April 28, 2022, 9 - 16 h
Virtual Career Day "Transition Possible - Career Perspectives for Postdocs"
At the first joint career day "Transition Possible - Career Perspectives for Postdocs" of the postdoc career centers of the Helmholtz institutes DESY, DZNE, GEOMAR, HZDR, IPP and KIT, 216 participants came together to inform themselves about career paths outside academia.
After an inspiring talk by Tina Persson, representatives from BASF, BOSCH, Ginkgo Analytics, NaWik and the German Scholars Organization discussed possible career paths for postdocs outside of science in a panel discussion. Afterwards, the participants had the opportunity to talk to representatives of individual companies, science management and science communication, as well as former postdocs employed there, and to gain insights into their working lives and companies. In the afternoon, eight workshops were offered, in which the participants could inform themselves in detail about various topics of career planning, job search and the application process.
The career day was characterized by an atmosphere of optimism, which gave the participating postdocs the feeling of being sought after on the job market and highlighted the special skills they had acquired during their scientific careers. The focus was also on the motivation to actively plan and pursue career paths outside of academia.