Welcome Graduate Students!

Professional Development

Professional development is a process that begins the day you begin graduate school. It begins with knowing your unique interests, values and strengths, and of course continues to develop as you pursue your graduate education. However, it is also the first step in considering your career options. Career Services can assist you at many points throughout your graduate education.

Careers Inside or Outside of the Academy

Your graduate education provides you with the flexibility and skills to pursue both academic and non-academic options. Many of you will make a choice to pursue a career within the academy as faculty, administrators, or researchers. Some of you may choose a career outside of the academy as a researcher for a government agency, a management consultant, a researcher within industry, a writer and editor for a publishing firm, or a multitude of other options. Your choices are diverse, and they may be fluid - you may find yourself using your skills in both the academic and non-academic worlds at the same time. Some of you may start in the academy and transition outside of the academy as a consultant, researcher, or entrepreneur.

"How to Plan for a Career Before You Have One" by Bettina Woodford and Hadass Sheffer, The Chronicle of Higher Education. This article offers a blueprint for thinking about your professional development as a precrusor to career choices.

The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights some of these career choices in their column, Beyond the Ivory Tower .

How Career Services Can Help You

Whatever your needs, Career Services can support you throughout your graduate career, from your first year to your last. We can help you to assess your skills, interests, values, and experiences as they relate to your long-range career goals, and support you in your search. Being able to talk about yourself and about your strengths can be essential in networking, interviewing, and successfully landing the opportunity that matches your long-term goals, whether inside or outside of the academy. We can support you in your search, and help you to prepare your Curriculum Vita and application materials, practice your interview skills, and assist you in negotiating your offer.

There is a dedicated Graduate Career Counselor, Amy Pszczolkowski, with whom you can schedule an appointment. Call 258-3325, the Front Desk to set up a 30-minute individual appointment. All graduate students, including post-enrolled students, are eligible to use the counseling services.

What's New for Graduate Students - Check this site for announcements!