By Vanda Suvansilpakit
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
vsuvansilpakit@media.ucla.edu
To better equip doctoral students with skills in searching for
jobs outside academia, the Career Center has launched a series of
workshops focusing on various stages of the job search process.
Previously, programs organized by the Career Center have largely
been targeted at serving the needs of undergraduate and
master’s students because the counselors are more familiar
with their concerns, said Dana Landis, doctoral career services
supervisor.
Landis said most doctoral students are formally trained to go
into academia and may not be as aware of non-academic job
opportunities.
Winter quarter workshops have focused on non-academic jobs for
doctoral students. Topics range from self-assessment and career
exploration to effectively using a Ph.D. in searching for
non-academic jobs.
“We hope the workshops will help doctoral students
translate their skills into a non-academic context that can be
effectively communicated to potential employers,” she
said.
Based on results from a survey conducted last year by the
graduate division, 57 percent of doctoral students said they
received advice about employment within academia, while only 34
percent said they received advice about employment outside
academia.
“The results indicated that both the Career Center and
individual departments can do more to prepare Ph.D. students for
employment,” said Pamela Taylor, director of institutional
research and information services for the graduate division.
Taylor said the graduate division has shared results of the
survey with the Career Center, and is also preparing an official
report to be available for students and faculty during spring
quarter.
The survey further shows that 82 percent of doctoral students
have never used the Career Center at all. Many students said they
find consultations with advisers and faculty members within their
departments to be sufficient in job planning.
“I find it most useful to talk with faculty members
because they are the ones doing the job,” said Elizabeth
Graham, an English doctoral student who plans to become a
professor.
Erin Taylor, a philosophy doctoral student, said she would use
career resources offered by the department more than the Career
Center.
“People who are doing philosophy professionally seem to
know the specifics of what to do and where to apply. … They have
personal relationships with departments of other
institutions,” she said.
The history department is very helpful in offering students help
with taking tests and periodic workshops to help them get articles
published in journals, said Jenna Gibbs-Boyer, a history doctoral
student who also plans for a career inside academia.
Landis said the Career Center frequently uses information from
the graduate division about student needs and incorporates it in
planning for career workshops and fairs.
She added that the center directly talks to students about their
needs and concerns.
“We are also doing more department-specific programs for
those who requested them,” she said.
In addition to the workshops and programs, the Career Center
plans to hold a Ph.D. career day on April 25, where a panel of
alumni doctoral students will give talks on non-academic career
options.
The graduate division is currently designing an exit survey for
terminal masters and doctoral students to keep records of their
career paths.
“There is a need for continuity, the need to know what
alumni have gone on to become, so that students don’t have to
invent new paths every time,” Landis said.