Written by Genia Nizkorodov
What is an Individual Development Plan?
To succeed in graduate school and in your future career, you need to develop a specific skill set (Hobin, Fuhrmann., Lindstaedt., & Clifford, 2012). Along with research- or teaching-specific skills, your chosen career may also require “soft skills” such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. Developing these skills will require a concrete plan.
This is where the Individual Development Plan (IDP) comes in.
To assist in graduate student career planning, in January 2018, the Graduate Council at UCI implemented a new requirement for all doctoral and MFA students: each year, graduate students must work with their faculty advisors to complete an IDP. The process provides graduate students with the opportunity to assess their strengths and areas of improvement and to develop annual and long-term academic plans. While categories might differ between departments, the document typically includes a sections on (1) course necessary to satisfy degree requirements, (2) engagement with literature and collaborative projects, (3) leadership skill development, (4) publications and conferences, (5) funding opportunities, and your (6) dissertation timeline.
Benefits of the IDP
The IDP serves as a critical opportunity for students and advisors to:
- Celebrate accomplishments of students. Having a discussion about what you have accomplished during the academic year serves as an excellent motivator for future work (Hobin et al., 2017); it also keeps the advisor more directly in the loop on your program and dissertation progress.
- Set both short and long-term research and career goals (Vincent et al., 2015). IDPs in the earlier years of your graduate experience can be an opportunity to narrow in on career options. Individuals are more likely to reach goals when they set these goals themselves and develop a concrete plan to pursue them (Gollwitzer, 1999, cited in Hobin et al., 2017).
- Prioritize projects and identify potential barriers in meeting those projects. Throughout your graduate studies, you might take on a number of projects or undergo additional training opportunities. Having a plan that both you and your advisor agree on can streamline your dissertation timeline.
- Receive constructive criticism on where skills/steps towards the career path can be improved (Vincent et al., 2015). Regular feedback on goals allows individuals to gauge their progress and provides opportunities to amend strategies (Latham et al., 2008, cited in Vincent et al., 2015). In other words, checkpoints and self-assessments allow students the opportunity to adjust every year rather than scrambling to build their CV and their skill sets in the end of their graduate studies.
- Clarify expectations of advisor and advisee. The IDP can strengthen the rapport and communication between mentor and mentee, as the document requires you to discuss expectations on expectations of work (and work-life balance), what will be accomplished throughout the year, and whether or not you are able to or open to taking on additional projects.
Ultimately, IDPs help students to assess their current skills and abilities and to facilitate communication between students and their mentors (Hobin et al., 2017). A survey of 7,600 postdocs found that individuals who developed training plans with their advisors at the start of their appointments published more papers, experienced less conflicts with their advisor, and overall had greater satisfaction with their appointments than those who did not develop plans (Davis, 2006, cited in Hobin et al., 2017).
Making the Most out of Your IDP
It is important to note that a single strategy for skill building and career development will not work for everyone. The IDP must be tailored to you and your values, career goals, and priorities (Hobin et al., 2012). It is a dynamic and iterative process (Clifford, 2002), and is meant to be a resource for you rather than your advisor. It can be overwhelming getting started. Below are are some tips on how to approach the process.
Reflect on Your Chosen Career
First, determine what career options you might be interested in. Remember that you do not need to have a concrete career picked out, but having a general sense of what area you want to go into is helpful in creating a set of goals for the year and for your program (Vincent et al., 2015). If you are not sure what you would like to do, it is helpful to speak to your advisor about what opportunities previous students in the lab or in the department have pursued.
Select Goals and Creating a Dissertation Timeline
A detailed IDP form provides an opportunity for students to gather their thoughts before meeting with their advisor and to have a record of what you and the advisor mutually agreed upon (Vincent et al., 2015). Therefore, IDPs should provide enough detail that you are able to chart out a plan for the year (broken down by month or quarter).
