The Ontology of Value®
Career Mastery Program
— Edition 2023/2024 —
Discover Your Values. Build Your Career.
Intensive Online Career Development Program
Crafted For Researchers Launching Their Industry Careers
Discover your competitive advantage in the job market, learn all the strategies necessary to land great jobs, and start your career in industry with us!
Develop Your Career With Us!
Join Our Career Mastery Program!
The Ontology of Value® Career Mastery Program, PhD Edition is an intensive online career development workshop tailor-made for PhD candidates and PhD graduates on a runway towards a new career in industry.
As every good show, this program consists of three acts!
1 You will learn all you need to know about your opportunities in the job market. You will go through a number of self-discovery exercises which will help you determine where you fit best.
2 You will acquire all the skills you need to search for and land good jobs.
3 You will learn general self-navigation strategies to make fast progress in any working environment and quickly adjust to the changing job market.
And all this in a group of ambitious, helpful, and motivated people like you!
For Whom Is The Ontology of Value® Career Mastery Program?
✓ For researchers preparing for a major leap in their professional lives,
✓ For those who are open to working in the competitive sectors in the international job market,
✓ For researchers seeking tools for leveraging their professional competencies and learning self-navigation strategies for life.
Why Is This Program Right For You?
✓ Zero generalities. You will go through a detailed test diagnosing your individual competitive advantage on the labor market,
✓ Zero theorizing. You will learn and practice a range of effective strategies of seeking and winning attractive positions, in accordance with your individual professional profile and needs,
✓ Zero outdated information. You will gain all the skills you need to look for and get a job in 2023: creating a competitive resume and LinkedIn profile, writing winning cover letters, self-presentation during job interviews in accordance with the current industry standards, and broadly understood networking skills,
✓ Advanced option. In the additional, extended part of the program (+ 2 weeks), we teach how to build your career in the long term, how to be entrepreneurial and independent in your professional life, how to self-manage yourself like a pro and quickly adapt to any working environment. This knowledge will serve you throughout your career!
We offer more than a career workshop...
It's a career transforming experience
and an exciting inner journey!
The New Edition of the Program AD 2023 Includes:
➣ Professional help in developing your career,
➣ Interactive lectures, hands-on exercises, group assignments (3 hour-long live sessions every week),
➣ Digital handouts,
➣ A set of homework assignments to help you in your self-discovery process (~4 hours of individual work after every live session),
➣ A digital copy of the book “What Is out There For Me? The Landscape of Post-PhD Career Tracks,”
➣ An access to The Ontology of Value® Test and our methodology,
➣ Unlimited access to our internal “Ask me anything” career-development channel on Discord – also after the workshop!
➣ New, international professional contacts,
➣ Professional skills that will serve you for a lifetime, such as predicting and tracking the job market, networking skills, autopresentation & personal branding online.
The number of seats per each edition of our program is strictly limited. First come, first served!
Choose The Package That Suits You Best!
4-Week Program🔥
- Learn your competitive advantage in the job market as a PhD,
- Discover and discuss the real reasons why you consider leaving academia,
- Build your professional identity,
- Build a vision for your “dream job” & “dream lifestyle,”
- Find out what is your competitive advantage in the job market, and where you should start your adventure,
- Learn how to pitch and brand yourself,
- Build a resume that fits the industry standards,
- Learn to network and build social capital efficiently,
- Learn how to pass job interviews with flying colors, and practice job interviews,
- Create a personal plan of action and take active steps towards landing your new position.
279 EUR + VAT
6-Week Program🚀
- Get everything in the 4-Week Program,
- Test your entrepreneurial mind,
- Learn self-management techniques for life,
- Learn how to self-navigate online like a pro,
- Learn how to assess and predict the job market.
399 EUR + VAT
Add-ons
Next to live workshop, you can also book an additional, individual coaching package that includes:
➣ An individual follow-up online career consultancy session after the course with the course leader (2 hours),
➣ Professional editing of your job application documents: resume, application letters, LinkedIn profile.
189 EUR + VAT
Join Us & Enroll For Our Career Mastery Program Today!
