Individualized Development Plan (IDP)
The Faculty of Graduate Studies’ IDP is a tool to assist graduate students, like you, to identify and develop your goals during your studies.
When creating an IDP, with the help of a mentor, you can enhance your professional growth and skills by:
- Setting and communicating goals related to teaching, research, and/or professional development with your supervisor, faculty colleagues, or other mentors
- Identifying ways to learn or improve your competencies to be used during your graduate work and within professional spaces
- Identifying your strengths, talents, and passions, as well as opportunities to use them during your studies and in your future professional life while building an effective support network
Self-Assessment/
Reflection
Looking back while planning for the future
Setting Goals
Clarifying the knowledge and skills you need
Exploring Opportunities
Developing a strategy for realizing your plan
Engagement
Acting on your plan to achieve your goals
Check-In
Revisit to update your goals and engagement activities
Download the IDP
Revisit your IDP to update your goals and engagement activities throughout the year, at time intervals you/your mentor deem most appropriate.
Or
Download the IDP (Abridged Version)
This IDP is an abridged version that has been designed for graduate students who prefer a more streamlined option compared to the full IDP based on their individual preferences.
The IDP is designed to provide a framework for encouraging active participation in professional skills training and career management. It consists of a document that is meant to evolve during your studies to better reflect your changing goals and to highlight your progress and accomplishments.
No, but it is recommended. It is a great tool to keep yourself on track during your studies and to provide insight into your strengths when deciding what to pursue post-graduation. Choosing to complete one, several or all sections is at your discretion.
Above all, the Faculty of Graduate Studies encourages you to set goals for the academic year and discuss your plans with your mentor(s), when appropriate.
Graduate students that elect to complete an IDP receive a Certificate of Completion to highlight on their resume/CV. Providing a copy of one’s IDP is not requested nor required to receive the certificate. Certificates can be requested at any time by registering your completion in YU Learn.
Creating an IDP
The IDP includes a self-assessment worksheet for graduate students to reflect on their recent activities and future goals.
- An IDP can be used to communicate your professional development and career planning needs and intentions to others, including your supervisor. This can lead to helpful advice, resources and connections.
- In the student-supervisory relationship, the IDP can be used to ensure that you and your supervisor both understand and are in agreement with the expectations of the progress of your work. This is especially important near the end of your studies.
As you work on your IDP, asking for support from a mentor, your supervisor (who may also be your mentor), or Graduate Program Director (GPD) is encouraged. We recommend revisiting your IDP at least once a year in order to assess any activities and outcomes and to revise your plans and expectations for the future.
To help you to complete the self-assessment and engagement sections, we encourage you to draw on the information and resources available through the Graduate and Postdoctoral Professional Skills (GPPS) webpage. Your GPD will also be able to provide further information about professional skills opportunities offered through your program, and your supervisor may also be able to suggest concrete examples of activities and goals that are relevant to your field of study.
How to begin
| For Graduate Students | For Mentors | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Conduct self-assessment | Become familiar with available career opportunities |
| Step 2 | Draft and share goals with your mentor and advise | Review IDP and provide suggestions/general feedback |
| Step 3 | Survey various engagement opportunities with your mentor | Discuss engagement opportunities |
| Step 4 | Implement the plan and revise IDP as needed, at least annually | Establish regular reviews of progress and help revise the IDP as needed, at least annually |
Reflecting and reviewing your values, interests and skills is an ideal place to begin a discussion of the kinds of professional skills training needed to supplement your academic programming as well as an important step in identifying potential professional pursuits. There are a number of resources available to graduate students that may help you better understand your goals and priorities, including online tools as well as advising available through the Career Centre.
