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Professional Development Series

Events in the Professional Development Series can help students evaluate and prepare for the range of career options open to master's- and PhD-prepared professionals. This series is designed to broaden graduate students’ career perspectives and develop competencies in communication, self-awareness, professional adaptability, leadership, and professionalism.

Programming is offered on a two-year cycle and change each semester; over the course of two years, the series includes opportunities to learn about career paths in each of the five major career sectors available to alumni of The Graduate School: academia, business, entrepreneurship, government, and nonprofit.

Fall 2021 Events

During Fall 2021, The Graduate School will partner with the Office of Postdoctoral Services to offer programming in several series. Visit the websites for these series for a full list of events in each of these themes.

The Mentoring and Communication Series
The Academic Job Search Series
Careers Beyond Academia Series
Alum & HR Zooms Series

Core Competencies

  • Friday, August 27, 2021
    12:00 pm to 12:45 pm

    What Can I Do with a Graduate Degree? Identifying My Transferable Skills

    This workshop will help you identify the transferable skills you’ve already developed in graduate school or your postdoc experience, brainstorm opportunities to continue growing your skills, and connect with tools to help you plan for further development.

  • Wednesday, September 1, 2021
    12:00 pm to 12:45 pm

    Research Tools for Exploring Your Career Options

    Turn your research acumen to the task of exploring your career options. This workshop will introduce key tools that help you identify potential career alignment opportunities and learn about them in depth.

  • Thursday, September 9, 2021
    3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

    RCR Forum: Cultivating a Culture of Mentoring: A Workshop for Graduate Students (GS716.02)

    How can you establish supportive mentoring relationships? What is the role of good mentoring in your success as a graduate student? Join in the conversation in this interactive workshop. The goal of the session is to empower members of the graduate student community to become partners in the mentoring process, making it a deeply rooted part of the Duke experience.

  • Tuesday, September 21, 2021
    3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

    Leveraging Your Strengths: A CliftonStrengths Workshop

    Using the CliftonStrengths assessment, this workshop will help you explore a new way to talk about your skills. We will investigate strategies for communicating your strengths to others, the challenges that your strengths might pose for you, and ways you can use information about your strengths to thrive in a team setting. Registration opens Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 10:00 am.

  • Wednesday, September 22, 2021
    1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

    Leveraging Your Strengths: A CliftonStrengths Workshop

    Using the CliftonStrengths assessment, this workshop will help you explore a new way to talk about your skills. We will investigate strategies for communicating your strengths to others, the challenges that your strengths might pose for you, and ways you can use information about your strengths to thrive in a team setting. Registration opens Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 10:00 am.

  • Thursday, September 30, 2021
    10:00 am to 11:30 am

    Managing Your Research Career Using an Individual Development Plan (IDP) (GS717.01)

    Your experiences and the training you receive as graduate students can shape the rest of your career, and there are strategies and resources that can increase your chances of getting what you came for. During this program, participants will learn how to develop clear and specific goals and objectives, along with a plan for executing them.

  • Thursday, October 7, 2021
    12:00 pm to 1:15 pm

    Preparing Ph.D. Applications: A Workshop for Master’s Students

    If you’re considering applying to Ph.D. programs, join us for a workshop that will provide insight into the decision-making processes of doctoral admissions committees. Learn how to tailor your application to the institution and compete successfully in this workshop.

The Academic Job Search Series

  • Tuesday, September 28, 2021
    3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

    The Teaching Statement: A Workshop

    A teaching portfolio is more than a collection of documents: it is set of claims about your teaching and evidence to support them. In this workshop, you will examine how claims and evidence can be framed in way that allows you demonstrate your skill (or potential) as a university instructor in a teaching statement supported by materials created by you.

Careers Beyond Academia

  • Wednesday, September 15, 2021
    11:00 am to 12:00 pm

    Scientific Communications with PRI Healthcare Solutions

    Interested in pursuing a career beyond the bench? Join this informational recruitment session to learn more about PRI Healthcare Solutions, which encompasses a dynamic group of scientists, clinicians, and pharmacists who work in a collaborative fashion to create and deliver engaging, innovative content for our pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

  • Thursday, September 16, 2021
    12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

    What is Management Consulting? An Introduction with the Members of APD Consulting Club

    Are you curious about how you can apply your research skills in a consulting career? Join us for this workshop offered in collaboration with the APD Consulting Club (Advanced Professional Degree Consulting Club) to learn about careers in management consulting. In addition to hearing an overview of the sector, participants will have the chance to meet in breakout rooms with PhD students and recent graduate alumni from humanities, social sciences, and STEM disciplines who have succeeded in the hiring process with Big Three firms.

Past Events

Contact

Melissa Bostrom, PhD
Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Professional Development
Duke University Graduate School
melissa.bostrom@duke.edu