Starting date: Thursday, 2nd June 2022 6 pm – 9 pm CET (on every Thursday)
Starting date: Thursday, 1st September 2022 6 pm – 9 pm CET (on every Thursday)
Why Choose Us?
We always take an individual approach to every participant — you will be taken care of! At the end of the training, you will be fully equipped to rock the job market — not only now, but also in the future. You will develop self-navigation skills for life!
Our workshops are highly interactive and vibrant, and the atmosphere is always joyful. Moreover, we care about the team spirit. We encourage collaboration and make sure that the participants learn from each other and are mutually supportive. Career development is a challenge, and it is always more efficient when you work in a supportive group. So, if you are building a new career in times of the pandemic, don’t be alone in the process!
WATCH OUT!
You might experience rapid changes in your professional life after taking this class 🙂
The Ontology of Value® System
We believe that the best approach to develop your full potential, is to find your competitive advantage in the job market and cooperate / collaborate rather than compete. This approach proves to be the most effective both in business and in career building! Therefore, we will help you determine your unique professional identity and position yourself in the job market in a way to excel.
In the job market, there is no one else like you. You have your unique “professional identity” or “professional fingerprint.” This fingerprint is composed of a set of your core competencies acquired throughout your education process and professional career, your individual way of creating value for others, and your values and beliefs that make you fit into specific working environments. We use our own methodology developed with our in-house R&D tools to let you discover your fingerprint and navigate in the job market like a pro!
You Will Discover Your Natural Path To Create Value:
CREATOR (a.k.a. Hipster, Visionary, Designer, Inventor, Innovator) is an individual whose biggest driving force is novelty. Creators can be found in all areas of the job market—from politics, through arts and sciences, to all branches of industry including IT. Creators’ minds circulate around high-level concepts. They feel the happiest when they derive new ideas and produce new, original content that amazes their environment. Creators treat professional life as a life-long pilgrimage: a journey from solving one type of problem or developing one concept to another.
SPECIALIST (a.k.a. Hacker, Developer, Expert, Problem-solver, Engineer) is a professional whose biggest drive is tackling specific, specialistic problems. Specialist’s ambition is becoming an expert or the to-go-to-person in a certain domain. Specialists can independently come up with new solutions, i.e., hack problems. They find utter joy in finding geeky tricks to solve the issues encountered by their colleagues and astonishing people in their environment by making unexpected fixes to everyday problems.
LINCHPIN (a.k.a. Hustler, Communicator, Deal-maker, Community-builder, Connector) is a communicator and a deal-maker whose biggest drive is growing projects and building impact by developing and managing communities, finding collaborators and followers. The term “linchpin” means the central, pivotal piece of a wheel. Linchpins are, indeed, the hearts of their communities. They have strong interpersonal skills, are empathic, and easily take other people’s perspectives. They enjoy expanding projects by increasing the outreach and finding potential new clients or beneficiaries of the organizations that they represent. Linchpins love people! They are usually well-connected and gifted with the ability to find the right people at the right time.
MANAGER (a.k.a. Executive, Leader, Principal) is an individual whose biggest passion is managing a functional team and steering it in a way to reach the chosen goals. Managers feel the happiest when they can orchestrate a group of people to reach their targets efficiently and in a friendly, collaborative atmosphere. They are good at finding synergies between people and putting the team members in the right roles. However, managers also take an individual approach to optimally motivate every team member.
ACHIEVER (a.k.a. Role-model, Performer, High-flyer, Go-getter) loves to compete and win. Achiever’s biggest drive is to become the leader in some disciplines and serve as a role model to others. Some achievers (e.g., Olympians) aim to become world-renowned professionals in their field and inspire young people around the globe. Other achievers don’t seek public attention, but rather, prefer to be recognized in a narrow, specialistic field. In either case, achievers have the ambition to get to some level of measurable success and influence others in a positive way.
MISSIONARY (a.k.a. Mentor, Helper, Guardian, Protector, Supporter) is an individual whose biggest drive is to help other people directly. Most missionaries have a strong personal sense of mission (as the name suggests!) and are eager to compromise on their level of comfort or sacrifice a large portion of their free time to serve others. Missionaries feel the happiest when they see the smile on the face of the person whom they have just helped. They highly value non-material qualities at work, such as integrity, equality, and diversity.
