Duke Graduate School

"I would advise students to be open to different types of opportunities, and don’t rule anything out. When people talk about their path, they often say things like, “Oh I got lucky and then this happened.” It’s not just that they got lucky. They were open and they tried different things. When an opportunity came up, they took it. You need to keep open and try different things before you rule them out."

Do you ever wish you were better at communicating your strengths to potential employers and mentors?  Lindsay Dahora, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Immunology, shares how the CliftonStrengths assessment helped her articulate her strengths and envision a satisfying career.

"The most important thing I think you can do [to manage up] is to be open and transparent with your manager, especially if you have bad news. A lot of people don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but the more you delay in sharing such information, the bigger the negative impact can be."

The Women Mentoring Women initiative facilitates relationships between researchers beyond the academy and women-identified graduate students and postdocs. The initiative is the brainchild of a 2019 Emerging Leaders Institute team.

With support from the Professional Development Grant, PhD students in the English department hosted a panel of recent graduates who found jobs beyond the tenure track. Read on for five key insights.