The first step is to identify your future goals and understand what competencies and skills you will need to achieve these goals. Following some sample career-oriented goals can assist in helping to determine related professional skills development:
- Vocational goal
- Become a professor of __________________ at a research university
- Become a career professional in ________________________ field
- Long-term (5–10 years)
- Become a postdoctoral fellow researching ___________________
- Become a manager working in ____________________ field
- Intermediate-term (2–5 years)
- Obtain a graduate degree in __________________________
- Continue on to a PhD program in ____________________________
- Short-term (1–2 years)
- Submit my application for a graduate scholarship for _________________
- Join a research study in my lab
- Immediate (6 months–1 year)
- Explore _____________ subject matter by taking _____________ course
The self-assessment asks you to reflect on your skills, experiences and goals. The Graduate & Postdoctoral Professional Skills (GPPS) program is divided into six broad areas to connect you to opportunities and resources that will help you develop your professional plans and goals, and strategically meet those goals:
Career Exploration and Planning
There exists a variety of versatile career options for those with advanced degrees. Learning the tools required to evaluate career options, and the skills needed to enter those careers, will help you transition from university to the workplace.
Communication
An important aspect of the expertise one acquires as part of graduate study or postdoctoral research is the ability to effectively communicate information through writing and other mediums. What are some techniques for improving written and oral communication to professional colleagues or to laypersons?
Health and Wellness
A variety of campus and community services are available to support and enhance the well-being of scholars during one’s academic pursuits.
Managing Time and Resources
It is difficult to balance the demands of life, work and study, but there are strategies that can be used to help manage time more effectively.
Research Dissemination
The importance of research isn’t limited to other scholars. What are the tools and techniques that help translate academic work into other contexts?
Teaching
The skills learned when leading a classroom are skills that can be relevant in many other contexts, such as public speaking, formulating plans and interpersonal skills. Even if you will not be teaching as part of your graduate degree, offerings in this area are applicable to many other contexts such as TAships.
The IDP takes these goals and uses them as the basis of a series of questions related to each of these areas with the intention of prompting reflection. Not every area may be equally relevant or important to everyone, but we encourage you to explore every area and engage with gaps in knowledge and areas for improvement as much as strengths and recent successes. However, it is entirely up to you what sections you choose to engage with.
Some sample entries for inspiration:
- Career Exploration and Planning
- Previous opportunities:
- 5-Week rapid systematic research review with my supervisor on undergraduate critical thinking in post-secondary institutions (Canadian context)
- Future opportunities:
- Research with ___ departments in different Ontario universities
- Previous opportunities:
- Communication
- Areas for improvement in writing:
- Understanding the differences in tone of a policy analysis versus a systematic review
- Past year experiences:
- A better understanding of choosing the best images in presentations
- Areas for improvement in writing:
- Health and Wellness
- Goals over the past year:
- Maintained physical activity for 45 minutes a day/5 days a week
- Goals for the upcoming year:
- Participate in workshops offered by Graduate Student Wellness Services pertaining to social and emotional well-being
- Goals over the past year:
- Managing Time and Resources
- Previous strategies:
- Plan the time required per task and distribute it throughout the week
- Strategies to improve time management:
- Work on not procrastinating tasks and leaving time for review
- Previous strategies:
- Research Dissemination
- Goals for the upcoming year:
- Seek opportunities to reach different audiences to share research with
- Goals for the upcoming year:
- Teaching
- Opportunities in the past year:
- Teaching peers through group presentations
- Goals for the upcoming year:
- Teaching students at my current occupation or volunteer opportunity
- Opportunities in the past year:
There exist several IDP-related tools to better understand and map your personal strengths and skills. Each tool includes a self-assessment of skills, interests, and values; goal-setting guidelines; and reference to skill-building and career exploration resources. Each of these tools are free to use.
- ImaginePhD is a career exploration and planning tool for the humanities and social sciences.
- Assess your career-related skills, interests, and values
- Explore careers paths appropriate to your disciplines
- Create self-defined goals
- Map out the next steps for career and professional development success
- myIDP is a career exploration and planning tool for STEM. myIDP provides:
- Exercises to help you examine your skills, interests, and values
- A list of 20 scientific career paths with a prediction of which ones best fit your skills and interests
- A tool for setting strategic goals for the coming year, with optional reminders to keep you on track
- Articles and resources to guide you through the process
- Beyond the Professoriate is a PhD career training platform. This is a more career-focused tool.