CONTRIBUTOR (a.k.a. Workplace-Architect, Logistician, Coordinator, Planner, Trustee) prefers to create an infrastructure for others so that they can accomplish their projects and build their careers. Contributors usually avoid the spotlight—they prefer to work from behind the scenes. They care about creating a friendly atmosphere at work and are masters of multitasking. Contributors feel the happiest when they observe that their working environment develops in harmony, and when they live a balanced lifestyle. They enjoy hearing that it feels great working with them and that their contribution matters.
INVESTOR (a.k.a. Capitalist, Financial Libertarian, Patron, Philanthropist) aims to achieve full financial freedom and only focus on doing projects out of interest rather than out of need. Investors don’t search for fame and recognition for what they do. They prefer to build their wealth in silence and live a peaceful life so that they can enjoy a high degree of personal freedom and cherry-pick projects that are most exciting to them. They are also eager to support budding projects with their know-how and financial resources.
You Will Also Test Which Work Environments Fit You Best:
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND NGOS include government-funded organizations, e.g., the Ministry of Education, the Chamber of Commerce, national grant agencies, data centers funded by the government, think tanks summoned by the government, and nonprofits. Some nonprofits don’t get funding from the government per se; they need to acquire financial resources independently through grants, crowdfunding, public tax benefits, and donations. Such organizations are often referred to as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). NGO space covers a broad range of societal problems, from the environment to social equality. Since both governmental institutions and NGOs are non-profit and share some characteristics, they are placed in the same category.
CONSULTANCY COMPANIES offer professional research and advisory within a certain field of expertise to other companies and public organizations. They operate on a project basis: as an umbrella agency, they summon a team of consultants or delegate a consultant for every contracted project. Consultancy is a broad term; consultants work in multiple areas: providing professional assessment and planning to the government, massive data science- and biotechnological projects, business management, general management, education, conflict resolution, market research, planning the public infrastructure, professional training, etc.
CORPORATIONS are, in public understanding, large companies, hiring more than 250 employees (although in legal terms, a “corporation” is defined differently, i.e., as a legal entity separate and distinct from its owners). Some corporations focus on manufacturing products and services for other businesses and the government. Other corporations work in the Business-to-Customer (B2C) model and deliver services straight to customers’ homes. Corporations function and legal persons, or “born out of statute,” and are governed by the corporate law.
SMALL TO MIDDLE-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SMES) are, by definition, companies with no more than 250 employees on board. These companies usually occupy a niche in their branch of industry, producing goods and services for their customers (Business-to-Customer, or B2C), for other businesses (Business-to-Business, or B2B), or public institutions (Business-to-Government, or B2G). Their main ambition is to become the leading provider of certain services or products in their geographical area or their niche of the market.
STARTUPS are companies in the early stages of development (hence the name)—usually, smaller than 100 employees. Yet, from the very start, the company’s founders aim to scale the operations and grow. Startups are usually born in highly competitive fields such as IT, healthcare, or agriculture. Moreover, they often start their adventure with a sort of debt, namely funds from private investors or bank loans. For these reasons, startups often fail; after 10 years from incorporation, only about 10% of startups survive on the market—and among those, many change owners by getting sold to larger companies. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of adventurous founders willing to try their luck launching a new enterprise in the hope to create the next unicorn company.
ACADEMIA is an ecosystem of universities and research centers whose primary purpose is to conduct scientific research, expand the boundaries of human knowledge, create new scientific content, and educate a new generation of scientists. Today, the boundaries between academia and industry started melting: companies often diversify and strengthen their R&D departments by collaborating with universities and running joint PhD programs
ENTREPRENEURSHIP means solving new problems, coming up with solutions, and building new products and services around them—with the intention to grow. Entrepreneurs usually intend to gradually increase the revenue, hire more employees, and develop their products and services further so that the market share and the value of the company will grow as well. Developing startups is challenging; statistically, most startups fail. However, even though working in business can be a path through pain, blood, and tears, and requires strong intuition and some degree of luck, it can be a great adventure leading to an exciting lifestyle and deep satisfaction from work.
