Individual Development Plans for PhDs

What is an Individual Development Plan (IDP)?

An individual development plan (IDP) is a personalized, interactive tool that you can use to identify and prioritize professional goals, and construct an actionable strategy to achieve them. Whether you are planning careers in academia or exploring non-academic positions, you will find IDPs to be a valuable device for managing their career and professional development while at Yale.  An IDP provides tools for you to:

  • Assess your skills, interests and values
  • Explore career options
  • Determine gaps in professional skills and create action plans to develop them
  • Set research and professional goals and track progress

Assessing the transferability of your research and skills will empower you with new perspectives on the value of your PhD work both within and outside of the academy.  IDP tools can also raise your productivity by helping you manage your time, direct your efforts more efficiently, and successfully meet PhD milestones and career development goals.  By achieving greater clarity of career goals earlier in their graduate career, you can position yourself to invest in professional development that will enhance your success in the job market, regardless of your intended career path.

Online IDP Tools

Free online IDP tools for PhD students and postdocs are available online.  Get started with the options below:

  • Versatile PhD (MyPlan) is for PhDs from all disciplines.
  • Imagine PhD is aimed at Humanities and Social Science PhDs but useful for anyone interested in non-STEM careers.  Developed by the Graduate Career Consortium.
  • MyIDP is for STEM PhDs and produced by AAAS.
  • ChemIDP has content relevant to all STEM PhDs, by the American Chemical Society.

Additional Resources from OCS

The Office of Career Strategy offers many resources to help GSAS students and Yale postdocs complete each stage of the IDP. Make progress by taking the following steps:

PhD Pathways in Academic Administration

Being a tenure-track professor is not the only career available at a university for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars. According to recent findings in 2014, the number of non-academic administrative positions at U.S. colleges & universities has doubled in the …

By Yale Office of Career Strategy
Yale Office of Career Strategy
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Professional Resumes for PhDs

If you are considering a non-faculty position outside the academy, you will need to prepare a professional resume. Unlike your CV, which paints a portrait of your academic history and accomplishments, a resume is a marketing tool that selectively emphasizes …

By Yale Office of Career Strategy
Yale Office of Career Strategy
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Career Strategy Worksheets

OCS has many online resources, and we also have select printable worksheets that cover the major elements of the job/internship search process. Use these worksheets in preparation for an advising appointment, or simply on your own.

Values, Interests, and Skills …

By Yale Office of Career Strategy
Yale Office of Career Strategy
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Job Search Resources

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Explore Job Market InsightsIn partnership withLightcast logo

Search continually updated U.S. market trends to learn about job types (job functions), growth trends, and desired skills. The results will include general information about each job (functional area), employment trends from the past two years and projections for the next 10 years, employers that have that role, desired education level, skills for the position, and more!

TWO WAYS TO SEARCH:

  1. Find Career Data by Selecting Keywords: Enter keywords of various job titles and choose a state or search nationwide to learn more about that job.
  2. Filter by Industry and Occupation: Search by industry and choose among popular occupations/job titles within that industry.

First, choose an industry of interest, then filter for occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)

Type in a keyword to select a relevant occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)

CONTACT & LOCATION

Phone
(203) 432-0803
Email
careerstrategy@yale.edu
Website
http://ocs.yale.edu
Address

55 Whitney Avenue, 3rd Fl.
New Haven, CT 06510

SERVICE HOURS

Day of the week
 Academic Year Summer Hours
Monday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm 8:30am - 4:30pm

The office is closed weekends, holidays, and recess days.