Your Career Exploration Starts Here

Finding the perfect job is a complex and iterative process that requires a lot of effort. Whether you are a Master's student, Ph.D. student, or postdoctoral scholar, we are here to guide you as you discover, prepare, and apply for competitive positions.

Discover

 

  • What are your passions? 
  • What are your strengths? 
  • What skills are transferrable and marketable?
  • What will the world reward you for?

Prepare

 

  • What careers align with your skills and values? 
  • What makes a successful job search​?
  • What does it take to become career ready?

Apply

 

  • How to leverage your strengths?
  • How to use effective job search strategies? 
  • How to craft impressive job application materials? 
  • How to excel at interviewing?

Graduate Career Coaching

    Work with us on career readiness tasks appropriate for any stage of your career preparation, including:

    • discovering and shaping your career trajectory
    • creating a strategic approach to your career planning
    • navigating job searches
    • networking and establishing new professional connections
    • conducting informational interviews
    • navigating applicant tracking systems (ATS)
    • tailoring application materials to job postings and employer expectations
    • interviewing strategies and mock-up interviews
    • and more.

    Contact Graduate Career Services at gradcareers@iastate.edu.

    Begin shaping your career path early and reach your dream destination!

    Career Watch Parties

      Schedule for Spring 2025 Career Conversations

      Join informal get-togethers to learn more about the topics listed below, prepare yourself for a job market and chat with each other about your career development. The Career Conversations are scheduled for every Thursday starting from January 30th, 2025, until May 1st. Please, let us know if you are planning to attend any or all meetings by submitting this registration form.

      Date Topic Time Location
      January 30th Understanding Your Values for the Job Market 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      February 6th Building Connections to Find a Dream Job 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      February 13th LinkedIn: Using the Platform to Land a Job 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      February 20th Unlocking Opportunities: The Power of Informational Interviews 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      February 27th Postdocs Pathways to Industry&Academia 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      March 6th Graduate Internships: Steppingstones to Success 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1118
      March 13th AI & ATS: Unlocking Career Opportunities with Technology 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      March 27th Elevate Your Application: Creating Impactful Resumes and Cover Letters 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      April 3rd Cyhire, Big Interview, Going Global - How to Use These Online Platforms? 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 2237
      April 10th Navigating the Job Market: Effective Search Techniques 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      April 17th The Truth About Interviews: Myth-Busting for Job Seekers 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 2237
      April 24th Nailing the Interview Dinner: Etiquette for Success 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 1133
      May 1st Job Negotiation Tactics: Win the Best Deal 1:00 - 2:00pm Student Innovation 2237

      Career Planning

        Effective Career Planning for HCI Graduate Students: Fall 2024 Cohort 

        pd|hub logo

        This 8-week program is designed to equip attendees with the skills, resources and self-assessment information to make informed career choices both within and beyond academia. The program topics and materials are adapted from the pd|hub Collections, an NIH-funded collection of evidence-based practices to support PhD professional development.

        If you would like to participate, mark Career Planning (8-week program) in the Career Support Interest Form.

        My biggest takeaways are learning about myself and what I look for in a career to meet my values. I narrowed down my career path that aligns with my CliftonStrengths skills and best fits my passion and technical skills.

        Natasha Lambert, Participant in the pd|hub HCI Career Exploration program

        Online Resources

          Find answers to questions regarding your career development needs in these online platforms. Graduate students and postdocs can use these resources free of cost by logging in with ISU net-ID and password. 

          Beyond the Professoriate is an online career training platform designed to help doctoral students and postdocs successfully transition into academic or nonacademic careers. Informed by nearly a decade of experience supporting PhDs, this platform offers:

          • Videos, materials, and activities tailored to professional careers
          • Videos, materials, and activities tailored to faculty careers
          • A video library featuring interviews with PhDs from different academic disciplines
          • Live webinars.

          To access this platform, please navigate to https://login.iastate.edu, click Add Apps, search for 'Beyond the Professoriate', and add it to your Okta Dashboard. Once you click on it, you’ll need to sign in by selecting Iowa State University from the drop-down menu. 

          Login to Beyond the Professoriate

          Beyond Grad School is an online career training platform designed to help master’s students make the most out of their investment and build their careers. This platform guides students through each stage of their job search including  by offering:

          • Job search strategies
          • 'Deep Dives' into finding a career, LinkedIn, networking, findings and applying to jobs, interviewing and negotiating
          • Video library featuring interviews with Master's graduates
          • Online events and live trainings.

