Unlock Your Potential for Your Future Career Path with the Individual Development Plan (ISU-IDP)

    A mentor and a student talking at a table

    The ISU-IDP is not a one time activity—It is your key to success!

    What is IDP?

    A individual development plan (IDP) is a tailor-made approach for evaluating your professional objectives and crafting a roadmap to achieve them. This process encourages self-reflection on your long-term career goals, assesses your current competencies, and outlines concrete steps to reach those goals. A well-crafted IDP is instrumental in optimizing your graduate or postdoctoral training, providing valuable assistance as you focus on refining your academic, professional, and soft skills.

    What is ISU-IDP?

    The ISU-IDP is an exceptional toolkit and a powerful resource for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at Iowa State. Whether you are at the beginning of your degree program or actively preparing for the next phase of your career, use the ISU-IDP toolkit to boost your professional competencies and advance your career plan. While providing a structured framework, the ISU-IDP tools can be tailored exclusively to your needs, enabling you to:

    • Assess your strengths and identify skills for improvement
    • Set short, medium, and long-term goals
    • Locate and access specialized resources
    • Seek timely assistance from your mentor, enhancing your relationship
    • Develop a comprehensive action plan for both your academic and professional growth
    • Track your professional development throughout your time at Iowa State.

    Take the first step toward achieving your academic aspirations and begin using the components of the ISU-IDP toolkit.

    • How to Use the ISU-IDP Self-Assessment Form

      • Meet with a Graduate Career Coach to:
        • determine your needs for core competencies
        • assess your strengths and areas for improvement
        • understand how to create your needs-based Individual Development Plan.
      • Meet with your major professor, academic advisor, or principal investigator to discuss your strengths and needs.

    • How to Use the ISU-IDP Workbook

      • Outline your professional and personal goals, aspirations, and responsibilities near-term (within next six months) and long-term (more than six months away).
      • Meet with your major professor, academic advisor, or principal investigator to discuss your IDP and get feedback on high and low priorities.
      • Meet with a Graduate Career Coach to work on your IDP and identify opportunities and resources needed to make progress.
      • Regularly revisit and update your core competencies and skills inventory in your IDP.
      • Update your major professor, academic advisor, or principal investigator and continue to seek their guidance.

    I wish I had this when I started my program! This would've been so helpful for me, especially in terms of motivating me to seek out resources to improve my skills.

    Angeline Neo, MS Human Computer Interaction

    Brainstorming over paper

    Other Tools and Resources

    Explore other tools and resources that support a customized way to design a roadmap for accomplishing professional and personal goals.