Be sure to think carefully about everything that you would like to accomplish throughout your graduate career. How many publications do you want to produce? What professors would you be interested in collaborating with? What methodologies or skills would you need to learn to be able to achieve? What conferences or fellowships do you want to apply for? And finally, what additional workshops, courses, or certificate programs would you want to participate in to develop additional skills necessary for your career? Make a list of all these goals.
- Distinguish between learning goals performance goals – while performance goals set a concrete output, learning goals focus individual’s attention on the “process of discovering how to perform a task correctly” (Hobin et al., 2017)
- Break goals up into small, concrete steps that can be completed within a month or a quarter. Breaking goals up into smaller components increases the likelihood of individuals meeting their goals (Hobin et al., 2017). Refer back to the IDP from previous years to get a sense of how long it might take you to complete your goals for the year.
It is helpful to have a running google doc that includes conference abstract submissions, fellowships, and other opportunities that includes concrete deadlines. Update this google doc throughout the year. It can serve as the foundation for crafting next year’s IDP. If you’re at a loss as to where to get started looking for these opportunities, I would recommend:
- Joining professional organizations that host annual conferences that are relevant to your field or provide additional information on external resources
- Regularly checking the Graduate Division page for internal and external fellowship and grant opportunities
- Consulting with your advisor or program chapter about department-specific
Once you have a sense of what you would like to accomplish, be sure to prioritize short and long term goals based on your program requirements and dissertation timeline. For example, the first two years of your PhD might be dedicated to course work and advancing to candidacy. This is the perfect opportunity to chart what courses you might need to take to develop theories or gain a stronger mechanisms of mechanisms and methodologies. If you are expected to complete a certain number of projects prior to advancing (like in my program), then it is imperative that you chart out exactly when you complete these projects so that you can still advance by the normative time.
The Importance of Follow-up Meetings and Routine Self-Assessment
Remember that the IDP is effective if you have opportunities to reflect on your progress and to learn from it.
Be sure to meet with your advisor frequently and periodically reassess your skills, current progress, and broader career path (Hobin et al., 2017). I would recommend a formal meeting at least once a quarter. Prepare and agenda that focuses not only on what you hope to complete, but also what you have already accomplished. What issues did you run into in the past quarter and how did you address them? What future challenges do you anticipate as you move forward and how might you prevent them?
If your advisor is unavailable, consider asking for feedback from other members of the lab. This is important in gauging how your peers – especially those with more experience in the program – view your current strengths and weaknesses. They can also provide invaluable advice on additional opportunities on and off campus to improve on your skills that your advisor might not know about.
Additional Tools and Resources
I hope this provided you with the tools necessary to get started on your own graduate student plan. It is important to note that there are additional individual opportunities for assessment, evaluation, and career reflection that are specific to disciplines. Below are a few that UCI students have access to:
- ImaginePhD– Focuses on career development individuals with PhDs in humanities and social sciences
- My IDP through Sciences Careers (AAAS) – allows participants to create customized science-focused career plans through evaluation of current skills. The site also provides reminders to students to update progress throughout their graduate career.
- ChemIDP – IDP resource developed by the American Chemical Society.
References
Clifford, P. S. (2002). Quality time with your mentor: students and mentors should agree on a development plan that clearly delineates career goals and establishes a strategy for additional skill acquisition. The Scientist, 16(19), 59-60
Hobin, J. A., Clifford, P. S., Dunn, B. M., Rich, S., & Justement, L. B. (2017). Putting PhDs to work: career planning for today’s scientist. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 13(1), 49-53.
Hobin J.A., Fuhrmann C.N., Lindstaedt B., & Clifford P.S. (2012) You Need a Game Plan. Science Careers
Vincent, B. J., Scholes, C., Staller, M. V., Wunderlich, Z., Estrada, J., Park, J., … & DePace, A. H. (2015). Yearly planning meetings: Individualized development plans aren’t just more paperwork. Molecular cell, 58(5), 718-721.