Exploring Career Paths

Determining the next step in life after nearly twenty years of education can be quite daunting. While you may have started your graduate program with one career path in mind, you may now be leaning towards another. Whether it is by choice or because of the tightening academic market, many PhDs are exploring different options outside of the "traditional" career paths. It's never too early (or too late!) to learn more about the different options available, and exploring different career paths will help you make a more sound decision in whatever career you decide to do. Check out the following resources to help you do just that. 

Campus resources:

Offline resources:

• NIH Career Symposium - held each year in May
  • 8th Annual NIH Career Symposium Session Synopsis

Online resources:

• My Individual Development Plan (myIDP) from Science Careers and the AAAS
• "Uncertain Futures" by Chris Woolston, Nature (2015)
• "Thinking Outside the Lab: Finding a fulfilling non-research career" - webinar by AAAS (2014)
• "Starting up a career" by Trisha Gura, Science (2015)
• 8th Annual NIH Career Symposium Session Synopsis
• "STEM education: To build a scientist" from Nature (2015)
• "Feeling stuck" by Carrie Arnold, Science (2015)
• "Careers outside of academia richly rewarding for PhD physicists" from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) (2015)
• "Top 10 List of Alternative Careers for PhD Science Graduates" by Dr. Arunodoy Sur, The Cheeky Scientist (2015)
• "Cross-Train Your Graduate School Career" by Amy Rubens, GradHacker (2012)
• "Graduate School is a Means to a Job" by Karen Kelsky, the Chronicle for Higher Education (2012)
• "Guide to Life Science Careers" by Dr. Karen Peterson, Nature (2014)
• MLA Career Resources
• Science Careers
• Versatile PhD

• "Uncertain Futures" by Chris Woolston, Nature (2015)

Activities:

• Join a student group focused on specific careers
  • Center for Science Advocacy: the purpose of this group is to engage in community outreach and education to emphasize the importance of science research, to advocate for progressive science policy, and to explore career opportunities in science policy and advocacy. Please contact Stephanie Bora if you are interested in finding out more about the group or joining it.
  • Strategy Club: this club is organized by a group of students interested in applying their scientific training to business, with a particular focus on consulting. Students in the group can get practical hands-on experience consulting for businesses.
  • CMIID: in addition to facilitating collaboration of graduate students and post docs between different labs and fields, this group also has a focus on career development through writing and oral communication workshops and inviting PhD and non-PhD speakers from a variety of fields. Please contact Lindsay Snyderif you are interested in finding out more about the group or joining it.
• Do your own research on different career options
• Set up informational interviews with people in jobs or fields that interest you
• Do an internship in a field that interests you (see Internships)
• Read job postings for careers you are interested in to see the requirements

The BRIDGE resources:

• Beverly Purnell Visit Recap: "Scientific Publishing from the Inside Out" (2015)
• Catching up with Rong Wang, Genetics 2014 Graduate (2015)

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