Completing a graduate program is an enormous undertaking. It may help to approach career management with the same curiosity and ownership with which you approach your scholarship. Whether you are preparing for academic or industry jobs — or somewhere in between — give yourself time by starting to think about this early. For many, graduate school may be the first step in your professional career, and the unique experience, skills and knowledge you have gained along the way can make you a competitive candidate for positions across the board.
Career Management
Remember that the daily responsibilities of successfully completing your program train you in a number of important skills. Researching a capstone project requires both collecting and analyzing (qualitative and/or quantitative) data. Organizing a committee, setting goals to complete your thesis or dissertation, and planning classroom or student group activities are a form of project management. Publishing and presenting your work demonstrate deft writing and public speaking abilities. The key is learning how to master the language to articulate the professional skills you have inevitably gained. Career management is the ability to position your skills and professional experiences in service of where you want to go in the journey of finding meaningful work.
In addition to the above skillsets, it is also important to understand your larger career trajectory. What professional development competencies have you found most interesting and valuable, and in which work environments do you see yourself implementing those competencies? For faculty positions, what type of institution is the best fit for you? Do you thrive best at a research-heavy R1 or R2 institution, at a teaching-focused liberal arts college, or at another institution, like a think tank? In your regular reflections, ask yourself if there are types of jobs you feel more attracted to or want to avoid. Do the responsibilities and the day-to-day of your career align with your personal values?
Figuring out what's next for you takes time and ample exploration. In the meantime, seek out opportunities to practice confidently pitching your professional experiences to academic institutions or other companies. NYU's Wasserman Career Center and GSAS can help you think through other important practical considerations as well, such as, what does equitable negotiation of salary and benefits look like?
A few of the cornerstones of taking control of your career management are: building practical knowledge of different professional trajectories, effectively communicating your existing skills, and bridging skill and experience gaps.
Career Management competencies in practice
Explore your options. GSAS and the Wasserman Career Center offer myriad resources to help you explore your career options, including: self-assessment workbooks, guides for conducting a job search, detailed industry insights, and one-on-one appointments with a career coach. More can be found on the Career Center's Handshake platform. NYU also subscribes to both PhD-specific (VersatilePhD, ImaginePhD) and broader career exploration platforms (Firsthand). Finally, GSAS and Wasserman have partnered together to offer academic and industry job panels specifically geared towards PhD students (check The Ph.D. Examiner newsletter to stay up to date on job panels and other career exploration events). For international students, the Office of Global Services can guide you through OPT and visa processes, as you practically consider which job options are best to target in the US or abroad.
Informational interviews and networking. Informational interviews are a great way to learn about "a day in the life" of any role or industry. Ask an industry insider to meet up for coffee and pick their brain about the career they're in and their path there. Faculty, alumni or senior students from your department are great resources for learning first-hand about the academic job market. You can also connect with NYU alumni and others on LinkedIn and social media. You may be surprised at how willing people are to share their experiences and help you along! Additionally, your disciplinary (inter)national organizations almost all have professionalization resources for graduate students, and are great ways to find mentors in your field. See also: Inside Higher Ed, Chronicle of Higher Education, the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, and The Violet Network.
Take stock of your skills. As you're exploring all of the career options out there, it is also important to take stock of your skills and values. How have your professional experiences prepared you to make contributions to your community and the wider world? How do your diverse personal values influence the kind of work you want to undertake? Resources like ImaginePhD, Beyond the Professoriate, and the Science Careers Individual Development Plan offer assessments that help match your strengths and values with suitable career paths. These platforms are especially useful for translating the skills you've gained in academia for industry careers. Other resources like Humanities Without Walls can help you explore career direction in ways you have not previously considered.
Bridge skill gaps. Getting from where you are now to where you want to go often entails building new skills to bridge gaps. Fellowships like the Public Humanities Initiative Doctoral Fellowship and the Urban Democracy Lab (see Leadership & Collaboration) are not only robust CV-builders and sources of funding, but also provide valuable hands-on experience in project management, teamwork, and other essential professional skills. Teaching or developing a new course on an adjacent subject can help establish your authority in a new area of expertise (See Communication). Taking on specific projects at businesses and institutions at NYU or in NYC is another way to grow your skillset. For unpaid internships, the Wasserman Career Center provides an internship grant for summer and semesterly funding. Finally, LinkedIn Learning and Coursera — free with NYU access — provide courses and certificates for new skillsets.
Networking & Pitching. GSAS offers resources and workshops for PhD students to practice pitching their abilities and experiences and networking in different forums. The PhD Examiner compiles all the upcoming resources and events; Handshake is another great place to find similar workshops, in addition to jobs. PIVOT is a group of NYU students committed to developing professionalization skills and connecting each other with career resources through which you can practice your networking skills.
Craft documents. Prepare different versions of documents like résumés, CVs and cover letters to have on hand for potential roles. Ask faculty, Wasserman career coaches, and industry insiders for feedback. Individual GSAS departments have writing and job market applicant peer groups that meet (bi)weekly to go over these materials too. The NYU Expository Writing Center also has helpful videos on Developing a Teaching Portfolio and Devising a Teaching Statement. Wasserman also offers a number of guides and workshops on career preparation essentials, including interviewing and writing résumés and cover letters via the Wasserman Career Readiness Course. Through programs like these, you can learn the differences between CV and résumé, and how to tailor these and other job application documents to target the particular roles you are interested in for both academic and industry jobs.