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Table of Contents
Table of Contents......
Completing an Individual Development Plan...... 2
Individual Development Plan – Step 1...... 3
Identifying Career Paths
Individual Development Plan – Step 2...... 4
Self Assessment
Individual Development Plan – Step 3...... 11
Build a timeline for program completion
Individual Development Plan – Step 4...... 11
Seek guidance
Individual Development Plan – Step 5...... 11
Reevaluate
Appendix A - Sources for Exploring Career Options......
Appendix B - Building a Timeline
Appendix C - Considerations for you timeline......
Appendix D - Completing Eight Hour Professional Development Activities......
Appendix E - Professional Development Opportunities Guide..…………………………………………….17
Please Note:After consultation with the Graduate Students’ Association and consideration of economic job trends, the University of Alberta is the first Canadian university to implement the Professional Development (PD) Requirement (following some of the Ivy League colleges in the United States).
It’s an exciting new initiative to help you recognize your talents, pursue your interests, learn professional skills and make the connections that will help you excel in your chosen field. Although it is mandatory for all incoming graduate students, some departments have professional development already incorporated into their programs and are exempt from this requirement.
The Professional Development requirement has includes two components:
- The Individual Development Plan (IDP)
- Eight hours of PD activities
This workbook helps you fulfill the IDP component of the PD Requirement and includes guidance on completing the eight hours of PD activities.
Page 1
Individual Development Plan (IDP) for Graduate Students with Professional Experience
The Individual Development Plan (IDP)is an opportunity to tailor your graduate program to your needs and career goals. As a graduate student with professional experience, you have likely returned to post-secondary studies to support your career goals and aspirations. In addition to the knowledge and expertise you gain in your graduate program, the Professional Development (PD) Requirement will help you develop the non-disciplinary skills needed to achieve your career goals. While work on your IDP cannot be counted as part of the eight-hour professional development requirement, it is designed to complement other PD activities. The three-part IDP Series can guide the completion of your IDP before reviewing itwith your supervisor and/or career mentor. Parts 2 and 3 of the IDP series may count towards your eight-hours of PD activities. For distance learners or those that find it challenging to attend in-person workshops, theIDP Online Workshopcan support your career planning.
IDPs are a standard practice in the workplace, and you may have engaged with this practice as part of your annual review process. When IDPs moved into the academic arena, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students found they were more productive, more satisfied with their experience, and had fewer supervisory conflicts. Professional development is part of the IDP process and is a lifelong activity that professionals in all stages of their careers pursue. While your professional development needs may differ from those just beginning their careers, they are important nontheless. This IDP workbook will helpyou clarify your career goals, choose useful PD activities, and meet your academic requirementsso you are well equipped to achieve your career goals.
Completing an Individual Development Plan
Identifying Career Paths
Identify three career goals you want to achieve in the next three to five years.Consider the ways your graduate degree can advance your career and/or take it in a new direction.
Self Assessment
Reflect on the skills and competencies you bring to your graduate degree from your work and volunteer activities. Consider the skills you need to develop or further develop to reach your career goals. Take note of the activities/actions that will build the necessary skills. Consider PD activities you may already be doing in your professional life and how these may apply to the eight-hours of PD activites. Consult Appendix D for guidelines on fulfilling your eight-hours of PDActivities requirement.
Timeline
Develop a timeline for completing your academic program, including academic milestones, work and personal committments,and careergoals.Map your program, building in the PD activities that will develop the skills you need to reach your career goals.
Guidance
Meet with your supervisor and/or mentor(s)who can help you maximize your academic accomplishments and offer guidance on your timeline, areas of skills development, and your career goals. Your supervisor/mentor(s) can also alert you to PD opportunities applicable your interests and goals.
Reevaluate [Recommended]
Revisit your IDP annually. Evaluate whether you are on track with your academic and career goals. What is working well and what needs to change? What skills do you still need or wantto pursue? As you answer these questions, determine any adjustments required, and confer with your mentor(s) as needed.
Page 1
Individual Development Plan – Step 1
Identifying Career Paths
Take time to think about at leastthree career goalsyou would like to achieve in the next three to five years. Considernew directions your career could go with the benefit of a graduate degree. Think about the timelines around when you would like to achieved these career goals and the skills and competencies you will need to develop in moving towards them. Do you need assistance in thinking about new career possibilities? Appendix A offers many places to research possible career paths and/or advancements options.
Career Goal / Date Achieved By1.
2.
3.
Skills needed to achieve career goals
1.