- Know your options and find your optimal career pathway
- Learn how to master the foundational framework for PhD career transitions
- Execute a job search with proven PhD job search strategies
- Build your new career and professional sphere
Your supervisor is the individual most connected to your research project and their principal task consists of helping you realize your scholarly potential. If your mutual expectations — informed by your Discussion Topics to Inform Productive Supervisory Relationships (Master’s Students, and Doctoral Students) — align with the goals in your IDP, you may consider incorporating some aspects of your IDP into your ongoing conversations and planning. Your Graduate Program Director may also be able to assist in areas considered outside of the scope of your Discussion Topics.
The Career Centre offers one-on-one appointments that can help you identify and pursue career paths both inside and outside academe, improve your job search and transition to your professional life. Register on the career centre’s online system. If there are no appointments posted that fit your schedule, contact Susan Pogue, Career Counsellor directly at spogue@yorku.ca who will try to accommodate you.
If you do not feel that any of the individuals listed above are most suitable based on your listed goals and/or you would prefer to discuss your IDP with the Faculty of Graduate Studies, please contact the Associate Director, Graduate Academic Affairs to discuss further. The Faculty of Graduate Studies can also assist in connecting you with various supports relevant to your individual pursuits.
A Guide for Supervisors/Faculty Mentors
Designed for academic supervisors and other faculty mentors, such as supervisory committee members, seeking a short overview of graduate professional skills programming at York University and to encourage a productive dialogue with mentees around career planning and exploration: Guide for Supervisors/Faculty Mentors (.pdf).
Making use of the IDP as the base tool for conversations on professional skills development, the following questions can help lay a supportive foundation for ongoing discussions:
- Have you considered booking a 1×1 advising appointment with the Career Centre to discuss your plans further? Note: Susan Pogue, Career Counsellor—spogue@yorku.ca meets with graduate students and can advise on academic- and non-academic career planning
- Are there certain professional skills areas you see being most beneficial in developing further, in line with your current or future aspirations?
- Has the IDP assisted you in identifying opportunities you would like to participate in?
- Are there specific individuals/groups I can assist in providing introductions to expand your network and build collaborative relationships with others?
- What kinds of opportunities would you find most interesting and/or fulfilling post-graduation?
If you would prefer a one-page printout, please refer to the Guide for Supervisors/Faculty Mentors (.pdf). This document is designed for academic supervisors and other faculty mentors seeking a short overview of graduate professional skills programming at York University and to encourage a productive dialogue with supervisees around career planning and exploration. It includes the list of guiding questions for meeting with students featured above that can help approach the topic.
When should you speak with your students and about what:
Master’s student
Year 1
- Fall term: introduce the IDP at orientation and/or in seminar courses
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals
Year 2
- Fall term: continue conversations on professional development goals and relevant supports
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals. Encourage further career development opportunities, where appropriate
PhD student
Year 1
- Fall term: introduce IDP at orientation and/or seminar courses
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals
Year 2
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals
Year 3
- Fall term: continue conversations about professional development goals and engagement opportunities
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals
Year 4
- Fall term: continue conversations about professional development goals and engagement opportunities
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals. Encourage further career development opportunities, where appropriate
Year 5+
- Fall term: continue conversations about professional development goals and engagement opportunities
- Winter term: approach during the annual progress report completion and review goals achieved and future goals. Encourage further career development opportunities, where appropriate
A lesson plan with a 60-75 minute activity has been designed for instructors to go over a select portion of the IDP with students as part of an appropriate course in the program. This can be used, for example, as a primer for faculty members introducing the IDP to students, in workshops for students, as a lesson within a seminar course in which you go over student success strategies, etc.
Guidance for Program Administrators (Graduate Program Directors, Program Staff)
For program administrators seeking ways to support graduate students and faculty mentors to actively engage in professional skills development via the IDP.