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Summer suggestions for professional development, part 3
No matter what plans you have for the fall – from starting your first semester of graduate school to starting a postdoc or full-time job, and everything in between – you should think about taking a little time this summer to get your virtual house in order. You can bet that potential employers, colleagues and other professional contacts will be searching for you online. Do you know what they’ll find? Are you happy with how it represents you? (more…)
Summer suggestions for professional development, part 2
![Sculpture by Professor Efraim Rodriguez Cobos of the University of Barcelona. http://efraimrodriguez.net [CC-BY-2.0]](http://sites.duke.edu/gradprofdev/files/2014/05/Wooden_Sculpture_of_Science_Genetics.jpg)
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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…)
The importance of being diverse
Research is driven by inquiry, so I pause to ask, “What kind of graduate school would my graduate school be, if everyone in the graduate school were just like me?” If we throw aside the false notions that we are ideal, perfect individuals, then this question raises serious implications. My own reflection on a response to this question yields a very poignant reality that a graduate school full of “me” would be boring, unfruitful, and unproductive. We would all be political scientists. There would be no interest in microbiology, genetics, art history, or sociology for that matter. Furthermore, we would all ask the same questions and we would only be interested in the subfield of comparative politics within political science. A group of “me” would be a sad reality for contributions to and advancements in the humanities, medicine, and technology, for example. (more…)
Maybe you don’t need a career plan
Yes, you read that correctly. Even if the career roadmap you’ve been busy drawing looks like a straight line to your dream job, you should probably think about scrapping it. (more…)
A golden rule for graduate school
Have you ever had someone RSVP for an event and fail to show up at the event without the courtesy of an e-mail or phone call? Current technology might even prompt a terse text of regret. A text message would be a better response than no response at all in my opinion. Who are these seemingly discourteous individuals without a hint of home training? I am acquainted with disrespectful people like this and they happen to be called graduate students! Please do not be offended as I am making a gross generalization about the graduate student population, but I want to make sure that I grab your undivided, albeit a bit perturbed now, attention. (more…)
