Preparing for Your Career
Case Western Reserve University Center for Career Success provides assistance to graduate students at any stage of the career search process. While services such as mock interviews and career counseling are of extreme value, our counselors can also suggest unique ways to highlight your research, publications, projects or teaching experiences on your curriculum vitae.
The Center for Career Success recognizes that a student in the process of pursuing his or her advanced degree may have additional concerns such as school/work/life balance or job search strategy for the entry level candidate with a higher or more specialized degree. In addition, we offer on-campus interviewing, employer information sessions and workshops geared to graduate student interests.
Resources for Succeeding in Graduate School
There are many resources online with tips and guides that can help you succeed in graduate and professional schools. Below are a few that may come into handy.
- Book: Getting What You Came For: A Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. It is the classic guide to choosing and applying to graduate programs, and to making the most of your graduate experience.
- Book: Is Graduate School Really for You?: The Whos, Whats, Hows, and Whys of Pursuing a Master's or Ph.D. Accessible via the Kelvin Smith Library. This book guides readers through the ins and outs of graduate school, including qualifications and admission guidelines, financial aid and graduate stipends, meeting expectations and residency requirements, coursework, theses, and dissertations, degrees, jobs, and academic careers, tenure, research, and peer review, and social life.
- Book: A Field Guide to Grad School. Free copies available from the School of Graduate Studies Professional Development Center. In this comprehensive survival guide for grad school, Jessica McCrory Calarco walks you through the secret knowledge and skills that are essential for navigating every critical stage of the postgraduate experience, from deciding whether to go to grad school in the first place to finishing your degree and landing a job.
- Book: Thriving in Graduate School. Thriving in Graduate School: The Expert's Guide To Success and Wellness promotes psychologically healthy approaches to navigating the graduate school experience. Through its social-emotional-reflective approach, students can learn skills that help them perform well and feel well.
- Book: The Unwritten Rules of Professional Etiquette. Free copies available from the School of Graduate Studies Professional Development Center. Covering topics such as email etiquette, excelling in interviews, responding to constructive feedback, and dealing with difficult faculty, this compendium is an essential resource for navigating the complex world of academic relationships.
- Book: The Only Academic Phrasebook You’ll Ever Need. This book is a short, reader-friendly bank of academic "sentence templates" written for both graduate and undergraduate students who need help with their essays, dissertations, and theses. Students preparing for the TOEFL and IELTS exams will find this book useful, too.
Here are some resources that may assist you with career preparation and success:
- Book: The Next Gen PhD: Free copies available from the School of Graduate Studies Professional Development Center. A practical and thorough manual for the entire career process for students pursuing paths in STEM, from defining personal interests and deciding on a career path all the way to day one of a new job.
- Thriving as an International Scientist. Free copies available from the School of Graduate Studies Professional Development Center. In this book, Sonali Majumdar, an immigrant scientist and a professional development advisor for international doctoral students in engineering and the natural sciences, shares her expertise of how international scientists can be empowered to flourish in any career.
- Book & Website: The Professor Is In The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs, and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their PhD into their ideal job—now refreshed with new material to equip readers for today’s job market. There is an accompanying website with resources for success in and beyond graduate school.
- Website: Beyond Graduate School. All CWRU Graduate Students receive free access to this e-learning platform. Beyond Graduate School helps master’s students leverage their education and training; discover their values and articulate their skills; learn job search strategies through structured curriculum; and secure employment in their field of interest.
- Website: Beyond the Professoriate. All CWRU Graduate Students receive free access to this e-learning platform. This career training platform for doctoral students and PhDs prepares them for careers as faculty or beyond the professoriate. Learners have access to on-demand courses and live workshops to explore career options, make informed career decisions, and learn proven job search strategies to secure employment in their chosen career field.