Do we need all the career advice to land a successful career? A recent article from Carpe Careers, a column in Inside Higher Ed that features articles with career advice for doctoral students, shares “no”.
As a mid-stage doctoral student who is curious and also nervous about the job market, I am like one of the students mentioned at the beginning of the article, who craves every piece of advice, thinking that I will need everything to get prepared for my unknown next step beyond my graduation. Now I am convinced that what I need is the selective advice listed in the article and that removes some of the pressure to discern which advice is valuable and strategic to me.
The two authors of the article, Tithi Mallik and Kay Gruder, are experienced career coaches and practitioners who support graduate students’ career development. They shared some of their best recommendations on five popular career topics: career exploration, CV and résumés, networking, interviewing, and negotiating job offers.
I found this duet format of providing career advice particularly informative and insightful as approaching the same goal, we are given two layers of advice that are synergized and comprehensive. For example, when speaking to the negotiation of job offers, Mallik reminds graduate students to be forward-thinking and consider their professional growth in the long run, while Gruder offers an example to demonstrate negotiation strategies.
Be sure to read the article and learn more about all the well-selected advice.
Tithi Basu Mallik is the Associate Director for Graduate Students at the University of Pennsylvania Career Services. She is also a UConn Ph.D. alumna and a former Graduate Assistant at the UConn Center for Career Development. Kay Kimball Gruder is the Associate Director for Graduate Student and Postdoc Career Programs and Services at the UConn Center for Career Development.
