).

2014/04/17
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Women&Work 2014 – Trade Fair for Women – 24 May 2014

Do not miss the Women&Work 2014 on 24 May in Bonn. The Women&Work trade fair is free of charge. However, registration is necessary for specific offers such as the BITKOM speedmentoring. Have look on the website to find out about exhibiting companies and further offers. An overview is moreover given by Melanie Vogel, initiator of the event, in a webinar on 19 May, 18-19 o’clock.

2014/04/15
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Several Online Career Resources

First of all, the Career Handbook 2014 of the Science Career Magazine is available. Moreover, thanks to the Neuroscience Newsletter of our International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences, I recently became aware of the tipsheets and multimedia resources (inculding webinars) of the Columbia University Center for Career Education. The tipsheets and webinars include a lot of career-related topics such as cover letter and CV writing, the job search process and networking at career fairs or on LinkedIn.

2014/04/15
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Get some insights in founding: The HAWK StartUp FOVEA shares its experience

If you are interested in founding your own business or just curious about what it means to be entrepreneur, the following event of the HAWK might be informative.

Experience report of the HAWK StartUp FOVEA

Date: Monday, 5 May 2014, 17:30 o’clock

Place: HAWK, Fakultät N, Von-Ossietzky-Str. 99, 37085 Göttingen

More information is available here.

2014/04/10
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Diversity Of Career Opportunities For PhDs: Career Planning As A Creative Process

I suggest avoiding the question about staying or leaving academia. Successful careers are possible inside and outside academia. However, being successful in your career requires finding the career that fits best to your individual skills, interests and values. I’m convinced that people are most successful

in jobs they are best qualified for,
with tasks they enjoy to do (which are not necessarily the task for which they are best qualified), and
with goals and working environments which fit best to what is important for them to be productive.

This involves also private issues such as family duties or private engagement. Career planning is an integral part of life planning!

I recommend seeing the career planning process as a creative process: Puzzle your skills, interests and values to create a picture of your future career. You could use MyIDP for an analytic process. Or you write, paint and visualize yourself on a huge piece of paper. Here already is no limit to your creativity!

I recently found a presentation which highlights the many careers PhDs created based on their skills, interests and values. So the presentation is not about the careers for life science PhDs outside academia that usually come to one’s mind, such as quality manager or patent attorney – which are of course equivalent options. The presentation, however, aims at stimulating your creativity about future careers to broaden your perception of options.

Who if not highly qualified PhDs have the choice to become whatever they aim at? If you have a favor for a specific task or aim at improving something, look for jobs to do it! Make informational interviews such as the one with the science writer Viviane Callier. Then make the most out of your current position to succeed in your desired career!

Of course, we career counselors also have to increase the knowledge about the diverse career paths of PhDs – and I will do my best on that account. However, there are such a lot of opportunities and, in the end, it is up to you to choose and strive for a specific career.

If you need support in this process, do not hesitate to contact and make an appointment with me!

Further readings about career options:

GAUSS Career Blog

Career Information and Announcements