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groups:wipa:home:survival_guide [2014/02/06 17:09] – [Work / Life balance] baogroups:wipa:home:survival_guide [2014/02/06 17:10] (current) – [Looking beyond grad school] bao
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 =====Looking beyond grad school ===== =====Looking beyond grad school =====
 +  * Within the first year or two, know what you want to do with your Ph.D. Otherwise get your masters degree. A Ph.D. may price you out of certain job markets.
 +  * Choose several people to serve as your references and keep in touch with them regularly. You’ll want to have 2-3 research references, 2 teaching references and 1 general character reference.
 +  * Network and develop contacts beyond the department.
 +    * Conferences are a good way to do this. Ask your advisor to introduce you to people he/she knows in or near your field. Go out to dinner with other research groups.
 +    * Another good way to network is to go to seminars offered to other departments at the U of M that interest you. If graduate students give the seminars volunteer to give a talk about your work.
 +    * Other graduate students (from the U of M or other schools) can be great resources for finding out about post-doctoral advisors.
 +  * Whatever career you decide to pursue, you are on your own for finding positions when you are done. Advisors are of typically of little use in finding a position after graduate school, even post-doctoral positions.
 +  * Seek out opportunities that will “pad” your CV or resume for your chosen career path (e.g. teaching a course at a nearby college if you want to teach when you are finished). Do these even if your advisor isn’t supportive.
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groups/wipa/home/survival_guide.1391728177.txt.gz · Last modified: 2014/02/06 17:09 by bao