(Episode 110) Changing Research Culture through Learning Design - the Career Catalyst Example

Podcast announcer [: 00:00:04

Welcome to the Research Culture Uncovered podcast, where in every episode, we explore what is research culture, and what should it be? You'll hear thoughts and opinions from a range of contributors to help you change research culture into what you want it to be.

Ruth Winden [: 00:00:25

Welcome to another episode of the Research Culture Uncover podcast. My name is Ruth Winden. I'm the Careers with Research Consultant at the University of Leeds, and I'm here with my wonderful colleague, Rachael Clark. Welcome, Rachael.

Rachael Clark [: 00:00:39

Thank you so much for having me here today, Ruth. I'm really pleased to be joining you on this podcast. So my name is Rachael Clark, and I'm a project officer in the Digital Culture and Development team within, organisational professional development. And we're in the same team, aren't we Ruth? And my main focus is on building digital capabilities in with our staff community. And my primary kind of key focus for the last kind of five years has been leading on having LinkedIn Learning, as a full campus subscription at Leeds here and supporting staff to use it for their role, but also for their professional development. And with that, I promote the platform to researchers and students sort of wide and built a real strong, love of the platform, but also with LinkedIn, hence why we're here to to discuss.

Ruth Winden [: 00:01:34

Exactly. And Rachael is so knowledgeable about LinkedIn learning and now the whole platform LinkedIn, and we'll explain a little bit how that has come. But Rachaeland I, we've worked together on this project Career Catalyst, which is our digital career management program for our researcher community. Rachael and I, we have worked together on this for, well, a year in development, and then we've run it three times with a cohort of 50 people. And, originally, our wonderful colleague, Tony Bromley, was also with us. And, Tony is now enjoying his retirement, but Rachael and I, we we carried on because we love the program so much and we put so much effort into bringing it to life. And, yes, we've now had 150 people go through it, and it's our researcher community. So we go very broad and explain why that matters to research culture.

Ruth Winden [: 00:02:22

So we invite research technicians, postgraduate researchers, postdocs, lecturers, senior lecturers, and we even had associate lecturers and professors, associate professors with us this time in the last round. And we every year, we run it once, and it has 50 participants. And they come from all walks of life, Rachael, don't they? So all the different subject matter areas, different stages of their careers, different roles. And when Tony, Rachael, and I originally planned the program, we did this deliberately because we wanted to bring people together and build a more cohesive feeling across the university, learn from each other, and help them embrace LinkedIn Learning and LinkedIn. And Career Catalyst was born, wasn't it, Rachael? Do you want to say a little bit about, you know, what you what you find so interesting about the program from your perspective?

Rachael Clark [: 00:03:18

Absolutely. Yeah. So I think when we started, myself and Tony and and you, we all had this real passion for, we love LinkedIn. We love LinkedIn learning. And Tony was his idea of Dynamic Development, which was kind of allowing people to take ownership of their professional development. Those tools within LinkedIn, LinkedIn Learning that are hidden, we wanted, to allow people to be able to tap into them and then, take that forward in their careers. So we really knew what we wanted. We just weren't quite sure how to put it together in a program.

Rachael Clark [: 00:03:51

And we also wanted, like you said, we wanted to keep it open for everyone because it is quite a broad topic. And we we knew, I think, from the onset that having that, mixed, sort of participants would would help each other. And that's become one of the real key value points, I think, in the program is that, you know, if you are a PGR in there and you've got an Associate Professor who's sharing some of their concerns about going, you know, online, that's only gonna help and support you in and, you know, think that these concerns are are valid, but I can push through them and and get through them. So that's, I think, one of the key areas. And I think it's, you know, reflecting back on, you know, when we first started, when we, you know, were planning it, Ruth, we really were gonna have this as an online self paced program, and our involvement after the pilot was gonna be very minimal. We weren't really gonna be involved in it. We only planned in these kind of live touch sections so that we could gauge people's sort of understanding of our kind of self paced materials. But, actually, that is one of the key parts of the program, and I think that's why people do progress and and come to it.

