Week 1 · QR-1 · Career Navigator, WISER-aligned quiz, live orientation, personal learning plan
Quantum Readiness I — Find Your Fit
Subject-matter expertise first. Job titles second.
Partner: Quantum Global Group · 6–8 hours
Why this week
Workforce programs fail when everyone is treated as a future algorithm researcher. Week 1 names the real roles — applied SME, software, hardware, security, sensing, business, education, algorithms — so the rest of the month has a reason.
Most people meet quantum as a wall of physics. This course starts the other way: what you already know, how that knowledge shows up in the quantum ecosystem, and which pathway is the honest next step. The Career Navigator on this site is the primary lab; the eight-pathway Readiness Track is the WISER-aligned complement.
Learning outcomes
- Locate yourself on the Quantum Global Group / WISER-aligned pathway map using current expertise, not aspiration alone.
- Distinguish quantum computing, sensing, communications/security, and enabling software/hardware roles.
- Write a one-page learning plan that states a target pathway, a stretch pathway, and a non-goal.
- Explain, in plain language, why the quantum workforce cannot be built by PhDs alone.
Modules
The ecosystem is wider than the lab
90 min
Outcomes
- Name the eight pathways and one example role in each.
- Separate compute hype from sensing, PQC, and tooling work.
Activities
- Read the pathway cards on /learn.
- Watch or facilitate a 20-minute orientation: “where people actually get hired.”
Run the Career Navigator
60–90 min
Outcomes
- Generate a board-game pathway from profile, interest, and goal.
- Name a role family, a next-best action, and one IBM learning asset.
Activities
- Complete /learn/navigator (optional ?demo=1 loads the example student).
- Open /learn/roles for that pathway — titles, skills, example employers.
- Read /learn/pathway (ecosystem one-pager: university vs industry).
- Save or screenshot the pathway summary for the cohort folder.
WISER-aligned Readiness Track (complement)
30–45 min
Outcomes
- Complete the eight-pathway SME-fit assessment.
- Interpret primary and secondary pathway scores without treating them as destiny.
Activities
- Complete /learn/readiness.
- Note where the Navigator role family and the WISER pathway agree or diverge.
Personal learning plan
2 hours
Outcomes
- State a 30-day goal tied to a real role family.
- Identify one skill you already have that the field is short on.
Activities
- Fill the learning-plan template (problem, pathway, evidence you will produce in week 4).
- Optional 25-minute office hours with the learning guide.
Deliverable
Signed learning plan: primary pathway, secondary pathway, 30-day artifact, and a sentence on what you will not try to become this month.
Assessment
Complete / incomplete on the Career Navigator (and optional Readiness Track) plus a scored learning plan (clarity of fit, realism of artifact, honesty about gaps).