Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Career Services
Resources for UCD Faculty Mentors
Professional and Career Development Resources for your graduate students and postdoctoral scholars:
Workshops & symposia- Career and professional development workshops and symposia specifically designed for graduate students and postdocs are through the Professoinal Development Series which is co-sponosred by the Office of Graduate Studies and the Internship and Career Center. Topics include grant writing, applying & interviewing for faculty positions, careers in higher education, writing the dissertation, grammar for grads, writing scientific papers, and CV writing among many others.
Career Library
- Our Graduate Student/Postdoc Collection in our library contains a wealth of resources on the faculty job search, writing the dissertation, teaching practices, and academic life. We also have a subscription to the Chronicle of Higher Education. For students and scholars seeking careers beyond academia, our general collection contains many resources.
Web-based Resources - please visit the Graduate Student & Postdoctoral Career Services website for a complete listing of our services.
To advertise positions for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars:
Postdoctoral Scholar positions may be posted on the Office of Graduate Studies webpage
Graduate Student positions may be posted on the Office of Graduate Studies webpage.
Aggie Job Link - through the Internship & Career Center & Student Employment. Aggie Job Link allows you to post both graduate student employment opportunities and postdoctoral positions for free.
Writing a grant and need text justifying career and professional development of your students and postdocs?
The UC Davis Internship and Career Center (ICC) provides a full complement of programs, services and resources in a variety of training areas recognized as critical for the career advancement of graduate-level students and postdoctoral trainees in all disciplines. The staff of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Career Services (a unit within the ICC), provide both general and discipline specific programs and advising for trainees pursuing academic and non-academic careers.
Career and Professional Development Topics Addressed
In collaboration with the UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies, the ICC offers training on the following topics for UC Davis graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. For each of the training topics listed, the ICC and the Office of Graduate Studies provide didactic instruction, self-help resources, and/or individual counseling or guidance.
- Academic job search skills
- CV writing instruction and critique
- Career awareness for academic and non-academic career paths
- Career advising and job search guidance for trainees exploring “alternative” career options
- Interview skills
- Grant writing skills
- Oral presentation skills
- Manuscript writing skills
- Mentoring skills and how to be mentored effectively
- Conflict management and negotiation skills
- Ethics and the responsible conduct of research
- Management and scientific leadership skills
Program Format
Some of the training topics are offered through organized series, such as our annual Pathways Career Symposium (job search skills and awareness), Careers in Higher Education Seminar and Career Assessment series (interests, skills, values and personality assessment) or the Professional Development Series (grant writing, manuscript writing, ethical research, and management and leadership skills). Other training topics are offered as single workshops based on student demand.
Many of the ICC training opportunities are provided in collaboration with other campus groups, such as the Office of Graduate Studies, the Teaching Resources Center, the University Writing Program and the Postdoctoral Scholars Association. In addition to the offerings of the centralized ICC, many UC Davis students also have access to department-based courses on similar topics.
Utilization and Evaluation
At UC Davis, these offerings are highly utilized. The ICC serves over 3,000 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars per year through one-on-one advising, workshops and symposia. In addition, ICC programs are consistently evaluated positively. For example, 93 out 96 respondents rated the annual Pathways Career Symposium, excellent to very good and 100% of respondents expressed the desire to have this program offered again. Other programs enjoy similarly high ratings from UC Davis graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.