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Graduate Students and Postdocs

Your Career and Professional Development 

Your ASC advanced degree will help you develop skills valued by a wide array of employers, such as academic institutions as well as government, industry, and non-profit organizations. The ASC Center for Career and Professional Success aims to provide resources and opportunities designed to empower you to explore career paths beyond the tenure track, develop durable skills and robust networks, and prepare you for an exciting and rewarding professional journey.

 

Getting Started 

Each of you is in a unique position when it comes to your career and professional development.  The combination of your individual academic, personal and professional experiences and goals means that your starting point and your journey will be unique.  The stages of Explore, Develop, and Prepare & Pursue are not intended to be prescriptive, rather they offer general guideposts based on career development best practices.  We encourage you to evaluate your own situation and determine how best to utilize the following tools available on this site.  For those who are uncertain, we recommend starting with Explore

  • Explore - You will identify your values, skills and interests before exploring the many career paths available to you
  • Develop – As you narrow in on a career path of interest, gain relevant experience, build valuable skills and grow your professional network
  • Prepare + Pursue – You will learn how to craft strong professional materials tailored to each position, interview effectively and negotiate job offers

Use the above dropdown or side menu bar to navigate through each stage and the associated resources and tools we’ve curated for your career development. 

 

Popular Resources

Events - Keep tabs on upcoming events through ASC Career Success or with partnering employers or alumni– whether career fairs, on-campus recruiting and interviewing or career education workshops and trainings.  Other recommended event sources: 

  • Check Handshake for events offered by employers as well as other career centers and offices across campus.
  • The Erdős Institute is a career development program offering industry placement services to cohort members. Ohio State is a member organization, making all services free to current OSU students and PhD alumni.
  • The Graduate School offers a range of opportunities to support the graduate and professional students in building career-ready skills and strategies.
  • Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship delivers programming throughout the year geared specifically toward graduate and professional students, including a Job Search Series as well as professional development workshops.
  • Ohio Union Activities Board (OUAB) fosters a culture of entrepreneurship across the Ohio State community, supporting the development of new ventures and enterprising skill sets.

 

On-demand Career Training – Career Success is pleased to announce that ASC graduate students and postdocs now have access to online career training platforms to help them explore career options and learn how to confidently apply for jobs. Users will find on-demand lessons, workbooks, and live webinars that are specifically designed to meet the unique professional development needs of master’s students, doctoral students and postdocs.

 

Career Coaching - Talk with a professional career coach to help orient your career exploration.

  • Buckeye Careers provides a range of services that support career exploration and preparation of graduate students, including, but not limited to, 1-1 career coaching and regular workshops.
  • New! ASC Career Success will offer coaching appointments to graduate students and postdocs exploring or seeking non-academic careers. Log into Handshake and select Career Center, then select Appointments.