2.
3.
The PD Opportunities Guide(Appendix E) can assist you in finding activities and workshops that will help you to develop the necessary skills and competencies in moving towards your career goals. Your professional development activities do not need to be limited to campus offerings. If you are working while completing your graduate studies, you may already be particpating in activities through professional associations and other such opportunities that could count towards your eight-hours of professional development activites. The Eight Hours of PD Activities Guide (Appendix D) offers you guidance around the types of activities that can be counted towards your PD requirement.If you find it challenging to participate in face-to-face campus activites,MyGradSkillsoffers 18 online courses on wide-ranging topics that may fit your needs.
Individual Development Plan – Step 2
Self Assessment: Step 2a – Creativity
Creativity is closely tied to critical thinking and it impacts the extent to which you to push disciplinary boundaries, solve problems effectively, and “think outside the box.” Creative thinking is also about your ability to balance logical thinking with creative energies. This balance allows your ideas to be developed,reimagined and marketed, or which easily lends itself to entrepreneurial thinking.
What role(s) do you think creativity plays in each of your career goals?
1.
2.
3.
Rate your creativity skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingProblem solve using new solutions/approaches
Verify workability of creative ideas
Develop and implement creative ideas
Innovate by questioning, experimenting and networking
Collaborate creatively within a team
Make connections among diverse ideas
Balance logical and creative thinking
“Think on your feet”
“Think outside of the box”
Pose new research questions
Push disciplinary boundaries
Answering questions at a conference
Link ideas to new services and products
Eight-hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activitiesI need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals. The PD Opportunities Guide(Appendix E) can assist you in finding activities and workshops that will help you to develop the necessary skills and competencies in moving towards your career goals.
Self Assessment: Step 2b – Communication
An ability to communicate in a variety of contexts, with different audiences, and across cultures are essential skills in your professional life. This means communicating clearly and assertively, while also demonstrating emotional intelligence and good listening habits. Communicating your ideas is essential in any entrepreurial endeavour. Professional networking skills and exhibiting professional etiquette are also essential to your career success.
What role(s) do you think communication plays in each of your career goals?
1.
2.
3.
Rate your communication skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingWrite for a general audience
Write for a discipline specific audience
Give an oral presentation for a general audience
Give an oral presentation for a discipline specific audience
Communicate your expertise to a general audience
Communicate your expertise to a discipline specific audience
Answer questions in a variety of contexts
Effectively use multimedia communication
Demonstrate knowledge of workplace/professional etiquette
Network in academic circles
Network in non-academic circles
Communicate cross-culturally
Communicate with emotional intelligence (EQ)--empathy, respect, self-awareness
Pitch an idea to a general audience
Eight-hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activities I need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals.
Self Assessment: Step 2c – Confidence
Self-confidence drives all other competencies and has a direct impact on your career success. Your willingness to self-reflect, take risks and decisive action, and be self-directed are all indicators of your confidence. Perseverance and resilience are critical components in the development of confidence.
What role(s) do you think confidence plays in each of your career goals?
Career Goal / Role of Confidence1.
2.
3.
Rate your confidence-related skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingIdentify personal strengths and weaknesses
Not take professional feedback personally
Pursue a project until fruition with minimal supervision
Work independently, self-manage and be self-aware
Take initiative
Think and act decisively, and initiate a course of action
Demonstrate perseverance and resilience following challenges/failures
Champion yourself and others
Act as a role model for others
Take on a leadership role
Take on an entrepreneurial role
Eight hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activities I need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals.
Self Assessment: Step 2d – Scholarship
Scholarship brings together diverse skills that demonstrate your capacity to locate, interpret, and manage information. Scholarship is not only about your ability to develop a deep knowledge and broad scope of your subject field, but also your ability to generate and share knowledge with the academic community and general public. For some, this can be applied to researching the market needs of a product or services, as required in entrepreneurship.
What role(s) do you think scholarship plays in each of your career goals?
1.
2.
3.
Rate your scholarship skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingDemonstrate general research skills
Demonstrate discipline specific research skills
Convey breadth and deep of your discipline
Manage information
Locate, evaluate, and use information effectively
Demonstrate an understanding of the publication submission/peer review process
Generate knowledge to be shared
Demonstrate the scope and depth of knowledge to pitch your ideas (proposal)
Manage budgets and/or resources
Write grant proposals
Demonstrate academic writing skills
Develop a business plan
Eight hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activities I need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals.
