Beyond Academia: Design Your Job Search Strategy with AI-Powered Guidance

Ziele

This two-day course supports doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in building a structured and realistic transition plan toward careers beyond academia. Combining reflective approaches, career strategy frameworks and AI-supported learning methods, participants will clarify their motivations, identify and articulate their competencies, and strengthen their professional positioning for the non-academic job market.

The course also introduces participants to the evolving role of artificial intelligence in career management, recruitment practices and professional visibility. Participants will explore how AI-supported approaches can assist career reflection, networking preparation, job search strategies and communication with employers.

Particular attention will be given to helping participants translate their academic experience into language, competencies and value propositions that are meaningful outside academia.

Kursinhalte

The course is structured around four key themes handled in two non-consecutive days, scheduled approximately one week apart, to allow for combining reflective approaches, career strategy frameworks and AI-supported learning methods. Participants will also be invited to reflect on how personalized AI-supported tools may enhance their long-term career management and professional development.

Day 1 - Explore & position
Translate your career drivers and motivations into a job search strategy
Map your academic and non-academic competencies using the “Knowledge in Context framework” and learn about job roles, clusters, and industries.
Throughout the day, participants will also explore how AI-supported approaches may assist career reflection, competency articulation, career exploration and the identification of professional opportunities.

Day 2 - Shape & connect
Build your personal branding strategy (CV, online presence, interview best practices and recruiters’ mindset).
Design and practice your networking approach and finalize your personal action plan.
Participants will further explore how AI-supported approaches may support professional communication, networking preparation, self-marketing and career management practices.

Form

The course offers a dynamic combination of reflective exercises, peer discussions, collaborative activities, breakout group work, practical applications and AI-assisted learning approaches. Teaching methods are highly interactive and encourage participants to work directly on their own professional transition project throughout the workshop.
Participants will be supported with career frameworks and will progressively build their own AI-supported career strategy throughout the workshop. Structured preparatory tasks and intersession assignments are intentionally embedded in an active learning approach fostering ownership of one’s learning path and long-term integration of insights.

Adressatinnen und Adressaten

All Doctoral Candidates & Postdocs

Voraussetzungen

Participants must bring a personal laptop (PC or Mac) for in-session exercises and AI-based tools.

English proficiency (working level).

Participants are expected to complete AI-guided exercises before and between sessions as part of a structured learning process that encourages personal reflection and strategic thinking.

The ECTS validation requires active engagement in the course as well as the completion of practical assignments related to career exploration, networking and professional positioning.

Informationen zu den Dozierenden

Dr. Joëlle Bédat is an executive search consultant, HR strategist, and university lecturer with a background in both academic research and business practice. Founder of Gouvernance RH, she is a solo-entrepreneur since 2017 with the mission to support boards of directors, executive committees, foundation and institutions committees in addressing issues related to human management. She has extensive experience in executive recruitment, competency assessment, workshop facilitation, career coaching, executive coaching and training.
She holds a PhD in Management from Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University (2024), a Postgraduate Master’s in Human Management from the University of Geneva (2016), and a Bachelor's in Political Science from the University of Lausanne (1997). She became an ICF-certified coach in 2008 and holds certifications in psychometric profiles such as the AECdisc Method (behavioral preferences and motivation) and EQ-i (emotional intelligence and leadership). Certified in adult training programs (FSEA), she is trained in graphic facilitation.Certified in adult training programs (FSEA), she is trained in graphic facilitation.

Leistungsspektrum / Workload

Course attendance: 2 x 8h
Preparation & Assignments: 14h

Besonderheiten

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours and course places allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24h period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Course places/places on the waiting list will be confirmed by e-mail. Course registrations can only be canceled before the registration period ends (send an e-mail to grace@unibas.ch). Full course attendance is mandatory. Participants who fail to attend a course without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline are subject to a fee of CHF 30. In addition, participants who cancel their course registration at a later point in time, are absent without an excuse or do not attend the entire course will, for reasons of fairness, not be considered for course registration in the following semester and will be removed from other courses offered in the same semester. Please find the detailed regulations on the Transferable Skills Homepage.