IDPs
Navigating Success: Individual Development Planning for Postdocs
Individual Development Plans (IDPs) are tools to facilitate the intentional, intrinsically motivated career growth of postdocs. The onus is on the postdoc to initiate, schedule, and lead IDP-related career conversations.
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) recommends a mentoring “constellation” or network to support career planning throughout your time as a Penn State postdoc. To get started with this OPA IDP, email the Office’s Director, Dr. Jennifer Nicholas (jun149@psu.edu), to complete a pre-survey.
Think broadly when considering your chosen constellation! Here is a visualization to support that process:
According to this NIH guide, postdoctoral “mentees” should be expect to:
- Be respectful of their mentors’ commitment – make good use of time
- Listen effectively
- Respect confidentiality
- Seek regular feedback on performance and progress
- Be honest and self-critical
- Work with mentors to set long-term and short-term career goals and create a timeline to achieve them
- Take responsibility for researching career options and take initiative in pursuing them
- Follow a path that matches their individual skills, values, and interests
- Seek out additional mentors
- Actively seek opportunities outside their current office
See here for the Penn State Office of Postdoctoral Affairs IDP and other examples:
- Office of Postdoctoral Affairs IDP
- Free IDP tool for postdocs in Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
- Free Public Health and Social Sciences IDP (PHaSS-IDP)
- Free IDP tool for postdocs in Chemistry (American Chemical Society)
- Free tool for postdocs in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Graduate Career Consortium)
The Eberly College of Science has its own IDP system. For Eberly postdocs, the OPA IDP serves as a complementary tool with its unique focus on multiple mentors.
Articles for postdocs’ review and reflection: