Graduate school is for obtaining excellent training in your academic discipline, but it’s also for growing professionally and preparing to launch a successful career afterwards. GradSuccess, alone and in partnership with other campus units, provides a wide range of training opportunities and resources for graduate students to support their career and professional development. Read on to learn more about the professional development programming available to you!

via GIPHY

[Image Description: A dog types on a laptop. The text reads: "Hello, my human needs a job and I need the house to myself again."]

Pictured: Help Fido out - pick up some new career knowledge!

AFTER GRAD

Each quarter, GradSuccess organizes an “After Grad” series of professional development events, each focusing on a different career path. These week-long events are comprised of panels, workshops, keynote speeches, writing clinics, and more.

Academic Pathways Week: Offered every Fall, Academic Pathways Week is designed to promote preparation and success across your academic career, both in graduate school and as a possible future researcher and faculty member. Some of the sessions we held in Fall 2020 were the UCR New Faculty Panel, in which newly hired UCR assistant professors shared their recent experiences in the academic job market, and a keynote address by Dr. Shardé M. Davis, titled “#BlackintheIvory: Amplifying the Voices of Blackademic TruthTellers About Anti-Black Racism.” This year's Academic Pathways Week will take place during the first week of November.

Career Pathways Week: Offered every Winter, Career Pathways Week focuses on career opportunities beyond the academy. You may hear from UCR graduate alumni working in diverse career fields during panel discussions, attend workshops on preparing job application documents or preparing for an interview, or attend a keynote focused on navigating your career path with confidence and integrity. The week typically wraps up with a networking reception in which graduate students meet UCR graduate alumni working outside academia.

Teaching Careers Week: Offered every Spring, Teaching Careers Week is devoted to providing support for pursuing teaching-focused careers. This event has three main components:

• Life at a Liberal Arts Colleges, in which faculty members from the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers (LADO) consortium share their experiences getting hired and working at their institutions. There is an emphasis on the experiences of BIPOC faculty in liberal arts institutions, and faculty members meet one-on-one with interested students to provide feedback on tailoring their job application materials.
• Teaching Careers Track, which offers clinics, workshops, and panels focused on applying for and working at teaching-focused institutions, such as community colleges or the California State University system.
• Teaching Development Track, which offers a range of presentations geared towards helping attendees improve their pedagogical skills.

If you have not TA'd enough to be eligible for the University Teaching Certificate program, you can attend the Teaching Development Track as an alternative eligibility option. The recordings of After Grad sessions offered from Spring 2020 to 2021 can be viewed on Graduate Student Resource Center’s Workshop Recordings webpage.

via GIPHY

[Image Description: Lisa Simpson from The Simpsons rides her bicycle while saying, "Gotta pick a career."]

Pictured: You pick your career of your interest, and we’ll help you figure out how to get there.
Or attend all After Grad events to find out what each career path entails.

CERTIFICATES

You may utilize your time in graduate school to gain experience in a specific area by participating in a certificate program. You may apply for one of the three certificate programs offered by the Graduate Division and/or our campus partners:

Making Excellence Inclusive Graduate Student Diversity Certificate Program: quarter-long certificate program offered 1-2 times per year by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this program, graduate students practice research, pedagogy, skills development, learning, and activism around issues of diversity and social justice. We expect the next application will open in Fall 2021.

University Teaching Certificate Program: a competitive, for-credit instructional training and certification program for graduate students offered over two quarters through Graduate Division. This program is designed to assist graduate students interested in teaching careers with developing university-level teaching and lecturing strategies, designing a teaching portfolio, and becoming members of the professional teaching community. This program runs in two cohorts, Fall-Winter and Winter-Spring. Applications for the Winter-Spring 2022 cohort will open in Week 4 of the Fall 2021 quarter.

The Graduate Certificate in Science to Policy (S2P) : quarter-long certificate program offered by the Science to Policy (S2P) Program. This competitive program aims to train graduate students in the sciences, engineering, and medicine who are interested in learning more about science policy, education, advocacy, and communication so that they could translate their science into public policy or transition into policy careers. Applications for the Fall 2021 cohort are being accepted through August 9th!

via GIPHY

[Image Description: Rory Gilmore, a fictional character from Gilmore Girls, says, "Yes, you've worked hard for this. You've earned it."]

Pictured: Yes, that’s right! You were accepted to one of these competitive certificate programs and you earned your certificate!

WORKSHOPS

Throughout the year, the Graduate Student Resource Center organizes skill-building workshops for career and professional development. Some of the workshops offered recently are “The Graduate Student and Postdoc's Guide to Personal Finance,” “Career Planning using Individual Development Plans,” and “Finding and Winning Grants: An Introduction.” Recordings of many of these workshops can be viewed on the Graduate Student Resource Center’s Workshop Recordings webpage.

If you feel that participating in these workshops, events, and certificate programs might deter you from getting your degree in a timely manner or inhibit your productivity, don't worry! A recent study reported in PLOS Biology showed that participating in career and professional development activities during graduate school did not decrease efficiency or productivity, as measured in time to degree or manuscript output [1]. So, take comfort in knowing that your participation in these activities won't negatively impact your degree progress, AND you'll be building necessary skills for a successful career after graduation.

via GIPHY

[Image Description: Liz Lemon, a fictional character from 30 Rock, high fiving herself.]

Pictured: Yeah, success!!!

Reference
[1] Brandt PD, Sturzenegger Varvayanis S, Baas T, Bolgioni AF, Alder J, Petrie KA, Dominguez I, Brown AM, Stayart CA, Singh H, Van Wart A, Chow CS, Mathur A, Schreiber BM, Fruman DA, Bowden B, Wiesen CA, Golightly YM, Holmquist CE, Arneman D, Hall JD, Hyman LE, Gould KL, Chalkley R, Brennwald PJ, Layton RL. A cross-institutional analysis of the effects of broadening trainee professional development on research productivity. PLoS Biol. 2021 Jul 15;19(7):e3000956. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000956. PMID: 34264929.