Category: Graduate Students

Career advice for PhD students/postdocs on the Carpe Careers blog

By Dr. Joseph Barber

Are you looking for career advice that is focused on PhD students and postdocs? Do you have questions about how to navigate through your PhD program or your postdoc appointment to set yourself up for career success? Here is a summary of some of the recent posts you can find from the Carpe Careers blog on the Inside Higher Ed website over the last few months with answers for you!

Do you want great abs and a job in career fields beyond faculty roles? Find out why looking for quick fixes and easy options isn’t always going to be your best strategy by reading “5 tips for flat abs and an industry job”. There are no shortcuts when it comes to training for a marathon, but you may find that the same approaches you use for your fitness training can be equally helpful in your job search – read “why you should job search like a runner” to find out how.

Exploring your own skills, interests, and values requires a fair amount of introspection…, but that doesn’t mean you have go through this self-assessment and exploration process all by yourself. Read “You’re not alone” to find resources and support to help you figure out what comes next from a career perspective.

If you are finding your dissertation all-consuming in terms of the amount of time you are spending on it, then heed the advice in “Don’t let your dissertation run your life” to make sure that you are not missing out on professional development opportunities that might be helpful in your future job search. It is perfectly natural, after completing a 70-80 hour a week postdoc, to find careers that offer a more reasonable work-life balance to be very attractive. Be careful how you bring this subject up in job interviews, though, because there can be a risk of miscommunication. Read “How to discuss work-life balance” to get some insights on how to navigate these conversations with employers. And if you really want research to be part of your “life” even if it isn’t part of your daily work, then read “Crafting a research practice after the PhD” to learn about ways to continue to do research outside of an academic setting.

Employers in a diverse range of career fields often talk about their desire to find candidates with “leadership experiences”. While focusing on independent research may not seem to offer many opportunities to demonstrate leadership, your research, and the many volunteer experiences you have outside of your research, can help you to market your leadership skills. Read “Making leadership and service count in the job search” to find out how. And if you are looking for ways to be a better leader in your academic settings, then the post “On gratitude and leadership” provides some helpful insights.

Being a successful leader requires an ability to thinking strategically, communicate effectively, and build relationships with different groups of stakeholders. My organizations are highlighting their desire to find candidates who can also demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The post “Getting up to speed on diversity” provides useful information on ways that graduate students can talk about this subject confidently and authentically.

There are new Carpe Careers posts added every Monday – make sure you visit www.insidehighered.com/career-advice/carpe-careers to get the relevant advice you need.

5 Back to School Tips for Graduate Students!

The start of the new school year is an exciting time and full of possibility.  Whether you are a graduate student new to Penn, or one who has been here for several years, there are many things you can do to make the most of your graduate school experience.  Many of these tips have the added bonus of helping you to further discern your post-degree professional plans!

  1. Many graduate students suffer from “imposter syndrome,” in which an individual cannot take pride in their accomplishments and instead feels that they are fraudulent in their successes. They may feel that they have mislead others about their intelligence and live in fear of being found out.  This is a very NORMAL worry for graduate students.  To avoid falling into this trap, check in with your advisor regularly and spend time with your colleagues.  Your program chose you for a good reason!
  2. Connect with others outside of your academic discipline. Graduate students are very busy and it is very easy to surround yourselves with others who are focused on the same area.  Penn has many clubs and organizations specifically for graduate students. 
  3. Visit Penn’s Graduate Student Center. They have excellent programming for grad students, and provides a way to connect with students in other schools and departments.  Getting involved with people outside your immediate academic circle will widen your friendship circle, give you a breather from your research and lab work, and provide potential networking contacts.
  4. Take advantage of the tools available to graduate students interested in learning more about their career options. The Individual Development Plan (myIDP) tool from Science Careers, is an excellent resource for STEM students pursuing PhDs.  Create a free account and use it to create a personalized and strategic plan.  Imagine PhD is a similar tool for students in the humanities and social sciences and is launching this fall. 
  5. Visit Career Services early and often! Our team of career advisors work exclusively with graduate students and we can meet with you individually at any time during your time at Penn.  Whether you are certain of your career path, are looking for a “plan B,” or don’t know what you will do with your graduate degree, we can help you.  View a complete list of services for graduate students here.

We in Career Services look forward to working with you this fall and beyond!

But I Just Got Here… Career Planning and One-Year Graduate Degrees (Revisited)

By Sharon Fleshman

Over the past week, I have presented on career resources at orientations for two one-year master’s programs.  With career events kicking off earlier than ever in the academic year, I sense that it’s time to update one of my previous posts….

I continue to work with many graduate students who are in one-year master’s programs. If you are one of these students, you are in your first and last year, making it a challenge to juggle your coursework, internships/field placements and the job search.

As you’ve likely discovered, your time at Penn will feel like a sprint.  In a race, pacing is critical.  On one hand, you do not want to exhaust yourself by starting out too quickly.  Don’t immerse yourself in career planning to the neglect of your studies or building relationships with classmates.  On the other hand, it is not a good idea to have such a slow pace to start that you wait too long to pick up speed.  

To get started, here are some other tips that I hope will help you to make the most of your fall semester:

Join a Career Services graduate student distribution list so that you receive timely e-mails about programs, events and job opportunities related to your career goals.

