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AU Career PhD

March 2017

career portraits 2016

One of the big questions for PhD students is often “what do PhDs actually do?” – Where do they find work and as what do they find work?


This collection of career portraits of PhDs from Health seeks to answer that question by giving 22 examples of different career paths and the considerations behind the career choices. The career portraits are written by PhD students on the basis of interviews they conducted during a course in the autumn 2016.

AU Mentor PhD - getting closer to the industry

The 2017 application for our mentor programme, AU Mentor PhD, is now open! This is your opportunity to get closer to the business community and ease your prospective transition from university to a career outside of academia.

INSIGHTS from a former mentee

Liv Solvår Nymark, Ph.D. in health economics, handed in her thesis in January this year and has until recently been part of the mentor programme. In 2015 she was matched with a Health Economics Manager at Novartis who has a Ph.D. in economics from KU. About her experience with the mentor programme Liv states:

"I have had a truly amazing mentor - both in relation to doing a Ph.D. but also regarding the access to network in the industry and career guidance. I have grown tremendously the last three years and naturally this is the result of more than the mentor programme, but I have considered it an enormous support to have a mentor".

If you are interested in a mentor, go to our website for more information and registration. NOTE! We only take in 25 mentees this year so do not hesitate to apply.

Career Planning

Would you like to know more about how to engage in career planning as a PhD or postdoc?

Watch the video and get four specific pieces of advice from AU´s Ph.D. career consultant Vibeke Broe.

Event overview - spring 2017

CV & Cover Letter Writing with a HR Perspective

You may know what kind of job you want after you have finished your PhD. Or maybe you are not quite there yet? Either way, there comes a time when you will have to find the best way to present yourself through your CV and cover letter. Maybe you have already sent out your first application, but did not get the response you were looking for?

If any of this sounds familiar, join this afternoon seminar where the topic will be the do's and don'ts of CV and cover letter writing for jobs outside academia. As a newer element of the CV & cover letter seminar, we will invite a HR profile from the industry to provide the recruiter's perspective and general insight into the recruitment process.

Date: 3rd May 2017

Time: 15:00-17:30

Place: Preben Hornungstuen, Studenterhusfonden, Fredrik Nielsens Vej 2-4, 8000 Aarhus C

Developing Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness – developing Employability! Self-awareness is essential to achieve employability and it is the corner stone of career development. You need to know your professional and personal strengths in order to be able to convince others of your skills. Just as you need to know your skills, your values, your personality and your interests in order to find the career path or job that is right for you.

This workshop will focus primarily on skills and competence awareness: what are your strengths and your weaknesses and how do you convey your competences to others.

Date: 19th April 2017

Time: 15:00-17:30

Place: Preben Hornungstuen, Studenterhusfonden, Fredrik Nielsens Vej 2-4, 8000 Aarhus C

Company visit to LEGO

Date: 25th April 2017

Time: 7:50-15:30

Meeting point: Gustav Wieds vej 14 (the parking spot in front of iNANO)

Join us for an all-day excursion to LEGO and get a chance to learn more one of the world's leading manufacturers of play materials.

During the visit you will hear about the organisation, the recruitment process, which PhDs LEGO is interested in, and not least get a tour of the site.

International PhDs: Finding Work in Denmark

The aim of this event is to inspire international PhD students at AU on how to find jobs in Denmark and give them insight in how to benefit from their international background. Three alumni will share their perspectives and thoughts on the subject.

The alumni will set out to answer questions such as:

  • How and where did I find my job?
  • How long did it take me to find a job?
  • Did I do something out of the ordinary to find a job?
  • How was the recruitment process?
  • What is it like to be within the Danish work environment?
  • Which role does language and culture play?

Are you wondering about some of the same topics and would you like to hear the answers to the above questions? Then register for the event and hear how alumni with international backgrounds made their way into the Danish job market.

Check out our website for a full view of the speakers for the event.

Date: 24th May 2017

Time: 15:30-17:30

Place: Preben Hornungstuen, Studenterhusfonden, Fredrik Nielsens Vej 2-4, 8000 Aarhus C

PhDs from Economics: Where do they go?

Join this afternoon seminar with presentations by alumni from Economics. This day we will have alumni from both the private and public sector as well as a profile from academia present.

The event sets out to answer career related questions including how the profiles initially got their job. You will learn more about the alumni's career choices, their particular job assignments, use of PhD competencies and overall thoughts.

The event is relevant for PhDs from BSS, in particular those from Economics and Business Economics.

Check out our website for a full view of the speakers for the event.

Date: 14th June 2017

Time: 15:30-17:30

Place: M1, Studenterhusfonden, Fredrik Nielsens Vej 2-4, 8000 Aarhus C

You can always find all of our events on our website.

You can find all our events in the Event Calendar on our website. Here you can also find further information about each event including an overview of the speakers for the different events. 

Relevant articles

"Transferring skills beyond the lab" shows you specific examples of how Ph.D.-holders put their skills to use outside the lab. The article got a lot of attention on our Facebook page so we just wanted to share it with those of you, who may have missed it. Check out the article here.

Sally Blount, dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, emhasizes "6 Ways to Sharpen Your Everyday Negotiations Skills". Check our the article here.

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