Three Takeaways from the “How to Stay on Top of Your Career Prospects Early On” Workshop

Maya Hargens, the Assistant Director of Graduate Career Education, gave a talk on Career Prospects to new grad students.

Here are the top three takeaways from her workshop:

• Meet with Career Professionals early and often! While it can be tempting to wait until later to think about your post-graduate career, starting your career exploration with Career Services in the first few years of your program can help define your professionalization trajectory. Go to Handshake to make an appointment to meet with Maya or the graduate student career peer advisors for assistance!
   

• Know that you aren’t alone in your career concerns. These can commonly include a lack of career or self-knowledge, being over-committed and overwhelmed, a lack of mentorship, struggling with work/life balance, poor advisor relationships, low academic job vacancies, the transition from academia to industry, low career confidence, financial struggles, burnout/stress/exhaustion. Please ask for help if you need it.
   

• Gain experience outside of your typical research. Whether through informational interviews, shadowing professionals, or obtaining a position in Goleta, gaining experience outside your research makes you an asset for the job market. These opportunities can also allow you to solidify your career goals, build unique skills that your colleagues don’t have, develop relationships and create a network outside of your department, experience what another role is like, learn more about yourself and others, gain more career and self-knowledge to help you plan, and add money in your pocket.

Download the slide deck

Also, join us for our upcoming events:

• Charting the Future: A Career Timeline Workshop for 1st & 2nd-Year Graduate Students
  October 10, 12-1 PM
• Fall Job + Internship Fair
  October 17, 10 AM -2 PM
• LinkedIn Have you Spooked? Clear the Spiderwebs off your Profile!
  October 29, 1- 2 PM

About the Author:

Grace Kimball (she/her/per pronouns) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Theater and Dance and a Graduate Career Peer Advisor at UCSB. She studies early modern English performance behaviors and faith and helps undergraduates learn about theater and performance studies in her classroom. Grace is also available for her graduate student colleagues through appointments on Handshake to discuss CVs, cover letters, resumes, interviews, and other job market materials.