Making Grad School Legible with PhD Unlimited
The DHI recently hosted a workshop titled “Crafting Your Graduate School Story for Employers” led by Bethany Hopkins from the Internship and Career Center. The presentation, part of the PhD Unlimited series, offered an insightful perspective into how to make graduate school legible to non-academic employers.
Hopkins divided the process into four stages: “Reframing Your Story,” “Translating Your Story,” “Prototyping Your Story,” and “Putting It All Together.” The first stage, “Reframing Your Story,” could and should be done at any point—no need to wait until one is ready to go on the job market. Reframing your story involves taking stock of successful experiences, whether they’re academic or not. Hopkins encouraged people to think of truly rewarding experiences rather than what would count as a success on a CV.
Whether reaching a critical point with a student, or running a really efficient meeting, Hopkins argued that it was more important that graduate students pay attention to the circumstances in which they do their best work. She posed the question, “What about that situation was helpful in producing a successful result and how can that be a hint as to what non-academic jobs might be fulfilling?" After taking note of the kind of work that a student likes to do, they should reflect on what skills they used to be successful. For example, was the situation about managing a project with a tight deadline? Or about mediating between two disgruntled parties? Hopkins noted that these skills are all things that employers are looking for and recognize as valuable skills.
After thinking about how to reframe the graduate school experience, the next steps in the process are about taking those ideas and forming them into compelling material for cover letters. Hopkins’ presentation included examples of all four stages as well as helpful writing prompts to get students started on rethinking their experiences through this perspective. The presentation also emphasized the many resources available at the Internship and Career Center. Not only will they help craft graduate school stories, but they also offer resume feedback, interview preparation, and one-on-one advising.
If you missed this really informative workshop, don’t worry—you can view it on the DHI’s Youtube channel. PhD Unlimited is a career development series that launched in 2014. This mentorship program helps graduate students explore their many options and provides them with resources for how to transition to post-graduate life. This monthly series on graduate careers takes a broad approach to professional development tailored to the needs of MA and PhD students in the humanities, arts, and humanistic social sciences.
The next event will be “Grant Writing 101”, on December 14 at noon. The event will begin with a “watch party” of a recording of last year’s introductory workshop with Aury Washburn, the Training Grants Analyst & Coordinator in Graduate Studies and the UC Davis Office of Research, on the basics of identifying, writing, and submitting grants, followed by a live Q & A to answer questions you have about grant writing with Meg Sparling, Research Funding Specialist in the Office of Research. For more information on the event, click here.