It never ceases to amaze me that people wait until they don’t have a job to start their search. If the golden rule of sales is “Always Be Closing” then the corresponding rule for careers is always be searching. You don’t have to be in the market for a job to be open to possibilities. […]
Get support. This can be a tough journey – a real transition – and it won’t be easy. You’ll want to get as much support as you can. You may need to branch out beyond your usual contacts: your friends and family may have different ideas than you do about where you’re headed; sometimes you […]
As someone who teaches Global History and International Human Rights, I am always encouraging my students to take advantage of study abroad opportunities as part of their university education. Oftentimes, I get asked about the specific benefits of studying aboard, especially for graduate students. This is my elevator pitch for the skeptical grad student. Expanding […]
One thing that I hear consistently from graduate students after they make the transition to employment is how difficult the transition was. This goes for the small plurality who land tenure track employment just as much as it does for the majority who transition to something else. Granted, I work in a Career Centre and […]
With the grant deadline just hours away, I could feel the stress taking over. My shoulders and neck were tense, my mind was racing, and my heart felt like it would beat itself right out of my body. When I checked my heart rate it was an astounding 180! I hadn’t run a marathon. I’d […]
Understand your career options to enhance your experience as a graduate student. As a new PhD student in Business Administration back in 2005, when I talked about the possibility of a non-academic career, I was advised to rethink my academic choices as the doctoral programs was just for those who were serious about research. As […]
It’s that time of year again: Scholarship season! All across Canada (and beyond) students are putting together their scholarship applications, faculty are writing letters of reference, and scholarship officers are preparing their review committees. To help make the process a little easier, here are a few tips to preparing the best possible application: Know your […]
Welcome grad students and postdocs! As a postdoc, one of the topics at the forefront of my mind right now is how on Earth I am going to find a job. And not just any job, but one that leads to a secure, enjoyable, and rewarding career. Am I asking too much? Maybe, but I […]
Since we launched MyGradSkills.ca just a few days ago, we’ve already had over 4,400 people visit the site, with more than 26,000 page views. Speakers of at least 14 different languages have visited the site from more than 65 countries on every continent in the world (except Antarctica - if anyone has friends there, please send them the […]
The days when a PhD was the fast-track to a tenure-track professorship at a research university are long gone. In fact, graduates of doctoral programs have been taking jobs outside of academia for quite some time, but it used to be a sort of “dirty little secret.” Then came the infamous So You Want to […]