Rachael Clark [: 00:05:02

It's because they get so much from those live sessions. Being able to share with other people and gain our knowledge is a really crucial part of it. So I don't think we could ever have it as a a self-paced online version now.

Ruth Winden [: 00:05:16

Yeah. And I think it's been interesting. We planned it very carefully, and we wanted it to be modular. So we it's a long program. We start normally once a year in November and runs all the way through to March, and there's certain sections to it. And, yes, of course, we deal with, you know, the LinkedIn profile, and we give that a lot of attention. But then we go through all the different aspects. Because Rachael and I, we were very passionate about, you know, people understanding there is a lot more to LinkedIn than they think.

Ruth Winden [: 00:05:45

They often think, oh, yeah. You know, it's a place where I upload my CV, and far from it. So I obviously come from the career strategist point of view. I've been on LinkedIn since the old days when you had to get invited, and that's a long, long, long time ago. And I've trained in using LinkedIn as a career management tool. Rachael is our superstar on LinkedIn Learning, but now she does it all because we came from different angles, didn't we, Rachael? And we do you want to just share all the different aspects that we do on the program? Because there is a reason why it's long. Because there are so many aspects, aren't there, Rachael? And, yes, originally, we had said, let's do it in a way that people can do it independently of us, but we quickly realised, yes, we've given them very in-depth materials and clear instructions, lots of examples.

Ruth Winden [: 00:06:33

But, actually, there is so much that they have to discuss and explore and and get support for. So I'm so glad that, yes, we developed all these independent learning materials, but they go, after you know, they read the materials, and then we come together all online, and they go through the different modules. So, Rachael, share the breadth of our program. We're so proud of this, aren't we? Because it's pretty intense. Let's put it that way.

Rachael Clark [: 00:06:59

Absolutely. Yeah. So we, so let me say we have these different sections or topics, whatever we like to call them. So we've got got seven that we identified very early on. And, obviously, the profile is one of them. That's one of the the first ones that we go through. So we I'll just list them all, shall we? So we start off with profile. And, again, that's the foundation.

Rachael Clark [: 00:07:17

That's the one with the the people come to when they're really, interested in. But then we do you know, in the early session, we kinda say we want you to stick to it. And LinkedIn profile, you don't just do it in one day, and that's it. It's very much and that's why we've planned the program the way it is. We kind of drip feed along the way, and people don't have the time to just sit for two days and work on a LinkedIn profile. So the way it's been structured is that people can just dip in and out as they can, and hopefully by the end of it, they'll have a fantastic profile. So we start off with the profile, and I think, by this year, we've adapted it because the profile is such a massive section. And what I probably should say is so the way that the whole program runs is that we have, these seven sections.

Rachael Clark [: 00:08:02

We, have our first introduction session where we share them what the program's about, and then we release the first module, shall we say, which would be profile for this first one. We can give them two weeks to go away and do the online learning materials that we have put together. They are very detailed. They, have everything they need to know in them. But, again, it's just that having that sense check and that discussion point where at the end of those two weeks, we then have a live session where Ruth and I will either pick up on the key aspects or maybe, maybe do a quick demo. And then it's very much the opportunity for participants to, share or ask questions, concerns, and we all discuss together. And then at the end of that session, we will release the next module. So then we've got another two weeks.

Rachael Clark [: 00:08:51

I should say that we do have a quite a large break over the Christmas period, and then we're straight back into it. And that's how the program comes to then an end with a celebration, and we do some, lovely, competitions that we'll we'll touch on later. But the other elements - so we start off with profile, which we've actually broken down into two parts now because it is so long, and I think that's a real benefit. So actually, the participants now have a month to work on the profile. And because that is the largest section, I think that that worked really well this year, and it kinda eases them into it. We then do a session on Learning. So that's all about LinkedIn Learning, how they can feel confident navigating the platform and finding all the different tools, features, the professional certificates, to, allow them to build the skills they need. Then we move into Visibility.