FREELANCING means offering your services to individuals, businesses, and public institutions as a self-employed professional. Freelancers work in all industries today, as many companies prefer to work with freelancers on specific, specialistic projects over hiring employees. Professionals such as artists, authors, professional speakers, or athletes also freelance. One can become a freelancer by establishing a sole proprietorship and promoting your brand to attract clients—or otherwise, by becoming a subcontractor to another business. Freelancing requires expertise in a certain domain and a great dose of self-management skills. It can be highly rewarding though, both in terms of remuneration and the overall satisfaction from work.
Our Philosophy
Given all my skills and talents, where should I go next?
Where will I flourish and build the career I love?
Are there any hidden career paths I haven’t noticed just yet?
Where can I find “my” people in the job market and how to join them?
How can my PhD advantage my career in today’s job market?
We have the answers.
Namely, the answers to these questions depend not only on your skills but also on your personality, working style, and values. And as a matter of fact, there is nothing like the best job in the world. In fact, you and your job are like two pieces of a puzzle — to be happy at work, you will need to find that the perfect fit! During our intensive workshop, we will look for your “Person-Market Fit” together.
Moreover, can your PhD give you an edge in today’s job market? Of course! There is great demand — but for the PhD degree holders, not just the PhD degrees. It is all about you and your self-discovery; about how you are as a PhD. It’s about your mindset, in-demand skills, and planning strategies.
In our workshops for PhDs, we combine insightful, up-to-date information on the job market with intensive training in self-navigation. This is what tells us apart: we don’t just fill missing space in your profile. Instead, we guide you so that you can dig deep into yourself, improve on your networking and negotiation skills, and your strategy planning. In order to achieve this, we include interactive group lectures, self-discovery exercises, aptitude tests, mock-up job interviews, group exercises, and a 1-1 consultancy session in our workshops for PhDs.
Our Training Strategy
We conduct our own R&D based on networking, field research, informational interviews, and psychometrics combined with machine learning. Therefore, we don’t offer yet another career orientation workshop based on textbook knowledge! During our courses, you will go through a battery of aptitude tests and exercises to help you determine the career path that might be optimal for you.
But this is not all – we also keep in touch with the participants of our workshops and help them further! Firstly, our participants receive a battery of homework assignments. Secondly, we stay in touch after the course through the dedicated Discord channel. We also provide further career advice via a dedicated newsletter.
The Coach
Watch The Testimonials From Our Previous Participants!
Vera Chan, PhD
Medical Writer at AB Science & Host at PhD Coffee Time
After taking the Ontology of Value aptitude tests, I have become more aware, confident, and unapologetic about my strengths and weaknesses. As a result, I have also become more streamlined and determined after identifying a suitable science career path. These turned out to be the essential qualities that have convinced employers and future colleagues at job interviews.
This workshop had many practical sessions and helped me tremendously when I worked with a recruiter, performed at a job interview, and negotiated my salary. I have landed my dream role as a Medical Writer and I am thriving in the corporate environment because I love working in teams. I would not be so confident about my career choice without this awareness!
This workshop would be highly valuable for PhD students in their final year, and postdocs who are looking into transitioning into a non-academic role. As Natalia is not funded by universities or private companies, she always gives neutral and honest opinions. Thus, when working with Natalia, I was assured that she has my best interest in mind.
Daniel Borek, PhD Candidate
Ghent University
If you are looking for a change in your career or simply want to know in which industry sector you fit the most, Natalia’s workshop is of great value to you.
Natalia’s workshops for PhDs are well-structured and full of original, practical, and useful tips and ideas. She uses extremely helpful and dynamic questionnaires which help you to discover what keeps you moving forward and also your career purposes. Moreover, Natalia knows how to convey the workshop with a variation of her professional knowledge and personal examples.
Chiara Bastiancich, PhD
During the workshop, she discovered that academia is her home, and she is a happy academic now
This intensive course was well-structured and filled with tips and self-observation exercises that I would have never found elsewhere. Working on myself made me realize that I could have a future in the industry, how to smoothly transition there, and look for the perfect position for me. However, it also made me realize that most of the things that I enjoy at work and I am better at are present in my daily activities in academia! As it does not only matter what you do but also in which environment you want to do it, learning about the different working attitudes, tribes and environments was really important for me.
