These career masterclasses are designed to tackle the challenges we know postdocs face in making career decisions. Full of practical tips, advice and signposting, they will provide insight into strategies that you can adopt to be efficient and effective in working out what you need from your next career move, and how you can get there.

Writing narrative CVs for funding applications

Narrative CVs have become an increasingly popular request from funders, particularly in Fellowship applications. Rather than submitting a traditional CV that simply lists your publications, grants and research roles, a narrative CV gives you the opportunity to fully showcase your experience, strengths and achievements in a more descriptive format.

While we see many benefits for applicants with this new format of CV, especially as a way to offer a broader insight into your merits, we know that it can be daunting to compile the first one, particularly if your first language isn’t English or you feel uncomfortable with selling yourself.

The aim of this interactive workshop is to provide you with useful and practical support, as well as valuable tips and expert advice, to create an engaging narrative CV. In our masterclass, you will learn about the background and purpose of this CV format, discover how to fully evidence your skills and experience and also find out some common pitfalls to avoid.

Our 90-minute workshops will get you started with writing the CV and give you a takeaway plan for completion.

Your postdoc, what next?

Thinking about the next career move after your postdoc can feel daunting. We also know that many researchers are so busy that they leave this career thinking until it’s too late, don’t fully explore all the possibilities and end up falling into the next role, rather than making an intentional choice.

Instead, why not take a more proactive approach to your career by joining our short but practical workshop? Let us help you to make a personalised career management strategy with our first-hand experience, expert knowledge and inspiring tips.

Our masterclass will:

• Give you space and structure to reflect on your personal and professional goals
• Help you to identify what is most important to you in a career
• Increase your awareness of the vast range of career options available to postdocs and the sorts of jobs your skills equip you for
• Support you to create a career action plan so you maximise your time and can be strategic in selecting opportunities
• Connect you with other researchers for ideas and peer support.

Using LinkedIn for job searching

LinkedIn is an increasingly important tool for finding research collaborators, searching for career possibilities and being found by people who might want to offer you work-related opportunities. That’s why we believe you should have a professional and authentic LinkedIn profile.

Our practical workshop will:

• Show you how to set up a LinkedIn profile that showcases your personal research and career highlights
• Provide you with expert tips and ideas to make your profile stand out from others
• Give you insight into how your profile can be best created so you can be easily found by the right people
• Help you to use LinkedIn’s powerful functionality so that you can research what job roles and sectors might work for you

Finding a career aligned to your values

Is it important to you that your future career aligns with your values and ethics? Do you know which employers and organisations would be best placed to give you what you most want from your next career move? If these are questions you have been pondering, our workshop will kick-start your search for a career aligned with your values.

Our practical masterclass, which is led by an expert with extensive knowledge of supporting postdoc career transitions, will:

• Enable you to create a framework so that you can reflect on your values and ethics
• Help you to better understand what you need for a rewarding career
• Give you the knowledge to assess how potential employers and organisations embody your values and have the type of culture you are looking for
• Provide you with the confidence to pursue a career that resonates with your values

Harnessing your networks to access the hidden job market

Many jobs are filled through personal connections and contacts, meaning those employment opportunities never even get to advert. While this part of the potential job market might seem out of reach to many people, there are a host of useful strategies and tools that can be utilised to help you to be in the right place or part of the right network, at the right time, to speak or connect with the right people.

Our practical masterclass will:

• Outline different opportunities for networking in your field, including face-to-face events, conferences and social media
• Provide you with useful tips for expanding your professional network
• Give you the confidence to explore both existing and new networking opportunities
• Show you who how to recognise a useful connection – and when to make contact
• Inspire you to be a positive contributor to research and career-developing networks

Building confidence and overcoming imposter-feelings in your job-searching

Are you looking for a new job or thinking about moving sectors or roles? Are you concerned that you fall short of what you believe is expected from your next career step? That you don’t have the right experience or qualifications? You should know that you are not alone and imposter-type feelings are common for many people when job searching.

Our workshop will give you the support, tips and advice you need to move forward – and find your next role – with much improved confidence.

Our masterclass will:

• Provide an understanding of the process and theory of career transitions
• Show you how to promote your skills and experience to potential employers
• Help you to overcome both practical and emotional challenges in your job search
• Give you skills to overcome limiting self-beliefs and your inner critic
• Provide you with an environment where you can share you experiences and concerns with people who understand

Translating your researcher skills and experience to non-academic job applications

Many people fail to fully recognise their skills and experience already gained in their career and, as such, do not know how to sell these effectively when applying for a new job. We know that this is especially true of postdoc researchers, who may not hold a formal leadership or management role, but often step forward to motivate, train or supervise other people, or to manage projects and collaborations. Our masterclass will help you to:

• Identify the unique skills you’ve built up during your research career
• Show you how to effectively communicate your leadership strengths clearly and confidently
• Map your skills and strengths to what employers are looking for
• Reveal how to showcase your skills in a variety of formats, including interviews, CVs and cover letters
• Give you the opportunity to discuss your strengths with experts in job seeking

Career decision making

Career decision-making is an important part of feeling fulfilled in your work life, but many people struggle with taking appropriate steps and planning ahead. In fact, do you know what needs to be in place to enable you to make the right decisions for your future job roles? Our evidence-based workshop is suited to people who are thinking about a career move and keen to take up opportunities when they arise, or for people already at a career crossroads.

Our masterclass will:

• Reveal different theories of career decision-making and show you what matters most
• Help you to reflect on internal and external personal and professional factors that influence career decision-making
• Show you the steps you can personally take to identify and challenge your assumptions or knowledge gaps
• Give you increased clarity and help you to feel more confident during the job-hunting process
• Provide the opportunity to share your experiences with others

All workshops are 90 minutes and take place online.

This series of masterclasses have been made possible thanks to the Research England Enhancing Research Culture funding.