          To access this platform, please navigate to https://login.iastate.edu, click Add Apps, search for 'Beyond Grad School', and add it to your Okta Dashboard. Once you click on it, you’ll need to sign in by selecting Iowa State University from the drop-down menu. 

          Login to Beyond Grad School

          The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) supports postdocs' development of professional paths through its online Career Center. It offers:

          • Postdoc's Guide to Career Development
          • Career Planning Portal
          • Career advice regarding personal branding, networking, cover letters, etc.
          • Featured services such as creating a job alert and uploading a resume to the Resume Bank for employers to find candidates.

          To activate your ISU-sponsored NPA membership, go to the NPA's Select Your Member Type page, choose “Organizational Member”, and use your @iastate email. It will take the NPA a day or so to add you, but then you will be able to benefit from their resources and register for their events for free any time.

          Login to NPA

          Big Interview is an interactive online platform that offers immediate feedback on your interview answers and delivery. It provides:

          • Question Library
          • Answer Builder Tool
          • AI Feedback Tool
          • Resume templates and ResumeAI Tool.

          Login to Big Interview

          The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) is an independent faculty development center dedicated to supporting academics in making successful transitions throughout their careers. Students and postdocs seeking academic careers can benefit from:

          • Career workshops and resources 
          • Guest webinars with follow-up access to recordings, slides, and transcripts
          • Weekly Monday motivator e-mail messages with productivity tips
          • Monthly writing challenges, productivity webinars, and accountability buddy matches.
          • Discussion forum and peer network.

          Activate Your Membership

          The Student Employment Center in the Office of Student Financial Aid is collaborating with ISU Career Services to house all student employment opportunities in one system. This includes post-graduate, internship and part-time student jobs. Graduate and undergraduate students can find employment opportunities that fit their specific job criteria, and faculty, staff and off-campus employers can post positions for parttime employment on or off campus, internships and post-grad employment opportunities. For more information on how to use CyHire, please visit this link. 

          GoinGlobal is an online platform helps new and experienced job seekers find opportunities both at home and abroad. GoinGlobal provides a one-stop resource to help fast track job and internship searches. All ISU graduate students and alumni has access to the GoinGlobal. ISU subscription includes: 

          • 42 Country Career Guides
          • 32 Global City Career Guides
          • 46 USA City Career Guides
          • Global Key Employer Directory
          • Jobs & Internships Database
          • H1B/OPT Database
          • CultureWizard

          Skills

            What is it?How to develop it?Why is it important?
            Ability to research career options and explore and affirm your skills, values, and goals in order to select a career pathway that aligns with your needs and core beliefs.Through reflection on your values, assessment of your current skills, and identifying actionable steps for career exploration.Allows you to explore different types of career options and consider various factors in order to determine possible career choices and best fit.

            What is it?How to develop it?Why is it important?
            Ability to build a professional connection to gain useful insights into a career field.Through connections with current and potential people to obtain crucial knowledge about your target industry and workplace.Allows you to identify possible career paths, the needed skill sets, and the different opportunities in order to implement career and SMART goals.

            What is it?How to develop it?Why is it important?
            Ability to extract key information from completed duties and experiences into an inventory of skills expected by employers.Through building on your current and past experiences and translating your skill sets to match the language of job ads.Allows you to identify your transferable skills and closely align them to job ads in order to increase the relevance of your application materials.

            What is it?How to develop it?Why is it important?
            Ability to create a strong professional identity.Through utilization of digital tools to present a strong digital professional presence. Allows you to convey your key strengths and interests in order to showcase your potential fit as a prospective employee.

            What is it?How to develop it?Why is it important?
            Ability to navigate the job interview process with clear expectations.Through preparing for behavioral interview questions using the STAR method and relevant tasks. Allows you to respond effectively and express your knowledge and potential fit within a company or organization in order to increase their hiring chance.

            What is it?How to develop it?Why is it important?
            Ability to evaluate and obtain fair and competitive compensation packages that align with personal goals and market standards.Through research and comparison of compensation packages against a given offer and knowing how to request relevant adjustments.Allows you to evaluate compensation packages and to present feasible counter-offers in order to obtain a better compensation package.