Rachael Clark [: 00:09:43

Now this is all about having the confidence to go out there when they have their LinkedIn profile to make themselves visible by doing those posts, commenting on people's posts, and kind of helping them build that kind of, personal brand. Then we move on to what we call the My Network. So that's how they actually build their network. So the different strategies that there are, to doing that and the the sort of the good practice ways. And then we bring in what we call the Alumni Function. So this is, something that's very hidden, and not many people know about it, but it's so valuable to being able to look at different careers that people in similar roles have. So, again, that's, another section. And then our final two are Job Search.

Rachael Clark [: 00:10:33

So, we look at the different techniques you can use for, searching, applying, and even some of them are hidden techniques that Ruth, always manages to identify. And then we finish off with Insights. So looking at that kind of the different insights available on the platform from the massive data pool that LinkedIn has and looking at kind of different career transitions that people in roles can have that all comes together in that final piece. And then at the very end, we ask people to put themselves forward for competitions. And our very last session is, showcasing the people who have won those competitions, but we use that as a learning experience as well. So we bring in the fantastic work that they've done on their profiles, and everyone learns together. And it's a real lovely celebration, which absolutely love it. Don't we, Ruth? We can't wait till the end.

Ruth Winden [: 00:11:29

Yeah. It's always our favourite. And as a treat for you, our listener, we actually asked five of our award winners to give us little snippets of wisdom having gone through five months of this program. So during our episode, we will give you their direct voices and what they said to us. And maybe we could actually start with one of them straight away. And I am thinking of Johanna Knebel. She is a postgraduate researcher here at the university. And she found it very interesting and helpful in building her profile, especially because her research topic is very sensitive.

Ruth Winden [: 00:12:09

So she had to be very careful how to bring her expertise across, and she's given us a wonderful short summary of what the program meant to her.

Johanna Knebel [: 00:12:20

My name is Johanna, and I'm a second year PGR in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. And I took part in the Career Catalyst program 2024/25, despite not being very active on other social media channels. So I think I'm very proud of myself that I pulled out the profile as it is now. And, what I kind of really enjoy is that it gives me a solid basis to connect with people because I'm really proud of how the profile looks and kind of what is what it showcases, about my work. So my network is much bigger now than when I started off. People come to my profile, especially when I myself am more, active on LinkedIn, but I'm also, like, really looking forward to, like, going to conferences this year and, kind of to use this profile to, to connect with other people. So, yeah, it gives me a really, like, solid basis to, to connect with people. And I think, what kind of yeah.

Johanna Knebel [: 00:13:42

I really enjoyed was when also kind of senior people kind of came to my profile and asked me, to connect with them when kind of we had, like, overlaps in in our work and, stuff like this. So, yeah, I really recommended the program. I really enjoyed it. I think it's a great platform to to share my work, which I which I certainly could, do even more. But, the foundation is there now.

Ruth Winden [: 00:14:12

We also have an observation from Anna Tang, a postdoctoral researcher in molecular and cellular biology. One of the highlights for Anna was to create a well branded profile that is a true reflection of her expertise and approach rather than just a copy of her CV. Here is what Anna has to say.

Anna Tang [: 00:14:32

I used to think that LinkedIn was just an online CV, but the Career Catalyst course helped me realize it's so much more. The language you use and the content you share all play a role in building your personal brand, showcasing what you can actually do far beyond just your job title. One of the first steps I took was to improve my LinkedIn headline. By incorporating keywords related to my field of interest, this helped attract more relevant connections, ensuring my home page content was more aligned to my chosen profession.

Ruth Winden [: 00:15:12

So I think one thing that also strikes me, Rachael, is you and I, we very much care about our 50 participants. It's it's a big group, admittedly, but we really want to get to know them, and they can always come to us. So we have a team space where where we put all the materials and they can come in, they can always ask us questions because LinkedIn has, as you say, become so complex. There's so many different aspects to it, and it can be very overwhelming. And one thing that we developed, especially as we learn every year, we, we improve it. This year, we had very strong indication that people struggled with the not, not the profile itself, but how do you pluck up the courage and actually become visible on this platform? Because the mere thought of A, you know, it's a professional platform. It's not what they're used to because they're so familiar with their research platforms and their academic networks. So how do you do this on a professional platform online with 1,000,000,000 users worldwide? That is really intimidating, isn't it, Rachael? So we we actually wrote a specific piece of, you know, learning material this time, and that really, yeah, did a deep dive into what to think about going online for the first time to such a big platform, you know, how to how to really overcome those hesitations and those worries.

