Career Pathways Week is a professional development series created for graduate students who are interested in pursuing jobs outside of traditional academic roles. We held seven virtual events during the week of February 7-11 on topics including virtual networking, leveraging your transferrable skills, and turning your CV into a resume. If you were unable to attend some of the sessions, read a summary of the tips and advice that other graduate students found to be valuable on their professional journeys.

[Image description: An animated graphic of a path winding through grassy fields with trees and shrubs.]

Pictured: We’re here to support your career path, wherever that may lead you.

Demystifying Your Career Choices: Career Planning for Graduate Students and Postdocs

In this session Dr. Rebekah Layton, the Director of Professional Development Programs at UNC Chapel Hill, outlines key strategies to ensure success no matter your career plans.

• Instead of thinking about possible post-grad paths as Option A and Option B, instead create Option A and Option A’, this way you are encouraged to not create a lesser backup plan, but instead other options that you would also enjoy doing.
• Once you’ve made your plans, identify what skills you lack or need to develop further in order to pursue these options (ex. maybe you need to brush up on a specific programming language, increase your public speaking experience, etc.) and make specific plans to fill these gaps.
• Create tailored job materials for your applications. Use the STAR method to describe work experience in your resume. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Even if you are not actively looking for a job, have a look at current job listings to get a sense of what employers are looking for.
• Think of your cover letter and resume as two pages in a book, they should be clearly related but each should have different information. Your resume is about your past, while your cover letter is about the future. The first one or two sentences in your cover letter should immediately catch the recruiters attention and entice them to read more.

[Image description: A cartoon tyrannosaurus rex wears a star on its back, above and below the dinosaur text reads “you’re a star”]

Pictured: Not that kind of STAR! But good job materials will help you stand out.

Identifying and Leveraging Your Transferable Skills

Songling Chen and Viresha Perera from the Career Center demonstrated ways to identify transferrable skills you may have and then highlight them when applying for jobs.

• Transferrable skills can be acquired anywhere, not just in professional or academic positions. Consider your volunteer work, conference participation, or research projects when creating your resume and writing your cover letter.
• Don’t make employers search your job documents to find your pertinent skills. Instead identify the skills asked for in the job ad and highlight those in your job applications. Does the role require teamwork? Describe your experience working in a shared lab. Don’t forget to give employer a holistic view of your capabilities, particularly soft skills, and outline how well you will fit in with the company and its culture
• Use online resources to identify and strengthen your skills. The NACE Career Readiness Competencies can help you identify and obtain the requisite competencies that broadly prepare college grads for a successful transition into workplace. LinkedIn Learning is another resource for online skill development, and completed skills are attached to your LinkedIn profile.

[Image description: A woman dressed in a silver jumpsuit shows off her dancing prowess during a Soul Train line]

Pictured: You never know, maybe those dancing skills will come in handy in your future career

Where Are They Now? STEM Panel

This panel asked UCR graduate student alums to share their experiences on the job market and in their non-academic roles after graduation. Panelists Melissa Morgan, Niranjan Ilawe, Biagio DiSalvo, and Patrick Schreiner also answered attendees' questions about discussing your career with your PI/advisor and knowing when to switch jobs.

• Know where to go to look for jobs. All the panelists suggested using Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor as sites to find positions and to learn more about the hiring companies. You should do your homework ahead of time so you can speak confidently in interviews and see average salaries at each company.
• Don’t be afraid to apply to jobs that are only tangentially related to your field because many employers know that PhD grads have transferable skills as a result of finishing their degree. Also, your specific research focus during your PhD may not end up being germane to your professional role, especially in management positions.
• Make sure you understand your entire job offer, including stock options, vacation time, and health insurance coverage. Panelists say considering your total compensation when considering offers can help you negotiate and make informed choices.

[Image description: A woman in a lab coat holds two test tubes and uses a pipette to draw liquid out of them]

Pictured: Snazzy pipette work is certainly an asset, but one you might not need to use every day in your professional job.

Where Are They Now? HASSE Panel

Panelists and UCR alumni Karin Johnson, Logan Marg, Danielle Delany and Seth Margolis discussed their career trajectories and why non-academic jobs can be attractive as a PhD graduate.

• Consider working in the public sector. In addition to looking for positions on LinkedIn and Indeed, panelists suggested looking for government jobs specifically. One resource to do this is USA Jobs, a site that lists open federal government roles and allows you to sort by fields, agencies, or job titles. A surprising benefit of working for the federal government is that employees gain tenure after three years of employment.
• Weigh the pros and cons of working outside academia. Pros: a more regular work schedule, the ability to take time off from work, working with new and different people, and flexibility in moving roles. Cons: opportunities, responsibilities and compensation can vary widely based on the industry you go into, and unlike academia getting raises or promotions can be challenging and unpredictable.

Image description: Guled Abdi from the show TallBoyz sits on a couch, and shrugs saying “It’s my civic duty.”

Pictured: Working for the government has other benefits too.

CV to Resume Workshop

In this session, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator Alexis Smith covered the basics of writing a resume and how a resume differs from a CV.

• Think of your resume as a marketing document. You are advertising yourself for this role, so resumes should be clear, concise, and easy to read. Another way to think about a resume is a snapshot of your experiences (not an exhaustive list).
• The bullet points under your listed roles are important. For each experience, list 3-5 bullet points of responsibilities (you can include more for managerial positions). Do not use passive phrases like “was responsible for", instead start with an action verb like “coordinated x event,” “led a team of researchers,” or “exceeded fundraising goal of y.” Also, be specific! If you have the number of team members or the amount of money raised, include that in the bullet point as well.
• One major mistake many grad students make is downplaying their own roles or achievements. Graduate students often work in groups (i.e. labs) and have a tendency to focus on collaborative achievements rather than individual achievements. Resumes are individual documents used to sell our skills to a potential employer, so they should focus on you!
• The Graduate Writing Center offers one-on-one appointments with students and consultants are happy to work with you on your academic or professional job documents including resumes.

[Image description: Meredith MacNeill from Baroness von Sketch stands in a locker room in a large puffer coat, she puts her hand on her hip and says “I’m a catch”]

Pictured: Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn!

Networking at Virtual Career Fairs and on LinkedIn

Viresha Perera and Songling Chen from the Career Center introduced the fundamentals of virtual job fairs and offered tips and tricks for upping your LinkedIn game.

• What is a virtual career fair anyway? You can join a virtual career fair by browsing the available list on Handshake. Career fairs are filtered by employer and/or field, and list available dates for you to virtually meet either one-on-one or in a group with recruiters from specific employers. Because there are lots of options, it’s important to do your homework ahead of time by researching the companies, taking note of key facts, and ranking them according to your preference.
• Look and sound professional, even though you’re online. In these virtual meetings, come prepared with questions for the employer about the company, the position, etc. It is also important to look the part: wear your professional clothing. And make sure you are dressed professionally from head to toe! It may feel silly to you, but it could be important if you need to stand up unexpectedly.
• Use LinkedIn to keep in touch and make new connections. Follow up and maintain relationships with folks you meet at virtual career fairs or other networking opportunities. Remember to set your profile to public and to keep your profile up-to-date. LinkedIn is a way to brand yourself, so keep that in mind when choosing what you want to include. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who are UCR alumni and work at a company you admire or in a position you are interested in, but make sure to personalize your message and only ask for a short amount of time (~15 minutes) for a virtual or in-person coffee conversation.

[Image description: Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada sits in front of a computer repeating the phrase “I love my job”]

Pictured: We hope these tips help you find a job that you love!