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Services for Graduate Students

Planning for an Academic Career

Planning for the academic job search should begin early in a graduate student's career. Most graduate advisers recommend allowing eighteen months to two years to conduct a successful job search. The following factors need to be considered.

1. Clarify your values and priorities: Do you want to pursue an academic career or one in private industry? Is teaching of primary importance to you, or do you wish to concentrate in research. Do you prefer a small liberal arts college or a large research university? Is location of concern? Do you need further training in a postdoctoral position, or are you prepared for an assistant professor position?
   
   
2. Become an expert in your field: Who are the major researchers in your field? Keep abreast of current literature. Join professional associations in your field and attend as many events and meetings as possible. Attend departmental colloquia series.
   
   
3. Enroll in departmental course offerings on professional development and grant writing. If these courses are not offered by your department, request such courses be considered in the future.
   
   
4. Network: Networking cannot be overly emphasized. When you attend conferences, talk about your research interests with fellow colleagues. Make an effort to meet people you do not know. Follow-up on research topics via email. Meet professionals in the field during departmental colloquia. Accept invitations to do collaborative research. Conduct information interviews with alumni from the Career Center's Career Advice Network (CAN).
   
   
5. Publish and present: Set goals for completion of research and writing to submit to professional journals. Present your research at local and national conferences.
   
   
6. Gain teaching experience: Develop your teaching skills during teaching assistantships. Volunteer to be a guest lecturer for other courses. Consider teaching a class or course outside the graduate institution you attend.
   
   
7. Develop your curriculum vitae or resume. Establish who will write your reference letters. Open an Academic Letter File with the Career Center.
   
   
8. Participate in departmental activities: Develop your administrative skills by participating on departmental committees or taking a leadership role in graduate affairs.
   

RESOURCES

Your faculty adviser is your primary resource for professional development. Thesis and dissertation committee members can provide information and assistance. The following resources also may help:

UCSC Career Center Workshops

Resume and Cover Letter Workshop (geared towards non-academic positions)
The Job Search Process (geared towards non-academic positions)
Job Interviewing Techniques

Academic Letter Services

Graduate students may establish an academic letter file, a service which distributes your letters of recommendation, at the Career Center. Contact (831) 459-2368 for information.

Career Advice Network

The Career Advice Network (CAN) lists hundreds of UC Santa Cruz alumni and other professionals who are interested in helping UCSC students and alumni by sharing information on their careers. You may wish to ask how they found a postdoc or academic position, the pros and cons of teaching versus research institutions, and hints on entering the academic or non-academic job market.


General Information - UCSC Library Resources

Boufis, Christina and Olsen, Victoria. On the Market: Surviving the Academic Job Search. Riverbread Books, 1997 (Career Center Library).

Basalla, Susan and Maggie Debelius "So What Are You Going to do With That?": A Guide to Career-Changing for M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001 (Career Center Library)

Heiberger, Mary and Julia Vick. The Academic Job Search Handbook. Philadelphia: U. of Pennsylvania Press, 1995 (Career Center Library).

Feibelman, Peter J. A Ph.D. is Not Enough: A Guide to Survival in Science. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1993 (Career Center Library).

Lanks, Karl W. Academic Environment: A Handbook for Evaluating Employment Opportunities in Science. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1996 (Science Library stacks).

Showalter, English. A Career Guide for PhDs and PhD Candidates in English and Foreign Languages., New York: MLA, 1985 (McHenry stacks).

Showalter, English. The MLA Guide to the Job Search: A Handbook for Departments, PhDs and PhD Candidates in English and Foreign Languages, 1985 (McHenry reference desk).

Zanna, Mark and John Darley. The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for Beginning Social Scientist. New York: Random, 1987 (McHenry stacks).

Smith, Robert V. Graduate Research: A Guide for Students in the Sciences. New York: Plenum Press, 1990 (Science Library stacks).

Tobias, S., D.E. Chubin and K. Aylesworth. Rethinking Science as a Career. Research Corporation, 1995 (Science Library stacks).

Robbins-Roth, Cynthia. Alternative Careers in Science: Leaving the Ivory Tower. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998 (Career Center Library).

Toth, Emily. Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997 (Career Center Library)

Reis, Richard. Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering. New York, NY: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 1997 (Career Center Library).

Lazarus, Barbara B. The Woman's Guide to Navigating the Ph.D. in Engineering and Science. New York, NY: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2001 (Career Center Library).

Newhouse, Margaret. Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics Considering Alternative Career, 1993 (Career Center Library).

Newhouse, Margaret. Cracking the Academic Nut: Preparing for Your Academic Career, 1996 (Career Center Library).

Fiske, Peter. To Boldly Go: A Practical Guide for Scientists. American Geophysical Union, 1996 (Career Center Library).

General Information - Web Sites
•How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors
http://info.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-3/advice2.html

•Ph.D. Interview Preparation Guide
http://advertising.utexas.edu/JR/InterviewPrep.html

• Applying for an Academic Position
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gradstdy/careers/services/search/acad/index.html

• Graduate School Survival Guide
http://smi-web.stanford.edu/people/pratt/smi/advice.html

• Graduate Student Resources On the Web
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~danhorn/graduate.html

• Various articles and resources
http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/Phds.stm


Curriculum Vita Preparation
The Curriculum Vitae Handbook and How to Prepare Your Curriculum Vitae are located in the Career Center Resource Library

CV Preparation Web sites:
• http://www.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradstud/sasresguide.html
• http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/.
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gradstdy/careers/services/vita.html

Jobs in Higher Education - Online Publications
• Academic360.com - http://www.academic360.com/

• Academe This Week/Chronicle of Higher Education - http://chronicle.com/jobs/

• Academic Employment Network - http://www.academploy.com/

• Academic Position Network - http://www.apnjobs.com/index.html

• American Association of Community Colleges - http://www.aacc.nche.edu

• California Community Colleges - Infonet - http://www.cccco.edu/jobs/jobs.htm

• California State University Employment Board - http://www.calstate.edu/faculty_staff/employment.shtml

• Higher Ed Jobs - http://www.HigherEdJobs.com/

• H-Net-Jobs in the Humanities and Social Sciences - http://www.matrix.msu.edu/jobs/

• NATURE - International weekly journal of science - http://www.nature.com/naturejobs

• Postdocme.net team - http://www.postdocme.net

• The New Scientist: Planet Science - http://www.newscientist.com/sciencejobs/sciencejobs.html

• SCIENCE Classified Ads - http://recruit.sciencemag.org

• Women in Higher Ed - http://www.wihe.com/jobs/index.htm

Non-Academic Jobs - Online Publications

• America's Job Bank - http://www.ajb.org/seeker

• Bay Area Jobs - http://www.bayareacareers.com

• CalJobs - http://www.caljobs.ca.gov

• Career Net - http://www.careers.org

• Job Web - http://www.jobweb.org

• JobStar - http://jobsmart.org/

• Monster Board - http://www.monster.com

• NationJob.com - http://www.nationjob.com/

• Santa Cruz Jobs - http://santacruzjobs.com