Ruth Winden [: 00:16:32

And, again, you know, we have, wonderful thoughts on this, and, you will hear more from our colleagues here. And maybe this is a time for Franja Prozenc to come in, and she's a postdoc. And she talks about, you know, the visibility piece.

Franja Prozenc [: 00:16:51

Hi, Ruth and Rachael. Thank you so much for inviting me to contribute this voice note to the Research Cultural Uncovered podcast. Here are some of my thoughts about the Career Catalyst program. I was pretty active on LinkedIn before I joined the Career Catalyst program. However, the platform is getting increasingly more complex with more things to offer, and I just wasn't keeping up to date with everything it has to offer. I thought my profile was quite good before. At some point, when I was very active in the job search, I even hired a professional CV writer who improved my LinkedIn profile. However, what we covered in the program was next level.

Franja Prosenc [: 00:17:35

For example, I had no idea about the featured section of the profile where the posts you're extra proud of can remain visible for as long as you keep them there. I also had no idea that by not having recommendations on your profile, you don't get as high in the search results. Additionally, I learned heaps of other useful things in the program, such as tricks for job search, finding connections or people of interest through alumni, and LinkedIn Learning, which has so much to offer. I'm looking forward to using all these useful features in the future when I'm looking for a new job. I learned a lot. So thank you very, very much for this wonderful program.

Ruth Winden [: 00:18:21

To Rachael and me, it's really important that we are approachable. The information is accessible. It's inclusive. So all the things that really mattered to us in being good colleagues, being collegiate, and being collaborative. And so that's how we've approached the whole program, including the Teams space. And Rachael is the wizard here. You know? So I'm handing over to Rachael now. Explain how do we create this online, this really strong and supportive community that we're so keen to create every year when we work with our researcher community.

Rachael Clark [: 00:18:51

Yeah. Absolutely. So to to keep it inclusive and flexible for everyone, and to keep it easy, basically, so that we can all navigate where everything is. We have a Teams space for, the cohort. So every year has a new Team space. We invite everyone in when they are accepted onto the program. That's where we share all of the online learning resources. So, like I say, we release them every two weeks.

Rachael Clark [: 00:19:16

So they are posted in our Teams space in various channels so people can easily navigate to them. But because we have these 50 cohort every year and we know, you know, because of the nature of everyone's roles, not everyone can make these live sessions, which we know are so important. It was really key right from the beginning that we recorded every session. So as lot as well as having these online, self paced resources that everyone has so they can work through, they can also all access the online live session. So even though they can't actively participate in it, they will get the benefit from what we've discussed in those sessions. So, you know, quite often we've had research technicians who can't get out of, you know, the laboratory at that particular time that we've scheduled our live session. Or we have had a participant, in the last year who actually joined from, a different country. So it actually allowed, them to participate in the program, which they wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Rachael Clark [: 00:20:15

And they tried to join the live sessions when they could. But if not, they knew that they would still be able to access that recording after and then also in the Teams safe. We really encourage people to, you know, connect with us, ask questions in between those live sessions. So like I say, we've got that two week period, where people can ask anything particularly about the profile when people are struggling, they can come and tag myself and Ruth. We will come back to them. And I think we also have this open offer where if anyone wants feedback on the profile, they can come to either me and Ruth, and we will give them very detailed feedback on how they can just tweak the profile. Often it's not much that needs, just a bit like add this here, that there, and that just takes the profile to the next level. And although the program isn't just about the LinkedIn profile, we do really want people to have that fantastic standout profile so then they can start using these other techniques when they are reaching out, by the end of the program so that, you know, they you know, when people are coming and and connecting with them, we want them to feel proud.

Rachael Clark [: 00:21:19

And I think that's what, you know, some of our lovely participants have said in the voice notes that they've sent through to to us is that actually by the end of the program, they've got the confidence, but they actually look at the profile and they feel proud about it. And that just boosts them if they are going to a conference or connecting with people that they can happily direct people to their their LinkedIn profile.

