Career-promoting work is the same as duty work, but it goes beyond it.
There are many activities that can be considered career-promoting, but which do not count when we account for the duty work. While we can require you to do the tasks included in duty work, since it is paid work, we do not require you to do activities that fall under advice and guidance. You need to follow up on this in your own time. This can be things that can be beneficial to you and give you experience you can use in future job applications. You must assess and decide for yourself how much time and effort you want to invest in such unpaid activities.
It can be to secure a broader relevant experience that can strengthen your profile as a candidate in a competitive job market. It’s also about helping you articulate your competencies and realize that they may be broader than you initially thought. If you have ideas about what you want to do after your current position, it’s good to keep in mind what kinds of experiences might be useful to gain along the way to help position yourself for a stronger application for the type of job you’re aiming for. However, it’s entirely up to you how much effort you may want to put into this.
Some resources
- UiO has developed a support tool for career planning:Career guidance for early career researchers - For employees - University of Oslo, and specifically about career planning here: Career plan - For employees - University of Oslo.
- Week 42 - Boos your Career is an annual career week arranged by the Faculty of Education. This is open to all at UiO.
- As a PhD Fellow you can also look at the services offered at the Faculty of your PhD Program. In addition, PhD and Postdoc Fellows at STK can use most of the services provided by the Faculty of Humanities.
- UiO has developed a seminar series with topics that may be useful to you at different stages of your position here. These range from basic career thinking, to how to build relevant experience, and finally to the job application process with practical tips. These will be announced as they are scheduled.
- UiODoc is a group of PhDs, postdocs and other temporary staff at the University of Oslo whose mission is to promote the common academic, professional and social interests of all academic staff employed on a temporary basis at UiO.
UiO is expected to offer some guidance and resources, but it’s largely up to you how actively you choose to follow up. On a general level, we believe that PhD candidates are generally acutely aware that a new career step awaits them after the completion of their degree, and we strongly believe that even a modest effort during your time here will help you be better prepared. That’s why we hope you’ll take a look at the career plan and reflect on the points it raises. The most important thing is not to fill out everything or make extensive plans, but to maintain an awareness while working on your dissertation/project and duty work, and to take advantage of opportunities that arise and can help you move forward.
To support thinking around career-promoting work at STK, and what can be done as duty work as a necessary part of that, a rough overview and guide has been created that we hope will be useful for you. (Unfortunately this is currently only available in Norwegian)
How are career and duty work followed up at STK?
- At the start of your position, there will be a meeting with the leadership to discuss, among other things, duty work and thus also career planning. We will try to create a long-term plan that covers as much of your duty work time as possible, though changes and adjustments are likely to occur.
- Planning for duty work will be an ongoing process throughout your employment and may change along the way, especially regarding teaching. You can talk to the study administration, the Head of Teaching, the Center Director, and the Head of Office. Are there things we should know of that you are planning? Semesters when you cannot teach? Let us know. We many also reach out to you when there are tasks we need someone to work on.
- Your annual employee review with the center director is a good opportunity to talk about career. You’ll receive an invitation once a year.
- It may also be natural to talk to your supervisor about career, though their knowledge of opportunities outside academia may be limited. Still, it can be both important and useful to discuss career with your supervisor—so they understand your thoughts about the future and can give informed advice on what tasks you might take on alongside your dissertation work. However, some may find it difficult to talk about career with their supervisor if they’re not aiming for an academic career, so you’ll need to make your own judgment here.
- The office manager is the general contact person for career guidance at STK. If you have questions, feel free to reach out!