Continuing Education & Career Development

Today's working world is subject to constant change and requires lifelong learning. On the one hand, specialists need further competencies in addition to their specialist knowledge in order to put project ideas into practice in a team or as a manager. On the other hand, once a title has been acquired, once a competence has been acquired, it will no longer be sufficient to perform the same job throughout one's life. Professional realignments within a career path will always trigger new learning processes.

This is where the Graduate Academy, in cooperation with other service facilities and the doctoral colleges of the Clausthal University of Technology, would like to start and offer a platform for the development of competencies that form a basis in today's everyday working life with its range of further education and qualifications. In concrete terms, this involves in particular

1. personal competencies - e.g. self-management, self-reflection
2. methodological competencies - e.g. project management, practical transfer, presentation techniques, scientific writing
3. socialcompetencies - e.g. leadership skills, conflict management, communication techniques.

The Graduate Academy has developed a concept for the holistic counseling of young scientists at all career stages and cordially invites all young scientists* to participate in the qualification program of the Graduate Academy and to optimize their labor market-relevant competencies.

Career discussions between young scientists, supervisors and mentors can make a significant contribution to the planning and development of careers. Supervisors and mentors often know young scientists quite well and are often in a good position to assess their potential for career development and to provide helpful arguments as to which career is a good fit for which person. Our new handout aims to encourage young scientists to use career talks to make concrete career decisions and to provide guidance on how to plan and successfully conduct them together with their supervisors, mentors, and professors. The goal of the discussion should always be the early consideration of appropriate career options and the conscious decision for a personally suitable career path. To this end, it is necessary for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to analyze and reflect on their personal goals, competencies and potentials, and to realistically assess their motivation and situation. Supervisors provide support in the role of advisor or mentor by giving feedback on personal strengths and areas of development, providing insight into the variety of tasks of a professor, and supporting strategic career planning, e.g. by opening up one's own network.