Career & Tools

Interested in a career beyond the academy, and want to learn more about the essentials of crafting it? Join these professional development webinars from Beyond the Professoriate for a jump start. They are free to join and also available to watch on replays. Advance registration is required.

By Vash Doshi, Graduate Career Peer
Monday, March 8th, 2021 - 9:30am


Beyond the Professoriate is hosting a series of free events to support graduate students and postdocs' professional and career development. These events are free and open to anyone. Webinars will be held live, and replays will be available afterwards. Webinars are free to attend or watch afterwards.

Below is a list of events, along with the link to the registration.

Non-academic Career options for STEM PhDs - March 12, 2021 | 9am PT
Register here.

What can grad students in STEM disciplines do with their PhD? Join Beyond the Professoriate as they host three PhDs for a conversation about career opportunities outside of academia.

After attending this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Articulate the routines and challenges of a STEM PhD working in industry
  • Identify common careers for STEM PhDs outside of academia.
  • Apply networking strategies to assist in your industry job search.

Non-academic career options for Humanities & Social Sciences - March 26, 2021 | 9am PT
Register here.

What can grad students in the Humanities and Social Sciences do with their PhD? Join L. Maren Wood, PhD (Founder of Beyond the Professoriate) as she talks to three Humanities and Social Science PhDs about their career paths.

After attending this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Identify growing sectors for PhDs coming out of the Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Coordinate successful networking with other professionals
  • Recognize common challenges for Humanities and Social Science PhDs transitioning to non-academic careers.

Why leaving academia can be harder than it seems - April 9, 2021 | 9am PT
Register here.

PhDs can work wherever smart people are needed. But leveraging your education to build a new career comes with a range of challenges. Some of these are obvious: you need a resume instead of a C.V. You have to learn the language of non-academic employers. You'll have to build a new community of practitioners who can help you build your new career.

But many of the challenges that keep PhDs from successfully launching non-faculty careers have nothing to do with strategy. In this webinar, L. Maren Wood, PhD will share with you what really holds PhDs back from making the leap from academia to a professional career, and how you can become comfortable taking a risk to build a meaningful non-faculty career.

After attending this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Recognize the three most common fears PhDs have when they leave academia
  • Identify strategies for overcoming these fears so you can build a new career
  • Apply these strategies to manage self-doubt and impostor syndrome.

How I decided to leave academia - April 23, 2021 | 9am PT
Register here.

Are you considering a non-faculty career? Join Beyond the Professoriate Founder L. Maren Wood, PhD as she speaks with 3 PhDs about their decision to leave academia and how they built thriving careers in the professional workforce.

After attending this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Articulate common reasons PhDs have for leaving academia
  • Recognize your own push/pull factors for pursuing a non-academic career
  • Apply strategies to begin exploring career options that align with your unique skills and interests.