Manage Your Career

Engaging in purposeful professional development and career planning are important parts of the doctoral and postdoctoral experience and essential to building a fulfilling career across one's lifetime. From day one, it's valuable for all doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars to self-reflect on values and interests, establish connections with academic and professional mentors, and identify meaningful career pathways, as well as the requisite skills and experiences that pave the way for a fruitful job search. The Graduate School's Career and Professional Development services offer a wealth of invaluable resources to doctoral students and Postdoctoral Scholars in preparation for a wide range of careers.

Our website has comprehensive guidance and resources on how to engage in career development throughout your doctoral/postdoctoral training at UMD.

Doctoral students should intentionally build skills and gain experience at all stages of their training. Those preparing for an academic career should also plan for at least one more career outside of the tenure-track faculty option:

Check out our programming calendar and announcements page. Signature courses and offerings will rotate every semester, so do not worry if you miss an event. There are also online webinars and recorded learning content from Beyond the Professoriate (a virtual learning platform) to accommodate your schedule and enable you to continue learning remotely.
Take 10 minutes to activate your free Handshake account. Upload your current CV and/or resume to Handshake. After logging in, explore and register for upcoming career fairs, panels, and workshops for doctoral students and postdocs. Finally check out the University-Wide Career Resources if you are interested in campus-wide events, such as UMD Fall and Spring Career Fairs.
It's important to remember that career development is the foundation of a successful job search when you are about to graduate. Before conducting submitting any job application, you should first explore career paths in diverse sectors.
As part of your career development process, you are strongly encouraged to develop an Individual Development Plan (IDP) in every semester. The IDP is an evolving document that includes steps you will take each semester to achieve your academic and professional goals. You should also try to engage in networking early on and continuously to learn more about your discipline and future career field.
When you are getting closer to search an internship or graduation to launch your job search, don't forget to revisit all the resources listed on our website and within the university.
Along the way, current doctoral students and Postdoctoral Scholars can schedule 1:1 career advising/coaching sessions to discuss your circumstances and get feedback on your job search strategies, application materials, and interview preparation.

For master's students, the basic steps are similar, but please review the website for your primary career center annually. Attend career related events and workshops regularly during every year of your program.