A fresh approach to postdoc career development
- Explore our themed Reflect, Explore and Act resources
- Develop further with our Learning & Development library and self-coaching resources
- Get inspired by case studies from Prosper postdocs
- Register for free for enhanced functionality
ReflectGo to resources
Start your career development journey and look at the skills, values and interests you possess with self-assessment tools and exercises to explore your identity and skill set
ExploreGo to resources
Take your development to the next stage with career stories from former postdocs, and explore how to find out more about careers through informational interviews and networking
ActGo to resources
Adding to all you’ve discovered so far, learn how to translate your skills for any career, the steps to take to be and feel prepared for your next career move and embrace change
Career Development Navigator
Craft a strategic roadmap to success with our intuitive career planning tools
Learning & Development
Here you’ll find practical development resources grouped together by skill or topic
Coaching ourselves
Our self-coaching resources offer practical strategies to help you reach new heights
Opening Doors
Caroline Redhead
"Prosper was fantastic for developing my thinking about where and how to direct my attention in terms of future career progression."
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Ali Ehsan
"What stood out to me was the sessions on networking. They provided me with new opportunities and helped me to feel more connected to the broader academic community."
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Efthymios Gavriil
"The most important element of Prosper for me was its focus on networking. If I hadn’t learned what I did, and put it into practice, I would never have found out about the position that I have now."
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Catherine Hayer
"Prosper helped me to work out what I do and don’t want from a job, how to pitch my skills, and how to be more confident in myself going forward."
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Briony Banks
"The journaling and reflecting were the most useful parts of Prosper for me. I learned about what I really value in a career, and that I need to follow my values."
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Zaihao Tian
"The work around Informational interviews was a highlight. We were prompted to have open conversations with more senior people who, e.g. worked for companies in sectors we might be interested in."
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Rebecca Jensen
"It is always a good idea to think about the future and the Prosper cohort is a good place to start."
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Alzbeta Chabronova
"By joining Prosper, I created the space and structure to reflect, explore, and approach my future with curiosity and an open mind."
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Shunqi Zhang
"I’m still primarily focused on pursuing a career in academia, but Prosper made me realise it would be OK to go beyond, that academia is not my only option."
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James Charles
"Prosper was useful for identifying sectors to look at where my skills and experience could translate well."
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Laura Bozicevic
"One of the biggest takeaways was learning about time management—specifically the practical skill of how to prioritise and how to say "no"."
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Erin McCloskey
"In academia, you're trained to be hyper-focused on your specialism, but Prosper gave me the tools to ask myself what actually makes me want to go to work in the morning."
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Henry Koge
"The experience was fantastic and truly eye-opening. It provided a dedicated space to reflect on my career, my past, and my strengths."
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In This Section
Reflect
- Career audit
- Career timelines: chart your career
- Influences on career opinion
- Personality traits
- Workplace strengths and interests
- Define your values
- Skills audit
- Mining skills example: Advance HE Award
- Personal job satisfaction
- Decision making: career choices
- Overcoming limiting beliefs
- Pivoting: how to handle identity crisis
- Handling self-sabotage
-
Pivoter profiles
- Crafting a new career identity
- Building self-confidence
- Tools for building self-awareness
- The Big Five: personality assessment
- Myers Briggs Type Indicator: personality assessment
- myIDP and Imagine PhD
- SkillScan: skills assessment
- VIA Strengths: character strengths
- Career anchors: values and drivers assessment
- Strengths Profile: personality assessment
- Journaling to increase self-awareness
- Postdoc professional identity-making
Explore
- Career clusters
-
Former postdoc case studies
- Dr Al Mathers
- Dr Bryony Parsons
- Dr Carlos Peña-Monferrer
- Dr Chris Humphrey
- Dr Christina Chan
- Dr Cristina Melero
- Dr David Amienyo
- Dr Dotun Olowoporoku
- Dr Edward Latter
- Dr Geoffrey Belknap
- Dr Georgina Key
- Dr Hannah Roberts
- Dr John Ankers
- Dr John Miles
- Dr Kate Whelan
- Dr Lan Hoang
- Dr Laura-Jayne Gardiner
- Dr Matt Crooks
- Dr Meera Vijayaraghavan
- Dr Shona Jones
- Former postdoc panel session June 2021
- Former postdoc panel session May 2024
-
Prosper postdoc case studies
- Dr Henry Koge
- Dr Erin McCloskey
- Dr Ajay Saroja
- Dr Laura Bozicevic
- Dr James Charles
- Dr Alejandra Zarate-Potes
- Dr Alex James
- Dr Ali Ehsan
- Dr Alzbeta Chabronova
- Dr Anthony Evans
- Dr Ashley Gluchowski
- Dr Briony Banks
- Dr Caroline Redhead
- Dr Catherine Hayer
- Dr Christina Picken
- Dr David Ashmore
- Dr Devon Crouch
- Dr Dominic Chiwenga
- Dr Efthymios Gavriil
- Dr Frances Sherratt
- Dr Marcos del Cueto
- Dr Marieke van der Zande
- Dr Paras Naik
- Dr Priyanka Raina
- Dr Revathy Krishnamurthi
- Dr Rebecca Jensen
- Dr Rosa Morra
- Dr Shunqi Zhang
- Dr Sharon Lin
- Zaihao Tian
- Dr Zohra Butt
- Job simulators
- Academia
- Policy
- Communication
- Project management
- Leadership
- Collaboration
- Commercial awareness
- Creativity
- Growth mindset
-
Employer insights
- Employer panel - November 2022
- Employer panel - May 2022
- Employer panel - September 2021
- Employer Insight session: Environment Agency - July 2026
- Employer Insight session: Exploring careers at the intersection of academia and industry - June 2025
- Employer Insight session: Inizio Medical - May 2025
- Employer Insight session: Environment Agency - April 2025
- Demystifying recruitment Q&A - December 2024
- Mapping your warm network
- Expanding your knowledge of organisations
- Searching job boards by skills
- The power of networking
- Barriers to networking
- Conducting informational interviews
Act
- Using library resources to enhance your commercial awareness
- Where and how to search for opportunities
- Personal branding
- Using your network
- How to set up your own business
- How to find support for your business
- Freelancing and consultancy
- University spin outs
- Speculative applications
- Cover letters
- Application forms and supporting statements
- CV showcasing your skills
- CV different types
- Developing a skills-based CV
- Interview
- Video interviews
- Interview questions
- Assessment centres (including virtual)
- Psychometric tests
- Common pitfalls of job applications
- Navigating job offer negotiations
- Having successful career conversations
- Making the most of your current role
- Career coaching
- Handling the first few weeks
- Keeping up momentum
- Managing failure
- Revisiting your identity
- Ongoing learning and development
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