Self Assessment: Step 2e – Ethical Responsibility
Your ability to conduct yourself with ethical responsibility is inextricably linked to all the skills you bring to your professional life. To act ethically means conducting yourself in a principled way, not only by observing specific codes of behavior, but also by acknowledging others’ work, carrying out ethical research, separating your personal and professional life, and demonstrating good use of your time. Ethical responsibility is about demonstrating civic and social responsibility by sharing your research with society and advocating for the needs of others, a consideration also required in entrepreneurship.
What role(s) do you think ethical responsibility plays in each of your career goals?
1.
2.
3.
Rate your ethical responsibility skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingIdentify conflicts of interest
Give due credit
Maintain confidentiality
Separate your personal and professional life
Manage time effectively and prioritize workload
Conduct yourself with personal accountability
Conduct research ethically
Maintain integrity in research data representation
Convey the importance of your research relative to social/environmental awareness and global citizenship
Demonstrate civic and social responsibility
Advocate for your research
Advocate for people and needs of others
Conduct yourself according to the informal/formal discipline specific codes of behavior
Understanding the cultural, psychological, and behavioural aspects of conflict
Eight hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activities I need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals.
Self Assessment: Step 2f – Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a central skill in your professional life. Your mental agility and ability to examine, interpret, deconstruct, and critique information impacts your capacity to perceive/troubleshoot problems, and to think strategically and creatively. Likewise, your ability to examine personal and disciplinary assumptions impacts your ability to ask perceptive and clearly define questions. For those interested in entrepreneurship, skills such as market assessment, suitability of products and services, and re-imagining your ideas play a key role.
What role(s) do you think critical thinking plays in each of your career goals?
1.
2.
3.
Rate your critical thinking skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingBe flexible in your thinking and explore alternate views
Recognize and define a problem
Think strategically and anticipate opportunities and challenges
Identify and challenge personal/discipline assumptions, biases, and prejudices
Ask clearly defined questions
Interpret information from a variety of approaches
Deconstruct idea and identify the relationships among the components
Critique arguments and show strengths and weaknesses
Recommend the next steps for a project
Reframe complex knowledge to be suitable for social media and other communication formats
Write reviews
Finding applications for your research
Ability to see how new ideas can create opportunities
Eight hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activities I need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals.
Self Assessment: Step 2g – Collaboration
The ability to collaborate, assume different roles within the team environment, and build working relationships are crucial professional skills. Your ability to give and receive constructive feedback, have difficult conversations, and resolve conflicts are an essential part of collaboration. Entrepreneurship relies heavily on interacting with others, from networking to resolving technical issues.
What role(s) do you think collaboration plays in each of your career paths?
Career Goal / Role of Collaboration1.
2.
3.
Please rate your collaboration skills on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest):
Ability to / RatingGet along with others
Collaborate across disciplines
Provide constructive feedback
Receive and implement constructive feedback
Compromise and balance competing needs
Build and maintain relationships
Establish guidelines and roles in teamwork
Take on different roles in teamwork
Take on different roles in a team setting
Participate in, or lead, team buidling
Collaborate in a multicultural environment
Have difficult conversations
Resolve conflicts
Eight hours of PD Activities: What are the actions and activities I need to complete to develop/ further develop the skills and competencies necessary in reaching my career goals.
Individual Development Plan – Step 3
Build a timeline for program completion
In addition to planning out a timeline on the long term, it is useful to chart out all your short term obligations. Take a calendar and mark out all the items that are less negotiable – course times, teaching, childcare, conferences, and so forth. Then start mapping out how and when you want to meet your other goals. Sometimes people find it useful to start at the end of a time-line and work backwards to see if they can fit everything in.
You timeline can be in a format of your choice. Appendix B provides a template from which to begin. You will need to also consider your invidividual context and the various demands on your time that impact your timeline. The Timeline Completion Tip Sheet (Appendix C) provides a list of variables to assist you with this.
Individual Development Plan – Step 4
Seek guidance
Set a time to discuss your IDP with your supervisor and/or career mentor(s).
- Take the opportunity to receive feedback and guidance on your
- Career goals
- Timeline of your goals – short term and long term
- The IDP Review Guides for Faculty and Students can assist you in framing this conversation.
- Identify sessions/activities you wish to undertake in the next year/during your graduate program
- Add your goals to your calendar
- Once both your IDP and eight-hours of PD activies are complete, submit the IDP/Professional Development Completion Form to your department
Individual Development Plan – Step 5 [Recommended]