Explore career insights package

Clarity for researchers at a
career crossroads

Finished your PhD or Postdoc and unsure what comes next? Whether you want to stay in research or pursue related opportunities, EXPLORE Career Insights helps you:

  • Understand your natural talents and how to leverage them

  • Identify the impact goals that are most important to you

  • Plot the next steps in your career path & create a structured career plan

Person wearing black shoes standing on gravel ground with white directional arrows pointing left and right.

EXPLORE your talents

EXPLORE career insights is for researchers who want to make strategic, informed career decisions.

It helps you:

  • Own and articulate your expertise

  • Clarify the impact you want to create

  • Explore aligned career directions and roles

  • Plot a realistic, values-aligned career path

This is not generic advice.

It’s structured, reflective, and personalised.

How it works

EXPLORE Career Insights follows a simple, structured three-step process designed to give you clarity, confidence and a clear path forward.

This approach ensures that you move from self-awareness → clarity → actionable direction, with structured support from experts who understand research careers and the challenges of stepping beyond academia.

A person wearing a brown jacket with a ponytail sitting on a rock, overlooking a winding road through a green hilly landscape.

Step 1: Reflection

Complete a brief, confidential questionnaire to give your career collaborator context before your sessions, so we can move straight into meaningful, personalised discussion.

Person writing on paper with a blue pen, on a wooden table, with a coffee mug and notebook in the background.

Step 2: Assessment

Next, you’ll take the CliftonStrengths 34 Assessment (a globally recognised talent assessment) to discover your natural talents and learn how to develop them into strengths.

A woman with glasses and a black shirt sitting at a wooden table, looking at a laptop with a man, with a white textured wall in the background.

Step 3: Coaching

Following your assessment, you’ll have 3 sessions with a PhD-qualified career development practitioner to interpret and apply your CliftonStrengths profile as you explore aligned career options and create a practical plan.

EXPLORE is ideal if you…

  • Feel uncertain or conflicted about your next career step

  • Want insights about your skills, talents and strengths

  • Are questioning whether to stay in research or explore related opportunities

  • Want clarity without being rushed

  • Value personalised, reflective career planning

Plot your path

Career Insights Package

Career Insights Package
A$690.00

What’s included:

  • CliftonStrengths 34 profile assessment & report

  • 3 × 60-minute coaching sessions structured around our Empirical Careers Plot framework

  • A personalised Career Plot summary capturing your career direction

  • Detailed follow-up notes with insights and next steps.

Meet your career collaborator

An older woman with gray hair and blue glasses, wearing a colorful checkered jacket and red shirt, leaning forward with hands on her knees, standing in front of a wall filled with colorful Post-it notes.

EXPLORE Career Insights is delivered by Dr Narelle Tunstall who is deeply committed to supporting careers post-PhD.

Narelle brings a rare combination of experience across research and career development. Her work supports researchers to define success on their own terms – whether that’s within academic research or beyond.

She offers:

  • First-hand experience navigating research careers and career transitions

  • Deep understanding of the Australian research ecosystem

  • A genuine passion for helping PhD graduates build meaningful, sustainable careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • PhD graduates working in research or research-adjacent roles who want clarity about their career direction – whether continuing in research or exploring related opportunities.

  • EXPLORE is tailored for researchers in STEM fields. If you’re involved in labs, clinical research, research management, or translational projects, the program helps you understand your strengths and map a career path relevant to your career and impact goals.

  • You could, but the assessment alone doesn’t give you actionable insight. Coaching transforms your results into a strategic, personalised career plan using the Empirical Career Plot framework. That’s where the real value lies.

  • You’ll work with Narelle who understands research careers and transitions.

  • Coaching sessions are flexible and scheduled around your availability.
    Most clients complete the 3-session package within 4-6 weeks, allowing time for reflection and action between sessions.

  • Just complete the background form and the CliftonStrengths assessment. Other than that, your curiosity and openness to explore your strengths and options are all you need.

  • EXPLORE is about clarity and strategy, not placement. But understanding your strengths and mapping your career path will help you pursue opportunities confidently and articulate your value.

  • EXPLORE combines a validated strengths assessment with the Empirical Careers Plot framework, specifically designed for PhD graduates. This structured approach ensures your career plan is evidence-based, personalised, and practical.

The word 'EXPLORE' with a small orange circle above the letter 'E' and the phrase 'Imagine, Discover, Innovate' above it.

Your next career move

Turn your strengths into a clear, actionable career plan.