Preparing for Life after Graduate School
A "Preparing For Life After Graduate School" workshop was brought to UC Davis Oct. 22-24 as a result of a joint collaboration between the UC Davis Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Math and Physical Sciences, Graduate Student Association, Graduate Studies: GradPathways, and American Chemical Society (ACS). The workshop was held in Conference Room D at the Student Community Center each day, with approximately 50 graduate and postdoctoral attendees.
Senior graduate students from the Chemistry department Aimee Bryan and Lisa Anderson, from the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science department Joey Kistler and Ingrid Leth, and Department of Chemistry Graduate Program Staff Coordinator Minh Hoang collaborated to bring the workshop to campus. "My colleagues and I were nervous about entering the employment world. So I contacted ACS and asked [to] bring the workshop here," recalls Aimee.
The American Chemical Society is a global nonprofit organization that represents and supports professionals in chemistry and related fields. It focuses on publishing and outreach in the community. "Each geographic section gets a budget from ACS at large, and they actually paid for the bulk of [the workshop]," explains Aimee.
The workshop was led by ACS Fellows James Burke, Ph.D., and Janan M. Hayes, Ph.D., and guest speaker George V. Alexeeff, Ph.D., DABT. Aimee and her colleagues also called on UC Davis faculty and alumni and other panel speakers of their choosing for a more personal component for their UC Davis audience.
Over the span of two days, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars learned about further research and career options, strategies for navigating the job market, and other important topics such as project selection, intellectual property, and patents. The panels featured professionals in both industry and academia of chemistry. The workshop also included a third day of CV/resume review and mock interviews made by appointment.
"We had a great turnout," says Aimee. "I've already had people ask me if we can offer this again in the future."
Ideally, the workshop could be brought in "every other year or every three years, as it is really for senior students, or those about to graduate," says Minh.
Though the workshop is geared toward those in the chemistry field, it provided the tools and preparedness for those in various subjects of study. "I believe the material is applicable to everybody; no matter what field you're in, you could have gotten something out of this," says Aimee.