Ruth Winden [: 00:21:40

Mhmm. Rachael, that's so beautiful. And, you know, you can just feel the the sense of pride in them getting towards the end of the program. And another thing I really enjoy is making it collegiate and helping each other thrive. So what Rachaeland I are really keen on and when Tony was with us, he was obviously also of that nature. This is a very supportive, constructive space, and we all gain when we support each other. And it's wonderful also to see some of our very senior academics who's very active on LinkedIn, and we can point them out as role models because we have some academics like Cath Noakes, you know, who's always so incredibly good at lifting people up and celebrating success. And we actually had one PGR who used, the program not only to build, you know, her knowledge of LinkedIn, but she actually finished her PhD in that time.

Ruth Winden [: 00:22:29

And so she challenged herself to write a post about, you know, passing her Viva and getting her PhD. And she actually won our prize because of the post you know, for visibility, because the post that she created, and that is Nena Arik Pommo, and we'll give you her her contribution as well in a second. Nena created this beautiful post, and she got so many responses to this. And it was so nice to see, yes, I achieved my PhD PhD, and look how I'm being celebrated. And that really helped her also, you know, yeah, feel even prouder of it. And then other people came together from the program and supported them and each other, and I think that's the beauty. So let's listen to Nnenna Ariakpomu and her thoughts on what she got from the program.

Nnenna Ariakpomu [: 00:23:18

I really enjoyed the Career Catalyst program. You know, I never knew that LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning had so many overlooked features. Program was very engaging and interactive. It was that motivation I needed to explore all that LinkedIn has to offer, and I really, really enjoyed the experience. Thanks again, Ruth and Rachael, and thanks for the award as well.

Rachael Clark [: 00:23:40

So, yeah, just a little side note from, that lovely, quote that we've had from Nnenna. And in one of the the live sessions that we had, Nina actually before she'd posted this, she discussed it with us, and she was very, a little bit I wouldn't say overly worried, but a little bit concerned about about going live and posting that. And, you know, within the cohort, it wasn't just Ruth and I. It was our our lovely cohort who really, you know, said, yes. Go ahead. You should feel the confidence to do that. And then we, we had, the lovely post come through because I think we were connected and we saw it and the fantastic, responses that she had, was really lovely to see. And she actually won one of the the awards for that fantastic post.

Rachael Clark [: 00:24:27

And so I think that's just a real nice example of how those live sessions and the community aspect really supported her to feel like she could post that. And, actually, if she hadn't been in that space, she might never have done that post even though she had, a lot of our participants say, well, I've had a LinkedIn profile for a while, but I just didn't know how to start being visible. So I think it's just that discussion and giving each other a little push because it is scary to put yourself out there in, you know, what is a professional world. People feel like they, you know, bringing in that kind of imposter syndrome, feeling like I I shouldn't be in this world even though they completely should be. So I think that that's a nice example.

Ruth Winden [: 00:25:08

And, Rachael, can I just come in to that? Because for me, I've been on this platform for so long. I'm a social media career strategist. You know, for me, this is second nature now. And also, you know, I mean, you and I, you know, we're good at censoring ourselves. You know, we don't just press the button. We think about what we post. And it's so easy for people like you and me to forget how scary it it actually is to go out there, you know, with your research, putting yourself out there. And having the group behind you and encouraging each other, I think, made such a difference.

Ruth Winden [: 00:25:40

Also, you know, getting the positive responses. And, yes, some of us didn't get the big responses, but you have start somewhere. When I look back when I started out, I didn't get anyone to look at it. You know? We're all so worried about millions of people looking. I mean, the reality is when you start out on LinkedIn and you don't have a big network yet, people will probably not even see it or not that many people. But it's it's slowly and steadily and then helping people pluck up the courage, and they understand how to do it. They know how to do it well. We give them plenty of examples and encouragement and successes from previous participants, and then they start it..

Ruth Winden [: 00:26:14

And now you see them all over LinkedIn. It's just brilliant. And what makes me so happy is that, you know, some of our participants saying, I got so many visits to my profile. I never had that before. Suddenly, I have all these people reaching out to me, wanting to talk to me about my research. I have people commenting. I have people engaging with me. And that is just a dream true, isn't it? Because they do such interesting research.

