Before you start the job search and interview process, it is essential to explore careers of interest, create meaningful connections with future colleagues or employers and gain the experiences and skills you’ll need to succeed in graduate school and beyond.
Making time to explore and prepare for your career can be difficult in grad school! Here are a few tips to help you ensure you meet your career preparation goals.
Understand the key components of career preparation
Career preparation will look different for everyone, but it typically includes these five steps:
- Explore careers
- Develop skills and experience
- Build your network
- Develop your career narrative
- Find a job in your chosen field
Assessing your skills in each of these areas is a good first step toward making a career plan. Use the links above to explore each step and identify activities you can include in your plan.
Set SMART goals
Breaking career preparation activities into SMART goals can help you ensure you meet key career preparation milestones.
A SMART goal is:
- Specific: States objective and steps to achieve it
- “Expand my network by setting up informational interviews” beats “Start networking”
- Measurable: Quantifiable and/or has a clear metric of success
- "Run three times a week” is better than “Be more active”
- Achievable: Realistic, not aspirational
- “Write my thesis over the next three months” beats “Write my thesis today”
- Relevant: Helps move you toward what you want to accomplish
- “Take an R class for thesis and professional development”
- Time-bound: Needs a specific deadline
- “Submit an article by March 2022” beats “Submit an article next year”
Create an Individual Development Plan
IDP Tools & Resources
Creating an Individual Development Plan (IDP) allows you to set degree milestones, develop foundational skills and career planning goals, and take the steps necessary to complete them.
Additional Career Planning Resources
Strategic Career Planning for Master’s Students
Learn the four main components of career preparation for Master’s students, identify high-priority activities and develop tools for setting and tracking academic, professional and personal goals.
2-Year Master's Student Career Planning Guide
A printable career preparation timeline for two-year master's students.
Strategic First-Year Planning for Doctoral Students
Learn how to set SMART goals and create an IDP for your first year of graduate school.
Ph.D. Student Guide for Career and Professional Development Milestones
A printable career preparation timeline for doctoral students.