Information about career guidance

If you decide that you would like to have a career conversation:

• You can book a session in advance using our booking platform.
• You will be asked to submit some information in advance about yourself and what you wish to focus on.
• Conversations will usually last 45 minutes, but be shorter if desired.
• Conversations are confidential and we won't store or otherwise share their contents. 
• We will take some time at the beginning of the conversation to clarify expectations. 
• We will discuss and agree on the issues you would like to foucs on, then go through them one by one.
• We will set aside some time at the end to sum up and evaluate.

What do you understand by the term “career”?
For some, a career signifies having a plan in order to obtain better terms and conditions for their work, while for others it can encompass everything relating to paid work. For some a career is a lifestyle and for others it can mean learning and using one’s knowledge and skills. Some people view their careers in linear terms, and we often hear of career ‘ladders’. Others view their career as a process or journey.  
Because of this, career coaching can cover a wide variety of topics: it can cover big decisions or small tweaks; challenges you experience, uncertainty you might feel about the future,   plans to upskill or change direction, and much more.
 

We offer:

• An impartial discussion partner who will listen objectively, but who is invested in supporting you to think through and resolve your challenges. 
• A discussion partner who you can think problems and potential solutions through with, who can help by offering new and diffent perspectives on your situation.
• A coach who can support you to find career information and resources, and can provide specific tips about what to try next.
• UiB Ferd is an academic careers service, which means that your coach will have expertise in career counselling. Our coaches are trained in compliance with the national competency standards administered by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.
• UiB Ferd is a new service and we would request your understanding about the fact that we are still in our running-in phase and are learning and acquiring experience as we proceed. We would like to learn from our mistakes and from what works well, so any feedback from students who have received guidance like you would be very useful for us.

Ellen Hagen

Ellen Hagen has been involved in providing career guidance in various contexts since 2012. She was a research fellow at adm.org in 2004-2012, but left her PhD to start working with absences from upper secondary schools under the Ny Giv project. After working for a while as a manager at NAV Voss, Ellen worked for Hkdir where she was responsible for a European career guidance incentive called Euroguidance. Due to her strong commitment to lifelong learning and mentoring, Hagen enrolled in a Master's in career guidance at the INN (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences). The subject of her thesis is career development for postdoctoral fellows in Norway. 

Signe Knappskog

Signe Knappskog has been working for several years as a consultant and providing practical assistance including dual career and spouse support, to international researchers at UiB. She has previously held a position as a study supervisor, and also worked on the recruitment and follow-up of scientific employees as a departmental administrative manager. In 2021, Knappskog joined the HR Department's team responsible for careers and competence, and during the same year she completed a postgraduate degree in supervision at the VID Specialised University. 

Search for information on the Internet, talk to academic supervisors and colleagues, take self-tests, attend courses, create a career plan, contact people who already have the type of job you want, check out other information on this website - there are a lot of resources available for people who take the initiative themselves.
Career guidance is just one of several possible resources you can use.
Good luck!