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Arrested (Professional) Development
You may have heard that there are some big plans in the works for The Graduate School’s website. Over the summer, it will be treated to a major overhaul, and as part of that process the Graduate Student Professional Development blog will relocate to become part of the new site. For the next few months, things will be very quiet here on the blog as we migrate not only to a new address, but also to a new platform utilizing Drupal, a web framework and content-management system already widely used across Duke.
We are excited about the launch of the new website, as well as new Career & Professional Development programming for the Fall 2014 semester. In the meantime, have a great summer break, and we will see you back here in September!
Building Your Mentoring Portfolio
Have you thought about mentoring but worried that you weren’t qualified? Do you feel like it’s too big a time commitment? I felt the same way, but one summer of mentoring changed my entire thought process and helped me shape my mentoring experiences to work for me. (more…)
No time to be an Emerging Leader?
How was I going to convince my mentor that spending 25+ hours on my professional development would be a good idea–especially considering that it would take away from time in the lab? The email from Graduate Student Affairs promised that the opportunity would “develop participants’ leadership, professional adaptability, communication, self-awareness, and interdisciplinary teamwork skills, preparing them to become successful employees after graduation.” But how could I sell that to my mentor, who was likely more concerned about my success prior to graduation? (more…)
Helping our program help us with career development
My graduate career has been a bit bumpy (although whose hasn’t!), and during my 3rd-year slump, I spent a lot of time asking myself if I really wanted a PhD. By having to face this question, I realized very quickly that I had no idea what a PhD could do for me. I knew I wanted out of academia, but what else was there? (more…)
PFF Fellows Series: Samanthis Smalls
As a graduate student, it is rather difficult to ignore the issues that trouble my colleagues, particularly the dreaded job market. I found that as I got closer to the glorious PhD, the anxious whispers of others became the deafening roars of my own inner voice and I wondered, “Will I get a job?” Then my mind hit me with a shockingly basic query: “What does the life of a professor actually look like?” (more…)
PFF Fellows Series: Samantha Deffler
As a graduate student at Duke with the desire to teach, I am awash in opportunities to improve my pedagogical abilities. I have attended numerous Teaching IDEAS workshops, taken classes through the Certificate in College Teaching program, and taught during two summer sessions. However, the most enlightening experience that I have had in my journey to becoming an effective educator was my participation in the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program. (more…)
Behind the scenes of an academic career: Preparing Future Faculty
Since I began working in The Graduate School in 2003, I have coordinated RCR ethics training, taught courses on college teaching & higher education, and had the privilege of directing the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program. PFF is an annual, professional mentoring program for 25 advanced Ph.D. students and 5 postdocs at Duke who are mentored by faculty members from nearby partner colleges or universities: Durham Tech Community College, Elon University, Guilford College, Meredith College, and NC Central University. PFF Fellows are those who want to learn about different types of academic institutions and the reality of faculty life and responsibilities at colleges beyond a research university. (more…)
Summer suggestions for professional development, part 1
It has been quite a year for graduate student career and professional development here at Duke. In her first full year in the newly-created position of Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Professional Development, Dr. Melissa Bostrom coordinated a range of programming for all research master’s and doctoral students in the newly launched Professional Development Series. In the fall semester alone there were 35 events in five series: the Academic Job Search, Communicating with the Media, Core Competencies, Ph.D. Career Paths, and Entrepreneurship. (more…)
Who leads a group of emerging leaders? Reflecting on the Emerging Leaders Institute group project
Melissa Bostrom sold me on applying to the Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI) with one word: “deliverable.” The program included many attractive characteristics: leadership training, self-assessments, and coaching. However, from the beginning I was focused on the group project – not simply as an exercise in working with others but to develop a concrete product that I can reference in future interviews as a significant accomplishment from those six weeks.
In the end, I got both – a learning experience in working with a team and a product that exists in the real world. (more…)
Find your passion – or not
“Find your passion.” As someone who has worked in career services for 17 years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that phrase bestowed on job-seekers as if it’s the answer to all their problems. I also can’t tell you how many students and postdocs have somewhat guiltily confided in me that maybe they don’t have a career passion, other than to have an interesting job that allows them to pay the bills and save for retirement, with enough free time left over to enjoy their families and life in general. (more…)
