Career Skills
Career Skills workshops assist with career planning, teach skills to help in the job search, and develop competencies for the professional world.
In previous semesters, the GSC has offered the following Career Skills workshops. For a list of workshops being offered this semester, please go to our Event Calendar or Registration page.
Workshops offered in Fall 2008
Creating Your Individual Development Plan: Strategic Advice for Getting Your Degree and the Career You Want - Creating an individual development plan encourages you to think about what you need to do next - and over the next few years - so that you meet your academic and career objectives. Participants will begin constructing a plan of action that takes into account individual strengths and addresses professional development goals. The workshop will also introduce techniques for identifying goals and resources, implementing the plan, and sustaining the plan while in graduate school.
First Impressions: Developing Your CV and Cover Letter - During this event you will receive advice about what to include in both a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a cover letter, and how to tailor application materials to individual career opportunities. The Resume and the CV are essential materials required in most employment applications and employers use these for screening purposes, so your ability to clearly state your relevant experiences and skills will decide your fate in being granted an interview. In the United States, the CV is used primarily when applying for academic, education, scientific or research positions as well as for fellowships or grants. The CV is customarily used when applying for any type of position in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or Asia.
First Impressions: Developing your Resume and Cover Letter - This workshop will include advice about what to include in resumes and cover letters and how to tailor application materials to individual career opportunities.
Identifying Transferable Skills for Careers Outside the Academy - As you earn your graduate degree, you develop many skills that are valuable in myriad careers. In this workshop, you will be guided through individual exercises and group-based activities to help you identify the abilities you possess that are transferable to non-academic settings. Information on how to best present your skills to potential employers will also be provided.
Mastering the Non-Academic Interview - The interview process is a time for your potential co-workers and managers to evaluate you on a more personal level. First impressions, verbal queues, and the quality of your responses to interview questions all play a role in assessing your abilities, which are then compared to other candidates. During this workshop, the interview process, from beginning to end, will be analyzed and discussed. Advice will be offered on how to handle a variety of situations and questions and resources will be identified to help you prepare for your interview.
Researching Career Options: Forging an Alternative Academic Career - This workshop will offer guidance and advice on how to identify career opportunities. Information will be provided on how to begin and organize the job search, build a network of contacts, and research employers and their opportunities. Participants will leave the workshop with a preliminary job search plan.
Securing Academic Positions: Planning, Preparation, and Interviewing for Success - This workshop will focus on how to interpret academic job announcements at a variety of institutions, how to prepare for interviews given the expectations at different types of institutions, and applying interviewing skills for success. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to decipher job ads, discuss what your itinerary might be when interviewing for a position, and participate in mock interviews. Participants will interact with workshop facilitators (i.e., interview panel members) to discuss the strengths of candidates, what to do and what not to do in various types of interviews, what to do to make your application more competitive, and how to respond to the “unexpected” events that occasionally crop up during interviews.
Securing Superior Letters of Recommendation - In this workshop, faculty members will give advice on how you can sharpen your competitive edge with tips and strategies for working with your recommenders for letters that connect your skills, strengths and experiences with specific applications.
Who is Hiring You: Perspectives from a Faculty Hiring Committee - Experienced hiring committee members and recently hired faculty will give their insight on what they look for when hiring new faculty members. During this program, the entire hiring process, from the initial screening to contract negotiations, will be discussed. Advice will be offered on how to set yourself apart from other candidates, both on paper and in the interview, determine whether there will be a good fit between the interviewee and his or her new professional community, and other areas important to securing a faculty position.