Career Counseling

Career Counseling for Graduate Students

At some point during your graduate school program you may decide to seek career counseling for issues ranging from concerns or uncertainty about your graduate program or discipline, potential careers in your discipline both academic and non-academic, how to conduct a job search and complete the application process.

The Counselors in Career Development offer confidential counseling to help graduate students who have career and/or academic concerns and issues with which they want assistance.

Academic and career exploration is a life-long, personal process that is experienced by individuals in different ways. Making decisions about a career choice or academic direction is often a very complex task, involving a person's individual characteristics and circumstances such as values, interests, skills, personality attributes, family and cultural influences and demands, decision making style and a variety of other issues. The counseling you receive through Career Development will be individualized to meet your unique needs and situation. The career development process may utilize career assessment inventories, the career resource library, Internet resources, face to face interaction with other students, faculty and organization members and experiential learning opportunities (testing the reality of careers through research , teaching positions and internships).

A good starting point is to schedule an appointment with one of our career counselors who will help you identify your needs and assist in the development of a strategy to clarify and address your concerns.

The counseling process may involve:

  • Learning more about yourself through a variety of self-assessment inventories and activities. (link to Assessment Page)
  • Gain insight into the variety of academic, non-academic and research options available to you.
  • Just do It! The more you really experience your career and professional interest areas the more you can evaluate those for your future. All of these experiences will help you understand your likes and dislikes as well as what you truly want to pursue and continue to develop.
  • Evaluate what you have learned from all your experiences. What academic programs and careers have you eliminated during the process? What remains at the top of your list of interests?
  • Based on your top priorities, consider short term (what do I want to accomplish this year?) and long term goals (where do I want to be in 5 years?). Develop a plan of action to make these goals achievable.
  • Remain flexible and recognize that the best made plans don't always happen the way we expect them to. Try to keep your mind open to change so you are not without alternative options in the event your goals and plans change.
  • Continue to work with Career Development and your graduate advisor to prepare your self for your transition into the professional world of work or academic careers in higher education.
  • Remember, career development is a LIFELONG process! You, like many, may find that you have more than one career during your lifetime and, as such, will need to go through the process many different times.

Useful Links

Lists of Open Positions
Information/Advice about the Academic Search
Other University Career Centers
Print Resources
  • The Academic Job Search Handbook by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick. 3rd edition. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001)
  • Cracking the Academic Nut: A Guide to Preparing for Your Academic Career by Margaret L. Newhouse. (FAS Harvard University, 1997)
  • Tomorrow's Professor:Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering by Richard Reis. (IEEE Press, 1997)