Ruth Winden [: 00:26:37

They have such important roles to support research. There's such important lecturers and associate professors that we have on the program. You know? They need to be out there, and they want to show the whole wide world on LinkedIn and beyond if you put the right settings in. That's who I am. This is what I stand for. This is what I work on and, yeah, getting that engagement that we're so keen on. Yeah. And, Rachael, I mean, you're you're our wizard when it comes to the prizes because early on, Rachael and I thought, we need to give people an incentive.

Ruth Winden [: 00:27:07

It's a big group. We see them every couple of weeks. Online, it runs from November to March. That is a long program. So how do we keep people engaged and motivated? And I think the Teams space was one of the ways that we did it because we could communicate with them. But then, you know, Rachael, like, like, we do like dangling a carrot in front of them, don't we? We don't use sticks. We don't need sticks for this program. We dangle a carrot in front of them.

Ruth Winden [: 00:27:33

Tell us more about the carrots and and and the dangling and and what we do with with the incentives. How do we get them to stick with us until the end?

Rachael Clark [: 00:27:41

Absolutely. Yes. So we we're quite, you know, playing with it. We tell them right in the first session that there will be, prizes for people because we want them to be engaged and we want them to push through it. But I think the way that we structured the prizes specifically were around the areas that we know that people struggle with. So the people that what people don't want to do. So the the prizes are there or the carrot to really push people to do the areas that they don't. So we've got three prizes, and I think we're gonna make another one next year.

Rachael Clark [: 00:28:10

So the first prize is, the most improved profile. So we ask people, you know, a couple weeks before the end when we know that they've got these fantastic profiles, they've had the feedback, to put themselves forward for that. And, you know, it is quite stiff competition now. You know, it was really difficult this year because people had got such high standards, but we were quite, quite, to the to the books, and we wanted people to have every single aspect that we've covered to win the prize. So that's, really pushes people to make sure that they've sort of ticked every single box. So, you know, they've got the Feature. They've got the fantastic headline. They've got a final recommendation, at least two recommendations on the profile to finish it off.

Rachael Clark [: 00:28:57

So that is one of the prizes, and that's usually the toughest one for us to choose. And we made two extra prizes this year because it was so tough. The second one is all around the Visibility. So it's the most visibility through, a visibility post. And, again, we know that this is something that people worry about, are concerned with, so we wanted to have this price. So it really pushes them in those last couple of weeks to put a visibility post out there. And like I say, it doesn't matter. We have some fantastic ones that didn't get that much engagement, but they were well crafted.

Rachael Clark [: 00:29:34

And because they didn't have such a big network, maybe they didn't have that much engagement. But going forward, we know that they've got the tools to do it. So it's all about having that mindset and just to give them that extra push to actually do one so that they can put it forward into the the competition. And, again, like I said, Nnenna was our winner this year, and I think was it she had over 200 people engaging with it, 70 comments. It was fantastic. And then the final one and, again, this is probably the one that people struggle with the most, which is asking for a recommendation on their profile. And like I said, that we know that people need to have at least two to finish off their LinkedIn profile. And, you know, we have lots of discussions about it, why people don't want to, why it doesn't come naturally to people.

Rachael Clark [: 00:30:21

And hopefully I mean, it worked this year because I think the winner, absolutely, had four, which is the most we've ever had. And that they do have to be sought within the the time period of the the, program. So they can't be old ones. But, yeah, it's just to encourage people to ask those things that you don't want to do. And again, we say, you know, it doesn't have to be someone who's senior to you. It could be just a colleague. It could be, a supplier.

Rachael Clark [: 00:30:48

It could be, you know, someone who works with you on a project a couple years ago. So we give them lots of different examples. And this year, I think, yeah, we've had the most people, push themselves to get that get those recommendations. And I think we had a lot of lovely discussions in the Teams space and in our, in person session that we did, just, you know, saying what's the worst that could happen. They're just gonna say no, and then you go on to someone else. So it it's really not as scary. And for the I think everyone who did it got a fantastic recommendation, and actually what someone else writes about you is so much nicer than what you would ever put about yourself. So I think they all were quite chuffed in the end with, you know, those lovely, feedback that they got.

