Live workshops · Max 6 seats, hands-on
Salary negotiation, CV translation, German cover letters, interview practice. Live and online, capped at 6. You leave with finished work in your hands.
Dr. Aleena Baby, astrophysicist turned Machine Learning Engineer. I made every mistake in the German market first. So you do not have to.
Who this is for
STEM PhDs and postdocs moving into industry: physics, chemistry, biology, math, CS, engineering. Mostly Germany-targeted, but the frameworks transfer. If you have spent the last six months sending applications and getting silence, you are home.
Who this is not for
Humanities or social science PhDs. The German market works differently for you and I would be selling you something I cannot deliver. Also not for people looking for motivation, certificates, or a 90-minute lecture they can put on autopilot.
WORKSHOPS WE RUN
Live, online, capped at 6. Standard seat €197. One scholarship seat per cohort at €97. No proof needed. Dates rotate based on demand. Topmate shows what is currently booking.
Rewrite your PhD work into language hiring managers understand. A Translation Worksheet, an Industry Map of who actually hires your skills, 2-minute pitch practice, and live role-play with a recruiter brief.
Research your market value, set your level before you talk numbers, and handle recruiter pressure tactics. Includes the V.A.L.U.E. Method, German salary band data, and live role-play with the scripts recruiters actually use.
The German Anschreiben and international cover letter formats: what differs, what does not, and what hiring managers actually read. Write a tailored cover letter for your real target role during the session.
Behavioural and technical interview prep calibrated to PhD-to-industry transitions. "Tell me about yourself" for someone with six years of research, German vs. international interview etiquette, and live role-play under real time pressure.
Workshops rotate based on cohort demand. Topmate shows what is currently booking, with seat counts updated in real time.
View live workshops on Topmate → Booking confirmations and T−3 / T−1 / morning-of reminders are sent automatically by Topmate.Up to 8 participants, typically 6. You are not an audience member. You are a participant with a name, a background, and specific challenges that get addressed.
Every workshop includes exercises you complete during the session using your own PhD work. You leave with finished deliverables, not just notes.
Practice under realistic pressure. Interview questions, salary negotiations, and recruiter conversations. The awkwardness happens here, not in your actual interview.
Two layers of feedback in every session. Peers tell you how your pitch or CV bullet lands from someone who understands exactly where you are. I tell you what hiring managers and recruiters in the German market will actually flag, based on the applications I read every year.
Verified reviews from workshop and coaching clients.
“In the salary negotiation role-play, I panicked and accepted €50,000. The band went up to €75,000. One sentence Aleena taught me would have changed that. I use it in every negotiation now.”
“This discussion helped me get a clear idea about my work experiences which were relevant yet hidden in my CV. These subtle things are significant when it comes to job search, and I’m happy that Aleena helped me uncover them.”
“The Salary Negotiation workshop was eye-opening. The biggest shift was not a single tactic, it was the reframing: always get more information, and practise through role-swapping until the method sticks. I left with the framework and the practice.”
If your question is not here, email me and I will answer it.
Yes. Strictly. Physics, chemistry, biology, math, CS, engineering, or an adjacent quantitative field. The frameworks (the leveling matrix, the technical-interview prep, the data/ML salary bands) are built around what STEM PhDs actually face on the German job market. If you are a humanities or social science PhD, the market works differently for you and I would be selling you something I cannot deliver well.
One seat per workshop is offered at €97 instead of €197 for participants on a stipend, between contracts, or where the standard price is genuinely a barrier. First-come-first-served. Once it is taken for that cohort, Topmate shows it as sold out. No application or means-testing. We trust you to take it if you need it.
Live, online, capped at 6. Paid workshops include a recording and the workbook or guide. Most recordings are only shared with the participants of that cohort. Many researchers discuss unpublished work during sessions, and that confidentiality is part of the agreement.
No, but most of the content is calibrated to the German market. If you are applying in the US, UK, or NL the frameworks transfer; the specifics on Blue Card, Anschreiben, and the German ATS landscape do not. The salary negotiation workshop is calibrated to the EU broadly. If you are based outside France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, or Switzerland and want a country-specific section added, request it when you book.
Full refund within 30 minutes of booking (the cooling-off window) or up to 3 days before the workshop, no questions asked. After that we roll your seat into the next cohort.
Yes. Get in touch with the workshop you are interested in and approximate group size. Two-week lead time minimum.
Each workshop is valuable on its own. But if you are planning a full transition, Career Bridge includes every workshop plus 1:1 support, CV restructuring, interview prep, and ongoing guidance until you have an offer.
CV rewrite, LinkedIn optimisation, and application strategy in 30 days. For researchers who know what they want and need the materials fixed fast.
View 30-Day ProgrammeThe full transition programme. CV, LinkedIn, portfolio, applications, interviews, salary negotiation, plus every workshop at no extra cost. We work together until you have an offer.
135 clients served · ~90 days to offer, €62-85K typical salary
Explore Career BridgeWorkshops run live in small groups and fill quickly, with one scholarship seat each. Join the waitlist and I’ll email you the moment the next cohort and dates open.
Questions first? Get in touch.
One email when the next cohort opens. No spam. Browse past newsletters on Substack →