The course is spread over a period of three months, with one joined session each month. In the meantime, you get one personal coaching session with one of our trainers expert in PhD development. The workshops will take place in a group setting of maximum 10 participants.  In between the sessions, we ask you to do homework to optimize your learning experience and put learnt lessons into practice. The workshops cover as follows:

Workshop 1: How do you find your purpose?

This first session revolves around a dive into practice and finding your own purpose. Which directions can you take? Insight is given into the different types of researchers outside of science. Sometimes PhDs and Postdocs continue as a researcher, but other times they don't! We will discover what makes your heart beat faster. What motivates you, and which social themes are essential to you?

Workshop 2: What is your dream job?

In this session, we will find an answer to the question: what is your dream job? We start by explaining different types of companies/organizations. Corporates, startups, non-profits, and the government. Big, small, medium. We give an overview of the conventional and unconventional jobs to find out what suits you. We also look for vacancies that fit your personal purpose and jobs to start fulfilling your purpose.

Workshop 3: Skills identification

In this session, you will gain insight into your qualities and pitfalls for your preferred jobs. We are identifying your personal (academic) qualities and pitfalls through a skills passport. After that, we are translating your classical qualities to meaningful business language/qualities. This provides tools for language that can be used in cv's, motivation letters, and job interviews. We will also identify which types of experience you are still missing and how to gain these specific skills alongside your PhD and/or job search.

Personal coaching session

The personal coaching session will be customized to your needs for some real tailor-made development. Depending on your  ambitions and needs, we will find a suitable trainer among one of the THRIVERS. In this session, we will give you the push you need to go out in the world and help you with relevant to do´s. Do you want a final CV or motivation letter check? Or do you rather practice a job interview again? It is up to you!

Program goals

• Find your professional/personal purpose.
• Link your purpose and qualities to fitting jobs.
• Discover the different types of researchers outside of academia.
• Understand the working field and what kind of organizations are out there.
• Gain insight in your personal qualities and pitfalls.
• Create a skills passport.
• Formulate an individual roadmap to getting to your desired position.

Who can join?

The PhD Career Swifters program is for PhDs from the Faculty of Humanities, that are in the 3^rd or 4^th year of their promotional trajectory. PhDs that are admitted to the course are:

• Motivated to strengthen their position in the labor market; AND/OR
• Wanting to look for a job outside of academia; AND/OR
• Hesitating whether they want a job inside or outside of academia.

Investment

• You have to be present during all sessions
• Workload of 5-7 hours per month

To apply, please register through the registration form on this webpage. You will then also be asked to send your CV and a short motivation to the program manager of the THRIVE Institute.

You will be contacted by the THRIVE program manager who will schedule a call to get to know you better. We follow a first-come-first-serve principle, and have a maximum of 10 participants. If you are eligible for the program, we will get back to you within a few days to let you know if you have been accepted.

A large percentage of PhD candidates leaves the university directly after their promotion. Finding a job outside of academia can then be a great challenge. If you want to excel in a professional field, it is essential to be aware of the opportunities that present themselves in the labor market. For example, which positions fit the profile of PhDs - in particular those in Humanities - outside of the traditional ‘consultant’ or ‘researcher’ position, what your actual compatible skills are and how to translate these into business oriented value and language.

Especially for PhD candidates of the Faculty of Humanities it is sometimes difficult to think of where your added value lies, what your options are in the work field, and what you truly want: what makes you thrive. This is where the Careers Swifters program comes in.

THRIVE Institute is the knowledge institute for the purpose economy: an economy in which not only economic growth, but the wellbeing of people, animals and the environment is the aim. Driven by the belief that knowledge is the key ingredient for innovation with impact, we offer learning and innovation programs for researchers that revolve around learning in practice with relevant stakeholders.

THRIVE PhD Academy

Within the THRIVE PhD Academy, more than 200 PhD researchers and postdocs have been trained to apply their knowledge and skills to help solve societal challenges. The Academy aims to prepare young scientists for impactful careers, whether they remain in the Academy or not. The Academy offers a variety of programs that focus on the strengths and weaknesses of PhD candidates. Within the programs, participants often develop missing skills and mindsets, such as entrepreneurship, project management (with real deadlines), collaboration and stakeholder management. We combine these with the PhD 'superpowers' in analytical thinking and the rapid absorption of complex information. The THRIVE PhD Academy was founded for and by PhD candidates and is continuously optimized with feedback from alumni from business, government and science.