Rachael Clark [: 00:31:32

So, yeah, that's that's the reason why we put the the competitions in. But like we said, it's also lovely at the end to to be able to then showcase the post that people have put, the fantastic profiles that they've all, put together, and, the recommendations. So we bring that all together in the last session, and we look at everyone. So even if they're not prize winners, we bring everyone's together who's put lots and lots of effort in just to showcase. And those people who are in the in the cohort who maybe are behind, what we hope is that will just inspire them to carry on afterwards because they've still got all the online resources. They can continue doing that, after the program.

Ruth Winden [: 00:32:10

And it's such a lovely celebration. And we know the recommendations seem to be that big barrier, but that's where we put an award in, and it's wonderful to see. So the deadline approaches, we all we all respond to deadlines, and suddenly, the flurries of entries are coming in. And with the recommendations, they were so high quality because we do spend time on the program explaining what is a good recommendation, a meaningful one, and one that is not worth having and really teaching people very proactively how to think about strategically who to ask, what to ask them for so they get a good quality recommendation. Yeah.

Ruth Winden [: 00:32:46

It's been so much fun, and it was wonderful to see. Everyone was so happy even if they put themselves forward and didn't win. A, you know, they they learned a lot because Rachael and I then then spend time explaining why people won or came second. And so there is a lot of learning, but there's also a lot, it's a lot of celebration. And when you do these things online, everyone had the reactions and the love hearts and the thumbs ups and and all this kind of stuff, and it was really, really joyful. So that was wonderful. Yes. So altogether, it is a big program, and you will be forgiven for thinking, oh my word.

Ruth Winden [: 00:33:19

That sounds like a lot of work. And I think we've learned our lessons over the years. I remember in the first year, we were so enthusiastic. My word did we give people so much feedback, written feedback, and it was not sustainable. So now we do it slightly differently, but people still get individual feedback, and they learn from each other. And I think that's really, it's become a well oiled machine Absolutely. If I may say so, Rachael.

Rachael Clark [: 00:33:44

Absolutely. We've we've done the work. I think putting the resources together initially was where the hard work was. So building those online learning materials, because there's seven, that was the main chunk of the work. We do regularly update them. So every summer, we go through and make sure that they're still up to date. Obviously, with LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning, it changes, gosh, every year. We do have to tweak it, but, you know, now since we put that time in it, it's it's not as onerous every year.

Ruth Winden [: 00:34:12

It's just

Rachael Clark [: 00:34:13

it's just tweaking it. And then, you know,

Ruth Winden [: 00:34:17

LinkedIn never stands still, and I just heard Rachael that, and I saw it myself. I thought, what's happened to the Alumni function? So there's some changes that LinkedIn made. And I thought, oh, we need to update our materials again. You know? But, also, we want to put, you know, new examples in, and it never stands still. But I think one of the reasons why I'm so so happy about the great uptake from our colleagues, We, you know, we always have a full house every single year. Because I've worked with the researcher community for so long on LinkedIn and helped people understand the power of it and use it really wisely and strategically and then landing these unbelievable job opportunities. I mean, I you know what I'm like, Rachael.

Ruth Winden [: 00:34:53

I thought we need to bring LinkedIn here. And then you came in, yes. And LinkedIn Learning. Because LinkedIn Learning is so undervalued in many ways, and there is so much, not just courses that you can do, and I think they're now up to, what, 23,000 or even more. You know, so much choice. But, also, you know, there there's some really good career management tools in LinkedIn Learning that people don't seem to be aware of. So our participants, they say, you know, I've really got very strong foundations now, and I can use it Linked and LinkedIn Learning for all the different aspects of of my career, my professional development. And that's really what we're after, Rachael, isn't it?

