Know Yourself & Explore Options

• Explore your interests, values, and skills
• Identify the skills you need to get the job you want
• Make an appointment with a career consultant to do a self-assessment of your strengths, interests, and personality
• Explore career options through informational interviews and shadowing employers and alumni

Take Action

• Develop a career plan using myIDP (Science), or ImaginePhD (Humanities and Social Sciences)
• PhD students and Postdocs explore career options and learn job search strategies with Beyond the Professoriate
• Meet and network with graduate students and faculty in your department
• Attend networking events with employers and Binghamton University alumni. Do informational interviews with alumni on Mentor Match
• Attend career planning workshops and Skills Labs hosted by the Fleishman Center, Graduate School, and the Graduate Student Organization
• Update your resume/CV and LinkedIn profile on a regular basis

Get Focused

• Take on a leadership role relevant to your interests (i.e. mentorship, graduate student organizations, etc.)
• Expand your skills and experiences though departmental committees or volunteer opportunities
• Create an elevator pitch about your research and experience to use at conferences and at networking events

Take Action

• Choose volunteer work, a research position, or teaching assistant opportunities to gain experience relevant to your career goals
• Find job and internship opportunities through hireBING by Handshake
• Attend conferences or professional development events in your field
• Build your professional brand and expand your network by creating a LinkedIn profile and connecting with alumni on Mentor Match
• Get feedback on your CV, resume, and cover letter at the Fleishman Center during walk-in hours or by scheduling an appointment through hireBING 

Connect

• Take advantage of career development resources offered through professional organizations (i.e. training, services) and scholarly and professional conferences (i.e. workshops, networking events)
• Familiarize yourself with resources such as ImaginePhD, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and insidehighered.com which provide career advice to students pursuing a diverse range of careers outside of academia

Take Action

• Attend the Job & Internship Fairs and employer information sessions to connect with recruiters
• Inform network contacts that you’re actively looking for a job and secure references
• Make use of websites, job boards, and hireBING to apply for positions
• Tailor your resume/CV and cover letter to jobs that interest you. Make an appointment with us through hireBING by Handshake
• Learn about the best strategies when preparing your application materials for both faculty and non faculty jobs on Beyond the Professoriate
• Attend workshops offered by the Fleishman Center and the Graduate School that offer insight into both the faculty job search as well as diverse career options

If you conducted a job search at the conclusion of your undergraduate degree, you will see many similarities in the process at the master’s level. Employers still want to see many of the same things they did from bachelor’s-level candidates: strong academics, relevant skills and experiences, and targeted documents that convey your fit with the position and strong interest in their organization. The differences may lie in how much experience and depth of knowledge is expected from a master’s candidate.

Personalize Your Career Experience Using Our Career Clusters, these are groups of similar career paths developed to help you easily explore a variety of career options and organize your search. 

STEP 1: Start by developing your resume and tailoring it to specific industry roles you are seeking. You can use the downloadable and editable Universal Graduate Student Resume Template to format and organize your resume.

STEP 2: Cover Letters are also required for most of the industry roles you apply to. Check out this video on crafting the perfect cover letter. Also, check our Career Guide on formatting and writing cover letters with samples.

STEP 3: Networking and creating a LinkedIn profile are also important aspects of your job search. You should start this process in the first year of your graduate program as developing a professional network takes time. Check out the Networking section of our Career Guide (pg. 23-31) for tips on networking, crafting your elevator pitch, communicating with employers, and setting up your LinkedIn profile.

International Students can check out Interstride’s Guide “Successful Networking Strategies for International Students” that goes over how networking is practiced in the United States context and gives you suggestions on how to build your network and communicate with professionals.

STEP 4: Interviewing is another major step in the job search process. Prepare for interviews ahead of time and practice your interviewing skills on Big Interview. Big Interview is an online interview practice platform that allows you to respond to interview questions through video. You can continue to refine your answers to questions for a variety of interview types.

It’s no secret that faculty-track positions are highly competitive. You will need to put together a comprehensive search campaign, including a) deciding on where, and to which types of positions to apply to, b) building your network, securing letters of recommendation, c) writing a strong CV, and d) developing an excellent one-hour job talk.

