A series of icons depicting a person taking action. The text says Action Plan in all caps.
Job Search Action Plan for Graduate Students

Career preparation and job searches benefit from having action plans, and this is especially true for graduate students because dedicating time to career development may compete with the time needed to reach degree completion milestones. With this in mind, the career preparation and job search action plans included here are designed to raise your awareness of next steps and guide your progress toward achieving your career goals.

Career Preparation Action Items

Engage NOW to become the most competitive candidate!

  • Use self-assessment tools such as MyIDP, ImaginePhD, ChemIDP, O*Net to explore and/or confirm well-aligned career paths.
  • Gain knowledge about any career preparation that occurs within your department at UConn or through your professional associations.
  • Learn about the programs and services offered by the Writing Center.
  • Read career-related announcements sent to you through the Graduate Student Soapbox Digest and other University communication channels.
  • Consider enrolling in a UConn Certificate Program to build an additional skill set and knowledge base.

  • Update or create your CV and/or résumé and review it each semester.
  • Keep an electronic portfolio of anything that you feel shows evidence of your accomplishments.
  • If you teach, consistently compile student evaluation data of your courses.
  • If embarking on an academic job search familiarize yourself with the content that is typically included in a Statement of Teaching Philosophy, Research Statement, and Diversity Statement. Periodically write down ideas about content to include in your future documents.
  • Create drafts of outreach content that you can adapt when desiring to connect with others for networking, informational interviewing, and/or future job search.
  • Ask people for recommendations while they still remember you (faculty, supervisors, etc.).

  • Become acquainted with industry-specific job search websites. Identify employers of interest and view actual jobs, familiarizing yourself with the experiences, skills, and training needed to be a competitive applicant.
  • Seek opportunities to develop career- related skills through campus and community involvement and workshops.
  • Test various career paths through short-term career exploration activities, internships, or summer fellowships.
  • Attend, network, and present at professional conferences.
  • Conduct informational interviews with people working in career areas of possible interest.
  • Consistently use LinkedIn to learn about peoples’ work and career paths.
  • Identify funding sources for continued research if that is a career path option. UConn Library’s Pivot-RP resource can be helpful.

  • Conduct an Internet search on your name and see what comes up.
  • Create a robust LinkedIn profile and/or other electronic professional profile and get consistently active on the platform.
  • Contribute to conversations within professional groups and forums on LinkedIn or Twitter, etc.
  • Consider creating a blog or consistently contributing to one in your primary and secondary fields of study or career areas of interest.
  • Consider creating your own website and include content that features/demonstrates your skills, knowledge, and experience.
  • Add videos of your best presentations or job talks to your electronic profile.
  • Explore using an electronic dossier service to organize and gather your professional materials.

Job Search Action Items

When to begin your job search is dependent on the:

  • hiring rhythms of the fields to which you are applying;
  • extent of preparation that you will need to be a competitive job candidate;
  • amount of time you intend to dedicate to the process (think months before you seek to get hired, not weeks).

Note: For academic jobs in higher education, begin a minimum of two years out before the time you seek to be hired.

Many advise: “Begin your job search the day you begin your program.”

  • Develop action plans for two to three career paths, outlining the:
    • target employers;
    • types of jobs of interest;
    • job-search timeframes for paths of interest;
    • job-search approaches you will use;
    • action items;
    • weekly/monthly next steps with completion dates.
  • Finalize your job application materials, remembering to tailor them to feature ways that you match specific position requirements and your alignment with the goals of a company/organization/ department.
  • Revisit your plans every couple of weeks to affirm what is working and to determine where changes need to be made and/or additional information needs to be gained.
  • Engage career-knowledgeable individuals in conversation about your next steps.
  • Learn about applicant tracking systems.

  • Schedule an appointment with a career coach at the Center for Career Development.
  • Review the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills event calendar to learn about career preparation and job-search presentations. 
  • Attend The Graduate School’s professional development offerings.
  • Gather feedback on your professional documents and presentation skills through the Center for Career Development, Writing Center, and Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning.
  • Attend campus events that feature speakers of interest and network with them.
  • Attend job-search programming delivered within your department.
  • Access job-search content often provided by the professional associations to which you belong.
  • Become acquainted with job search sites that focus on posting jobs in the career fields of greatest interest to you.

  • Identify and be able to talk about your work, research, teaching, leadership, transferable skills, training, etc.
  • Inform people in your network, with whom you have a genuine connection, that you are job searching. Identify the types of opportunities you seek and convey your skills and knowledge.
  • Reach out to UConn alumni to learn about their work and the culture of the companies or organizations in which they are employed.
  • Educate yourself about the different styles of interviews that you might encounter and gain strategies to succeed.
  • Schedule a practice interview with the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills well in advance of when you think you might have to interview.
  • When embarking on the academic job search, practice your job talk with people both familiar and unfamiliar with your research and field of study.
  • Maximize your job networking at conferences you attend.