There are free career planning and job hunting resources available in your college career development office - have you consulted them?
Last week I attended the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC) 2014 National Conference in San Diego. The GCC is a collection of career counselors focusing on graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and they gather together each year to trade best practices, share successes, and develop strategies for dealing with common challenges. The counselors are well positioned to provide guidance for both academic and non-academic careers. Because of my interest in helping students prepare for non-academic careers, I was pleased to see three common themes emerging over the two and a half days:
- developing resources to help non-STEM grad students (in the humanities and social sciences, e.g.) develop and communicate their skills for non-academic jobs,
- encouraging all graduate students to begin thinking about and preparing for non-academic careers early, and
- educating faculty to support and accept students pursuing careers outside the academy.
The counselors have developed some amazing programs: some are locally-based, like Michigan's Career Path planning modules, while others are available online like the myIDP resources accessible at ScienceCareers. The counselors' dedication to the students, desire to help, and sheer intelligence was inspiring.
It got me thinking - how many students - graduate or undergraduate - actually use the career development resources which are freely available at every college and university? In my online survey "Are You Ready to Look for a Job?", I found that 42% of all who took the survey had not consulted their college career counseling office (or other online career resources). This is consistent with anecdotal evidence I've heard from college career counselors. How can this be? Why would you not at least look at what your counseling office has to offer? You need every advantage in today's job market. Not up for an interview with a career counselor yet? Almost all of the colleges have online information to help you investigate career options, peruse example resumes and cover letters and prepare for job interviews. And don't just limit yourself to your alma mater. Some great universities have open career counseling websites free for all (hint, check out Stanford).
Once you have left college, don't forget to check out your alumni association website, too. It's a great source of people for informational interviews and potential LinkedIn contacts, not to mention job boards.
Smart students will use every opportunity to gain a competitive advantage - especially if they don't have to pay for it. Use your college career office!