And it made me realize that I am quite happy with my freedom and current tribe in academia. And that perhaps, I don’t have to rush looking for something else! Lack of knowledge on your core competencies and future working environment can reduce your career possibilities, but a lack of knowledge on yourself and your relationship with your job might reduce your happiness for life! Therefore, take the time to discover yourself and evaluate where your natural talents and passions could fit, and let Ontology of Value help you do that!.
Claire Braboszcz, PhD
Higher Data Scientist at UK Office for Standards in Education, Children's services Skills (OFSTED) & Owner at CosyData Ltd
After a few months of working on my own on my career transition from academia and a few failed job interviews in industry, I found out about Ontology of Value and their online workshops for PhDs. I got convinced by the description of the workshop - as giving not only knowledge of the job market and practical tips for job applications but also giving keys for self-discovery, and I decided to invest in it. The fact that Natalia was herself from a STEM PhD and based in EU (as I am) was also a big plus.
Taking part in the workshop delivered on every aspect I was expecting, and more. The added value was not only great first-hand knowledge and tips from Natalia but also the interaction with the other participants.
The 4 weeks of the weekly lectures, the weekly session, and the homework helped me structure my time and making actual progress on practical aspects of the job search I had been postponing otherwise. For instance, I changed the template of my CV for a more modern-looking one or looked up the procedure for becoming self-employed. I found Natalia's knowledge of the job market and her descriptions and practical advice on the different working environments in industry really insightful. And so were the "personality tests" and a session on how to manage personal finances. The 1-to-1 session after the workshop was also a great opportunity to get some further personalized advice for the job search. Natalia's enthusiasm and forward-thinking personality gave me some great energy to pour into my transition from academia. About a month and a half after the end of the workshop, I received my first job offer for a senior data scientist position in the public sector, which was the job I applied to following the discussion and online search during the 1-to-1 session with Natalia. I also started developing a freelance activity on the side.
The practical tips on how to approach a job search and consider my own personal values in the process are in my opinion pretty agnostic of whether you want to try and stay in academia or not. Therefore, I would definitely recommend Natalia's workshop and a companion book on post-PhD careers as a part of the training of every early-career researcher.
Vicky Sherwood, PhD
Expert Scientific Writer, Novartis
I attended an online career development course hosted by Natalia in late 2020. Natalia’s got an amazing grip on the diversity of work options open to those with formal higher education. She clearly distilled this knowledge through the course and her associated book: “What Is out There for Me? The Landscape of Post-PhD Career Tracks.”
I don’t think there’s been a more insightful or comprehensive interpretation on the topic of career-design produced since the classic bestseller; “The Pathfinder” by Nicolas Lore, published over two decades ago. Natalia’s work offers career-design support that’s well and truly rooted in the changing landscape of work in the 21st century.
I would recommend this career orientation course to seasoned professionals looking to change careers and graduates just starting out. Anyone who’s seeking a career that’s more engaging and better aligned to their own needs would be sure to learn something new and benefit.
Joanna Szopińska, PhD Candidate
Business Intelligence Consultant at Quintus
These workshops for PhDs differ from the ones I attended until now. Ontology of Value really provides a lot of information, exercises, and homework. These gave me an opportunity to discover my likes and dislikes and it gave me a picture of what should be my next step in my career. Thank you, Ontology of Value, for your spirit and uniqueness. Moreover, Natalia (the workshop organizer) is very natural, friendly, and intelligent. It was my pleasure to meet her in person.
I have to add that I highly appreciate the idea of meeting 1-1 after the workshop (included in the price). This gave me a feeling of personal interest in my career — something unique compared to other workshops. Also, Ontology of Value provides recruitment solutions to help in finding a job by matching you with a potential job. And at the end of the workshop, I got Natalia’s book, ‘What Is out There For Me? The Landscape of Post-PhD Career Tracks.’ It is a great addition to the course 🙂
