landing your target job
Learn to analyse the core requirements for your new job and “translate” your current skills into the language of your future employer with a structured approach to understanding job ads.
is this you?
Do you hold a PhD or Masters degree in the arts, humanities, natural sciences or life sciences?
Have you been applying for jobs outside academia or outside your current job field without success?
Do you wonder how to “translate” your academic skills to your target job requirements?
Are you unsure about what responsibilities your target job really entails?
“After using this guide to analyse six job ads for UI/UX designers I am confident that I can meet the requirements after a little fine tuning. I know exactly what kind of experience I still need and I’m really motivated to get it, because for the first time I have a real grasp of what the requirements of my target job actually mean.”
Sarah Gusina, PhD in Art History
what’s in it?
5 steps plus additional material to take your analysis of job ads to the next level: design experiments that will give you the experience you need to bridge the gap and land that job. Includes an example CV before and after using this guide.
you bring
target job
You have an idea (or two or three) of where you’re headed professionally, i.e. you already have a target job. If your ideas are still very vague, this guide will help clarify these ideas. The example coaching client whom you will meet in the guide will illustrate precisely that situation.
Time
You are willing to invest a few hours of work.
Abstraction skills
You find it easy to apply general advice and examples of potentially different disciplines and job fields to your own individual situation.
Formal knowledge
You know what the formal requirements for CVs/resumés are in the country you’re applying in. (This guide does NOT provide information on the specifics of certain countries.)
Step 1: Define Target Job
You need to have an idea of a job field that you would like to explore. You can start with general keywords such as consulting, HR, or communications. And you‘re more than welcome to explore fields for which you believe you don‘t have the right kind of experience, but that you find exciting nonetheless. After all, you‘re also here to learn a method that will help you figure out what field might be a good match for you. For most people, several iterations and a lot of real-life trial and error will be necessary. If you belong to the few who are already certain about their future career track, that‘s also good. In that case, this exercise will be an excellent preparation for your convincing application documents […]
Steps
Pages
5 steps plus additional material to take your analysis of job ads to the next level and design experiments that will give you the experience you need to bridge the gap and land that job. Including an example CV before and after using this guide.
About Ulrike
That’s me. I work as a coach and trainer with a focus on career strategies, leadership and communication in research. I have used this guide with hundreds of workshop participants and coaching clients. Many of them found it extremely valuable because it helped them gain a deeper understanding of their desired future job.
I believe in sharing knowledge and spreading inspiration. That’s why this guide is free.
