The UCSF Graduate Students’ Association (GSA), as well as the new Career Center, are planning two career events -- just in time for graduation. The GSA has been in the throes of planning its third annual Career and Research Day, to be held on May 7, in addition to helping produce the first university-wide job fair, to be held on May 8.

Career and Research Day has two goals: to expose students to the diversity of research on the campus through a student-wide poster session, and to expose students to career possibilities through workshops and panel discussions.

“Career and Research Day will showcase the graduate students’ academic scholarly work to the greater UCSF community as well as to help provide them with some avenues in which to talk about the preparation towards a career,” said Sabrina Wong, GSA president and doctoral nursing student. “It used to be just ‘Research Day’ but over the years it has become apparent that we need to do more than just showcase student research -- what we really need to do is show them about career opportunities.”

The theme of this year’s Career and Research Day is “the power of preparation.” The poster session will not only provide a forum for students to show their research but also will allow them to hear feedback from professors and postdocs. The 16 workshops are all oriented toward teaching students how to position and prepare themselves for moving from the academic environment toward a job in industry, science or academia, said Jude Spiers, nursing chair of GSA and doctoral candidate in nursing.

The workshops will be led by prominent researchers, successful investment bankers, popular science writers and patent lawyers, who will discuss their own career paths after earning a PhD. Workshop topics include science writing, teaching with a PhD, the job market for nursing, finding a postdoc in nursing, finding a postdoc in basic sciences, networking and mentoring, resume writing and interviewing, and patent law.

During the week before Career and Research Day, the UCSF Career Center will present a workshop on resume writing to help students prepare for both career events.

The job fair will present students with the opportunity to network with employers in health, pharmaceutical, biotech, legal and other fields. Representatives from 25 of these companies will be on hand to meet future UCSF graduates and current postdocs.

The type of employers who recruit the kinds of students that attend UCSF is expanding, due to a changing marketplace in which a person with a PhD no longer has only one career track.

“Just because you’ve gone through a PhD program, you are no longer relegated to a certain narrow variety of jobs in academia,” Spiers said. “There are the other possibilities that can use your skills and use your background. Things like science writing and going into policy work in the government are very important and will draw upon your skills and your experiences. And they are exciting possibilities to start looking at.”

Recognizing the ever-shifting job market, Michael Alvarez, director of the Career Center, has invited companies in the industrial, consulting and legal fields to campus for the job fair.

“People trained here are sorely needed in the industrial marketplace,” Alvarez said. “There is definitely a trend towards non-scientific companies, such as consulting firms, hiring people with PhDs in science.”

Alvarez’s advice for preparing for a job search is to keep in touch with professors, advisors and classmates. “Start doing some informational interviews with your existing network of friends and colleagues,” he said. “Remain engaged with those people who are in your area and keep them abreast of what you’re doing. Maintain good relations throughout your training experiences and stay connected with people -- that works very well.”

Details:
Career and Research Day:
Date: Thursday, May 7
Time: 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., with reception following, Nursing building mezzanine (Poster session 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
Keynote speaker is Zach Hall, vice chancellor for research. Introductions by Chancellor-designate J. Michael Bishop; Clifford Attkisson, dean of the Graduate Division; and Sabrina Wong.

Job Fair
Date: Friday, May 8
Place: Millberry Union gymnasium
Time: 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. with a reception following

by Paula Murphy

1st appeared 4/20/98

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