Mentoring Meeting and Career Development Plan
HR requires annual appraisal meetings between postdocs and supervisors (also known as Jahresgespräch or Mitarbeitergespräch). We recommend using this opportunity to have a “mentoring meeting” which clarifies mutual expectations and working relationships, guides professional development, and ensures that the overall status and direction of research is aligned with your career goals.
A career development plan can help structure the mentoring meeting. We provide:
Recommended for an initial plan to draft in the first 3 months of the project.
Recommended for annual refinement of the plan.
Some fellowships have their own career development plan templates that must be submitted to the funding body (such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions).
Our Professional Development page can help structure a discussion of professional skills and provides resources for further skill development.