Graduate Student Career Council – Leadership Opportunity

Are you a graduate student? Does your degree program reside on the Storrs campus? Then you are eligible to apply to become a member of the Graduate Student Career Council (GSCC). Members on the Council serve in volunteer roles to promote career information and knowledge to other graduate students while engaging actively in their own career preparation. Being a part of the Council will help you acquire knowledge about career resources that are available to graduate students, allow you to participate in monthly professional development sessions, and gain various transferable skills including leadership skills through initiatives that you plan. You also get the chance to interact and network with graduate students from other disciplines at UConn.

As a GSCC member, you commit to completing a project of your choosing with the goal of increasing career awareness for all graduate students. You will be defining your own projects and can choose to focus on anything that would lead to improved access to information, resources, or opportunities related to careers for graduate students. The Center for Career Development will support you through the planning process of the project and help you connect with resources that you might need for successful completion.

Previous members’ projects have often showcased the range of career options available to graduate students. Previous members have also created initiatives that highlight the importance of developing transferable skills while in graduate school that can be utilized across diverse industries and sectors. Past projects have included:

  • Creating a database of alumni, hosted on a departmental website, who have transitioned into a range of careers
  • Facilitating career workshops within departments
  • Organizing networking events by connecting with industry partners interested in hiring graduate students

The Center for Career Development has different services, events, and resources that are tailored for graduate students. Council members not only help in spreading the word about these within their own departments but often also help in delivering and staffing these programs. For instance, members have served as speakers and panelists for events organized around transitioning to graduate school, and have volunteered at the Center’s career fairs.

Jillian Ives, who has served on the Council for the past year and will be continuing on for the next academic year, shared that being a member of the Graduate Student Career Council has been rewarding for her in two major areas. “First, I have been able to give back to my department and school, and learn more about service as an area of my future career in academia. Secondly, I have learned a great deal more about career resources and expanded my personal network across the university.”

GSCC members get together for monthly meetings, allowing them to learn from other members about projects that they are working on or initiatives that they are leading. Sharing about her experience of serving on the GSCC Jessica Martin, a former GSCC member from the Chemistry Department, emphasized that it gave her an opportunity to interact with people from other graduate departments on campus. She said that it was interesting to learn how other departments were organized and what challenges they faced from the graduate student perspective.

If you are looking for an opportunity to be involved with the graduate student community, and at the same time contribute to your own career and personal development, consider joining the Graduate Student Career Council. Click here for more information about the council.  You can also apply here.

The Summer application deadline is Monday, Aug. 3, 2020.

The Graduate Career Council program is committed to creating an inclusive environment that encourages innovation and supports the communities and individuals the Center for Career Development serves. We strongly encourage the participation of individuals from all social identities such as race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical and mental abilities, age, national origin, ancestry, religion/spirituality, socioeconomic background, and as well as various life experiences and perspectives, military service, and past and current employment.

By Tithi Basu Mallik
Tithi Basu Mallik Graduate Student Career Programs and Services Graduate Assistant