PhD Career Exploration 101

Are you considering a job beyond the professoriate? This five-part series is designed for you. It will help you make confident decisions about your professional future, giving you hands-on experience connecting your values, interests, and strengths to a specific career. We’ll also discuss the valuable experiences you’ve gained as a doctoral or postdoctoral trainee and how they will translate to work after your training. By the end of the series, you will have identified at least two specific career pathways that speak to your interests and potential contacts in those fields and developed a framework to reach your career goals.

You are encouraged to bring your laptop or tablet to each session. This workshop is designed to be participatory and conversational, and attendance at all sessions is strongly encouraged.

Series Details

• Dates: Oct 3rd, 8th, 17th and 24th, Nov 7th, 4:00-6:00 PM
• Duration: 5 sessions (Attendance at all sessions is required)
• Course Capacity: Limited to 20 participants
• Who: STEM PhD students and postdocs. This series is particularly beneficial for those who are a few years into their academic journey.

Schedule

• October 3: Values, Skills, and Interests
• October 8: Self-Assessment
• October 17: Analyzing Job Ads
• October 24: Making Connections
• November 7th: IDP Presentation

Instructors

Amy Hark, PhD,
Director, STEM Graduate Career Development and Postdoctoral Affairs, UChicagoGRAD
Dr. Hark is a dedicated career advisor for STEM PhD students and postdocs. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Neuroscience where she studied sex differences in learning and memory. Prior to joining the UChicagoGRAD team, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher investigating decision-making.

Elahe Ganji, PhD,
Associate Director, myCHOICE at UChicagoGRAD
Dr. Ganji earned her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware. Before joining myCHOICE, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, where she worked at the intersection of mechanical engineering and biomedicine. Her academic background informs the design and implementation of career development programs for trainees across all STEM fields.

Framework

• 5 sessions, once a week, each 2 hours
• Homework for each session
• End with goal-setting, creation of individual development plan (IDP)

Overall Goals

• Identify values, skills, and interests using self-assessment tools
• Understand how your skills translate and connect to careers in industry, government, and non-profit
• Learn how to build and maintain professional connections
• Improve your ability to communicate skills and interests to employers and your network