Get familiar with Handshake, our new recruiting system for connecting you with relevant career information, events and opportunities.

Make sure that you are aware of the timetables of various industries as it relates to hiring.  While many organizations hire on a just-in-time, as needed basis in the spring, others may begin their recruiting process in the fall. Many businesses and technical companies use On-Campus Recruiting in the fall.  A number of career fairs are held in the fall as well. Government agencies often have structured programs that may require early application. See the Go Government website for more information on opportunities in the federal government.

Update your resume so that it will be ready when you start attending career fairs and applying for jobs. The Career Services website has useful advice on resumes (and other related documents) as well as samples based on your academic program or career interest. Make an appointment or attend walk-in hours with Career Services advisors who are available to review your resume and other related materials.

Start researching career options and develop a list of preferred employers and job functions. Check out the Career Exploration section of our website. It can also be helpful to look at job descriptions to determine what is ideal to you.  To help you with this, the Career Services website lists links to job listings and company/organization websites, classified by career field. Look for career services programs that are relevant to careers that interest you on our program calendar for master’s students.

Start building your network.  As you begin to get a sense for the careers that you want to pursue, you should make plans to gain insight from people who are in those careers. QuakerNet and LinkedIn are two great places to start, particularly with informational interviewing.

Get Organized.  Even what I’ve mentioned above may seem overwhelming in terms of getting started.  Try to schedule your career planning so that you can be sure it’s not taking up too much (or too little) space on your calendar. Have some kind of system in place based on what works best for you.  For example, you might decide to dedicate a couple of hours each week to researching career options and conduct at least two informational interviews per month.

Talk to a Career Services advisor.  It is often helpful to have a listening ear as you brainstorm about career options and networking/job search strategies, or make decisions about job offers. It is always necessary to have a second pair of eyes as you put the finishing touches on that resume. Perhaps you just need some assistance in getting organized. Wherever you find yourself in the career planning process, be assured that Career Services advisors are available to help you as you prepare to cross the finish line into next phase of your career.

 

 

New Staff Member: Helen Pho

Hello! I hope you’re enjoying the summer and having a chance to have fun, relax, and recharge! This summer has been great for me so far—I’ve explored different neighborhoods in Philadelphia, caught up on some TV shows that I was behind on, attended an amazing professional development conference in Houston, and, most importantly, began an exciting new role with Penn Career Services!

I joined the Graduate Student and Postdoc Advising Team as an Associate Director in May and have greatly enjoyed getting to know Penn and its community. Before starting this position, I worked at a higher education executive search firm where I recruited deans, provosts, and presidents for colleges and universities. Before that, I was a graduate student in the History Department at the University of Texas at Austin and wrote a dissertation examining the social, cultural, and economic impact of the American military presence in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Going back even further, I directed a summer program for first-generation students and was an admissions offer at Yale, my alma mater. At Penn, I’m excited to work with graduate students and postdocs to help them think creatively about their strengths, values, and career interests and to guide them in putting their best foot forward during their job searches.

A few fun facts about me:
• My first job in higher education was being a Peer Adviser at Yale’s Undergraduate Career Services, where I reviewed resumes and cover letters and spoke with students about job and internship opportunities. It was a job I loved, and I’m glad to return to the field of Career Services ten years later!
• I’m a huge basketball fan. I grew up in Oakland, CA and have been a Golden State Warriors fan for many years. Now that I live in Philly, I also cheer for the 76ers.
• I am obsessed with potato products! Baked potatoes, French fries, potato wedges, you name it!
I look forward to getting to know many of you in the future!

What Handshake has to offer Grad Students and Postdocs

By now you’ve hopefully heard about Penn Career Services’ new online platform, Handshake.  We’re excited to announce that Handshake is now accessible to ALL current graduate students and postdocs!

While Handshake is a fantastic place for students of all levels to search for jobs and internships, schedule appointments, and learn about Career Services programming, I want to take some time to respond to what I know many graduate-level students might be thinking: What’s in it for me?


1. There are lots of employers on Handshake who are looking specifically for graduate-level candidates from Penn.

To be more specific, there are currently 886 employers who have posted 1,595 positions seeking graduate-level candidates, and this number is growing daily as more employers from around the world become connected with Penn on Handshake.

Here are some great examples of current postings:


2. Handshake gets to know your qualifications and interests, helping you to explore new opportunities!

It’s very important that you not only activate your account, but also fill out your career interests. Once you do this, Handshake will automatically and continually generate a list of jobs, Career Services events, and articles that are likely to be of interest to you.

Use this as an opportunity to explore how your interests might align with a range of different career fields, and to discover employers who are interested in recruiting students with your academic background!


3. Handshake’s job search feature makes it easy to narrow down the positions that meet your qualifications and interests even further.

You can filter opportunities by degree level (referred to as School Year in Handshake), academic major, keywords, location, size of company, job type, and more.


4. Moving forward, Handshake will be your one-stop shop for communicating with Career Services.

  • Schedule advising appointments and mock interviews
  • View and register for upcoming workshops, info sessions, and career fairs
  • Sign up for degree and industry-specific Career Mail to receive job postings and tailored newsletters from the Career Services team.
                                                       … ALL IN ONE PLACE!

Gain access to all of these great resources by activating your Handshake account now, and feel free to contact our office with any questions.