Graduate Careers | Doctoral and Master's

Career Navigation

CURRENT CAREER EVENTS

Virtual Employer Forums

These virtual sessions are an opportunity to meet and talk with a potential employer. Conversations focus on the hiring process, the work environment/culture, transferable skills, and networking. Although it is aimed at doctoral students, any graduate student at Howard and other HBCUs are welcome.

September 18, 2024
- 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Excelling in the Tech Industry (Without Being a Techie) with Dr. Jazz Walker
- Registration: here
March 24 - 27, 2025
- Doctoral Career Pathways Conference for HBCUs (virtual)
How to Establish Your Digital Identity
- April 30, 2025 | 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Zoom

Career Advising for Doctoral Students

Doctoral students can schedule a limited number of 30-minute career advising/exploration sessions (Zoom) with Anna De Cheke Qualls through the Graduate School. These appointments are generally available during the academic year.

I AM STILL THINKING ABOUT MY OPTIONS

Join and Engage

Activate your account on Handshake (register for programming, careers fairs and employer presentations)
Join the Graduate School/CCPS Doctoral Career Exploration Support Group
Build your network to get ideas
- Connect with alumni at-large or through your graduate program
  - Join LinkedIn alumni groups (Doctoral Alumni Network or the Master's Alumni Network)
- Attend alumni career panels such as the virtual HBCU Doctoral Career Pathways Conference (last week of March).
- Join a professional organization or club (student memberships are typically discounted), such as:
  - The American Psychological Association
  - The Modern Language Association
  - The American Historical Association
  - Association of American Educators
  - The American Chemical Society
  - The American Society for Microbiology
  - National Society of Professional Engineers
  - The American Public Health Association
  - The American Physical Society
  - National Council of Nonprofits
  - Meet-up, LinkedIn groups and other online networking tools
Take time to explore the career path that works best for you using:
- Use this link to download and use the IDP template. There is also a helpful Career Exploration Roadmap developed by Jennie Dorman and Bill Lindstaedt and tool to assess your Values, Interests and Skills (VIS) her
- PhD Student Career Action Plan: Howard Career Center
- Master's Student Career Action Plan: Howard Career Center
- MSU PhD Career Center
Read industry periodicals, journals, newsletters or listservs

Follow on Social Media

Council of Graduate Schools (Twitter: CGSGradEd)
Graduate Career Consortium (Twitter: GradCareers)
Cheeky Scientist (Twitter: cheekyscience)
Versatile PhD (Twitter: VersatilePhD)
#academicchatter and Twitter: @academicchatter
@Phdforum (Twitter)
Career Conversations (Twitter: careerconversa1)
STEM PhD Careers (Twitter: StemPhDCareers)
Jennifer Polk (Twitter: FromPhDtoLife)
Imagine PhD (Twitter: imaginephd)

Watch and Learn

Vitamin PhD is a podcast produced at Boston University for anyone who is pursuing a doctorate, has a doctorate, or supporting others on their doctoral journey. The podcast delivers career narratives and skills know-how through six-episode capsule seasons hosted by current doctoral students at Boston University. In Career Pathways episodes, the podcast helps explore career options by interviewing people who have earned their doctorate and now work in a variety of sectors.
Youtube
- Career Conversations
- Columbia Career Conversations University of Maryland Graduate School's Doctoral Careers
Books/Reading
- "So What Are You Going to Do with That?": Finding Careers Outside Academia, by Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius
- The Professor is In (book and podcast)
- Designing Your Work Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
- Networking for Nerds, by Alaina G. Levine.
- UCLA Career Preparation Toolkit (for graduate students/postdocs)
- Michigan State University PhD Career Services: Transferable Skills Worksheet
- University of Washington, Identify your Strengths Worksheet
- Columbia University, Job Negotiation Checklist/Worksheet
- Beat the Robots: How to Get Your Resume Past the System
- The Professor Is In, Karen L. Kelsky
- The Academic Job Search Handbook, 5th Edition, Julia Miller Vick, Jennifer S. Furlong and Rosanne Lu

I HAVE A FEW CAREER IDEAS

Doctoral Career Tools

ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences.
MyIDP (Individual Development Plan) is an online career-planning tool created to help graduate students in the sciences define and pursue their career goals.
ChemIDP is similar to MyIDP but is specific to those in Chemistry.
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Career Readiness Guide (additional reading here).
Versatile PhD
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Occupational Information Network (O*Net)
Candid Career Videos

Other Tools

I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO NEXT

Academia

Go to Handshake and prepare your CV, ask your advisor and others to provide feedback.
Prepare for interviews.
Explore jobs:
- CIRTL - teaching STEM disciplines in higher education (Howard is a member)
- Inside Higher Ed
- The Chronicle of Higher Education
- ChronicleVitae
- Academic Keys
- HigherEd Jobs

Other Careers

Prepare your resume in Handshake and ask for feedback.
Explore this resource from the University of Chicago: tips for each career type (data science to think tanks)
Federal/Government Careers
Non-profit careers
- Careers in Nonprofits
- Idealist

INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENT RESOURCES

As international doctoral scholars navigate careers, they are often presented with additional challenges. Here are some resources that may help bolster information going into a job search.

MyVisaJobs: https://www.myvisajobs.com
USCIS H1B Hub: https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-1b-employer-data-hub
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program: https://www.ice.gov/SEVPdata
International Student Careers; https://internationalstudentcareers.com
National Foundation for American Policy (data on the H1B): https://nfap.com
UniWorld: https://uniworldonline.com/search (U.S. companies overseas/Overseas companies in the U.S.)