Career Development Services
Career Development Services
The Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies provides services, resources and support for both graduate student and postdoctoral scholars' career development. The GPS Office takes a multifaceted three-pronged approach to supporting career and professional development. The chief aim is to help trainees acquire pivotal (non-science) skills and experiences required to successfully identify and transition into their careers.
The first phase is to educate and inform our PhD and PhD-in-training scientists to the diverse career options available, which can include careers in academia, industry and government agencies. Informational resources provide knowledge of the breadth of career opportunities and awareness of the every changing job climate in both academic and non-academic career avenues. Available online resources, book catalogs, infoseminars, career development workshops and 1-on-1 counseling are available to Medical School graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. This first phase is best applied to learners in the early phase of their training career.
The second phase is to help identify intrinsic interests, strengths and priorities for career fulfillment. Through 1-on-1 counseling and group workshops, the GPS Office staff works with students, postdocs, faculty and staff members to create scalable opportunities to advance career outcomes. These career exploration activities involve self-assessment/self-awareness (i.e. StrengthsFinder), developing a personalized plan for career development and continual revising of the CV/resume .
The third phase is to support direct engagement opportunities with potential career options. The industry for individuals with a doctorate in biomedical sciences are wide-ranging to include professor in academia, research investigator at an institute, publisher or journal editor, lobbyist/policy maker, or biotech/industry scientist, among many others. GPS Office facilitates internship and other experiential opportunities, works with the trainee in developing a know-how for the job search and interview process, fosters connection with external business partners and previous alumni and provides workshops hosted by hiring professionals and HR teams.
GPS Office Career Development Services and Resources
GPS Office staff members are available to provide:
- 1-on-1 career counseling for career development
- Provide informational seminars (infoseminars) on career opportunities
- Host workshops and 1-on1 support for best practices to resume and CV building.
- Provide guidance in managing expectations, curbing anxieties and engage in job simulation interviews
- Assist with self-exploration and intrinsic determination of career interests
Graduate School-specific Career Services and Resources
Graduate Education Resources for the First Year
Developed by the Graduate School, GEAR 1 (Graduate Education Resources for the First Year) is a collection of online modules that helps students navigate their first year of graduate education. GEAR 1 modules include:
Welcome to the University
Minnesota Life
Funding and Tuition
Being a Graduate Student
Your Health and Wellness
Planning After Year 1
Graduate Education Resources Beyond the First Year
Developed by the Graduate School, GEAR+ (Graduate Education Resources Beyond the First Year) is a collection of online resources, both internal and external to the University, that connect key areas of academic and professional development, including:
Research, writing, and teaching
Transferable skills
Job search
Individual Development Planning (IDP) Learning
The Individual Development Plan (IDP) was designed to help you break down your journey through the graduate program into clear short- and long-term goals as well as steps towards achieving these goals.
Beyond the Professoriate
Beyond the Professoriate is a professional development e-learning platform affiliated with the University of Minnesota. Beyond the Professoriate is a mission-driven organization of PhDs who want to empower graduate students and postdocs to launch meaningful careers.
Survey and feedback helps identify more support is needed for career planning
To assess the extent to which graduate students are being supported in their career exploration/development journey and where the Graduate School and Medical Schools programs could improve their support and services, we have collected and analyzed data from surveys of current Ph.D. and Master’s students (2022) and a survey of Ph.D. alumni (2011-2021). Information gathered helps the Medical School to develop better resources and support for our learners.