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Faculty Guide for Supporting Career and Professional Development Milestones

The steps doctoral students and postdocs take on their career journeys will vary based on where they are in the process of earning their degrees and time in their position, respectively. This guide provides recommendations for which steps Ph.D. students and postdocs should be taking during each phase of their program or postdoctoral position.

Incoming Graduate Students and Postdocs (0–1 year)
  • To encourage resilience and their exploration of multiple career options, talk about your own career trajectory, with all its ups and downs, swirls, and side-steps and your community of support.
  • Invite the Graduate School’s Office of Career and Professional Development team, and other resource offices summarized here (e.g., Center for Teaching Innovation, Cornell Libraries, English Language Support Office, and Graduate Writing Service) to speak at orientation/recruitment to introduce career and professional development support.
  • Students are subscribed to the Graduate School’s News and Events newsletter and can opt in to the following additional listservs: Big Red Barn, Careers Beyond Academia, Future Faculty and Academic Careers, and tailored Career Services content.
  • Share links to resource offices for finding community and support (e.g., Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement, and Student Life/Health and Well-being, Office of Postdoctoral Studies).
  • Refer to websites for graduate student funding, policies, and timelines.
  • Encourage early practice of written and oral communication of research to a wide variety of audiences (undergraduates, family, grant funders, etc.).
Early Stage (1–2 years)
Mid Stage (2–4 years)
  • Initiate more in-depth conversations about your students’ or postdocs’ career aspirations and explore multiple options.
  • Remind them to regularly update their CV and master resume; offer to connect them with your professional networks.
  • Align clear expectations with students and postdocs regarding their goals and path to graduation or next role.
  • Refer students to make an appointment with the Graduate School’s Office of Career and Professional Development team to help assess and reflect on skills, interests, and values and map out professional development goals and actionable experiential opportunities.
  • Encourage and support attendance at professional conferences, professional development workshops, short courses, and networking events within research and time constraints.
  • Encourage professional relationship building outside the department—with the local community, alumni, and in professional organizations. Apply for funding to bring alumni from outside of academia together for an event.
  • Discuss behind-the-scenes activities that you do regularly such as how you choose a journal, edit, manage a group, or budget, along with resources that are helpful to you and how you cope with failures.
Late Stage (3-6 years)
  • Encourage and support career and professional development opportunities including internships, project-based experiential learning, additional work on campus, and workshops or courses that extend their skill sets and exposure to professional contexts; check in with students at least once a year regarding their career interests.
  • Provide guidance and mentorship regarding career planning, job searching, and other professional development topics you feel comfortable with; work with the Graduate School’s Office of Career and Professional Development team to supplement.
  • Help students develop their professional skills by providing feedback on their writing, presentations, and other forms of professional communication, including interviews.
  • Encourage students to prepare market-ready job documents (academic and industry-specific); offer feedback and refer to the Office of Career and Professional Development for direct feedback and referrals to professionals.
  • Facilitate networking between advisees and advanced degree alumni working in and outside of academia.
  • Invite the Office of Career and Professional Development to host career and professional development workshops tailored to students in your department; email careerandprofdev@cornell.edu to request a workshop.
Advanced Late Stage Students (6+ years)
  • Meet to set clear expectations regarding students’ paths to graduation.
  • Check in on students’ basic needs to ensure continued success towards degree completion and getting a job.
  • Recommend meeting with the Graduate School’s Office of Career and Professional Development team for career prep and time-sensitive decision-making.
  • Encourage students to increase attendance at employer events, company info sessions, professional conferences, and industry networking opportunities.
  • Encourage students to actively apply for jobs with market-ready job documents.