Start cultivating your network as early as possible by actively making faculty contacts at Binghamton and other institutions. Attend professional association meetings and professional conferences, and if possible, present at or chair a session. This will build both your CV and your network. Teaching and research will be critical components of your application, so actively seek out teaching and publishing opportunities.

To support doctoral students and postdocs in their career development the Fleishman Center and the Graduate School have purchased Beyond the Professoriate an online professional development tool where postdocs and doctoral students can explore career options and learn job search strategies. Through two programs of study (Academic Careers and Professional Careers), students are empowered to make informed decisions about their career path and learn successful job search strategies from other PhDs.

Check Out: Faculty Careers Program of Study: Apply Stage 

A companion workbook to Beyond the Professoriate Platform’s Step 3-Implement Stage for Faculty Jobs, this workbook will help you prepare, draft, and review your application documents for faculty jobs so you can put your best application forward. In the Guide you will find lessons on: Academic CV, Academic Cover Letter, The Teaching Statement , The Teaching Portfolio, The Research Statement, and The Diversity Statement.

Check Out: Guide to PhD Level Job Search: Academic Roles

This is an additional resource that can guide you in preparing your job search materials for Academic Roles. You can find sample copies of Academic CVs, Cover Letters, Teaching Statements, Research Statements, and Diversity Statements in this guide.

Interviewing is another major step in the job search process. Prepare for interviews ahead of time and practice your interviewing skills on Big Interview. Big Interview is an online interview practice platform that allows you to respond to interview questions through video. You can continue to refine your answers to questions for a variety of interview types and prepare you for your job talk. You can find the typical interview questions asked for faculty roles here.

Beyond the Professoriate also has a video lesson on First Round Interviews for faculty roles. This lesson on First-Round Interviews will help you navigate an interview in any format, communicating effectively to a search committee by drawing upon your application documents. Note: the academic job market is a long and winding road. After the application phase, which is all about you preparing and submitting documents, your next step is a First-Round Interview. If you advance past interviews, you’ll likely be invited for a Campus Visit which involves meetings, presentations, and interviews. 

Check Out:  Interviewing for a Faculty Job workbook that will prepare you for the academic interview process.

There are several things to think about when considering and embarking upon a non-academic search.

First, it is important to take time to reflect on your interests, values and skills. Consider how the skills you developed in your doctoral program might translate into non-faculty roles. You can start your career exploration by completing Step 1: Discovery and Step 2: Research on the self-paced asynchronous training platform Beyond the Professoriate. Also, explore your career options and make a plan by visiting myIDP (Science), or ImaginePhD (Humanities and Social Sciences); both include an individual development plan and a career exploration tool specifically for PhDs and post-docs.

Second, PhDs work in nearly every industry, so it can help to speak with professionals who work outside of academia to learn about their experiences, get advice, and begin building a professional network. The Fleishman Center recommends using Mentor Match and LinkedIn for identifying potential contacts. Check out Beyond the Professoriate’s Interview Library. You can filter videos by “academic disciplines” and “values and interests” to identify PhDs who find meaningful work in and outside of academia and learn more about their career transition journeys. 

It is also important to spend time learning how the non-academic job search is structured, and the differences in expectations, timelines and application documents. The Fleishman Center can help you understand and navigate these differences, through one-on-one appointments, programs and resources. Check out Step 3: Implementation for Non-Academic Jobs on Beyond the Professoriate for resources that can help you in your job search: LinkedIn, Networking, Interviewing, Negotiation, and Finding and Applying for Jobs.

Check out the Finding and Applying to Industry Jobs Workbook for helpful tips to get you prepared for industry jobs.

Interviewing is another major step in the job search process. Prepare for interviews ahead of time and practice your interviewing skills on Big Interview. Big Interview is an online interview practice platform that allows you to respond to interview questions through video. You can continue to refine your answers to questions for a variety of interview types and industries.

 The Fleishman Center has compiled a variety of information and resources to help international students navigate the United States job search process. Learn more about the United States employment process, common cultural barriers faced by international students, immigration and legal processes, and more by visiting the International Student Affinity page.

We also recommend that you check out Interstride. This is the international student career platform that helps with career exploration and job searching within and outside of the United States. Find visa and country insights, job listings and more. Students can search for employers that have sponsored international students on H1-B visas in the past and those who are currently open to sponsoring.

Watch Beyond the Professoriate’s video on F-1 Visas and OPT for international students looking for jobs in the United States.