Rachael Clark [: 00:35:30

Absolutely. We want them to utilise LinkedIn Learning all the time that they're at Leeds. And then, you know, all that learning that they've done, those professional certificates, those just CPD learning, they can put it all on the LinkedIn profile. And and if they do leave the university, they've still got to take, you know, take with them. But, yeah, it's such a valuable resource that, you know, we are very lucky to have it. So we are you know, I've always any opportunity to promote it to people. But also, one thing that we often find is that people undervalue the skill set that they've got on their profile, and that's one of the things we have to keep saying. Don't just think of those technical things or skills.

Rachael Clark [: 00:36:05

You should have at least 50 and, you know, use LinkedIn Learning as, you know, a mechanism to showcase those skills that you've got because you've got those certificates, to demonstrate them as well.

Ruth Winden [: 00:36:17

Absolutely. And if you're curious who these wonderful winners are of the 2024/2025 cohort of Career Catalyst, we will put their links into the show notes, and we hope you enjoy their contributions. They were really excited that they can share a minute or two of their experience of doing the program, and it's been wonderful to get this positive feedback for them. Rachael and I, we will continue with this. It will be our fourth year. We're already starting to ask for expressions of interest. And what I think yes. There is LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning and and seeing our participants really take you know, mastering, the platform.

Ruth Winden [: 00:36:54

But I think for me, what's also really special is the community we're building and seeing people learning with each other, from each other, celebrating each other. And for me, you know, that's what a positive, collegiate research culture is all about. You know? We're we're in this together. Let's support each other. And if we support each other, we're all better off at the end. So, Rachael, thank you so much for your time, and I always love working with you. We're so complimentary. Someone called us a dream team, and I think what a compliment.

Ruth Winden [: 00:37:23

And I think participants really you know, they notice we're very enthusiastic. We want them to do well, and we rejoice with them when they have these breakthroughs that they never thought they could get. You know? And and we had some real big challenges on this year's program, you know, from people who had to be very careful about showing their identity on LinkedIn. You know, how do you manage LinkedIn when you when you have to be very careful about these things? But also people with very, very sensitive research topics. And and I think together, you know, we found some really good solutions. So I can wholeheartedly say, hands up. I learn every year.

Rachael Clark [: 00:37:58

Every year. Yeah.

Ruth Winden [: 00:37:59

Every year. You know? Yes. We're LinkedIn experts, you and I, Rachael, but, you know, it's wonderful. Also, it's so much to learn from our participants. And, yeah, long may it last. And, Rachael, thank you so much for your time.

Rachel Clark [: 00:38:10

And Thank you.

Ruth Winden [: 00:38:12

Yeah. Onto the 2025/2026 cohort. Yeah. Soon, we'll be advertising again. Thank you so much, Rachael. Take care.

Rachael Clark [: 00:38:19

Thank you for having me.

Ruth Winden [: 00:38:21

And last but not least, we wanted to finish this episode with Julia Sandrin Gauer's voice note. Julia is a cardiovascular researcher supported by the British Heart Foundation. Julia uses LinkedIn not just to showcase her research and expertise, but also her very personal reasons for doing her research. Her video in the Featured section is utterly compelling. Do visit her LinkedIn profile. And as promised, we will put the link to Julia's and everyone else's profiles into the show notes. Until next time. Bye bye.

Julia Sandrin Gauer [: 00:38:57

I had heard from colleagues how powerful LinkedIn could be in terms of increasing visibility and building a professional network. So that's what attracted me to the Career Catalyst program. I had a LinkedIn profile when I started the program, but I never really used it. And to be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about posting on there and and requesting connections, etcetera, compared to other social media platforms because LinkedIn by nature is, professional platform, and that was a little bit scary to me. But the material that Ruth and Rachaelput together was really great, very detailed, and very approachable. They were both extremely supportive as were the other participants of the course, and so I felt determined and confident to improve my profile, improve the way that I post things as well as what I post. And the impact that the program has had is really quite astonishing. So my profile views have increased by more than 10 times.

Julia Sandrin Gauer [: 00:40:05

I've been approached, both on the platform and via email about collaborations, and I have substantially expanded my network as well. But perhaps most importantly, I feel very proud about the look of my profile, and I'm now, confident about using the platform to continue developing and increasing my professional reach.

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