A resource and career-planning guide developed for master’s and professional students, doctoral students and graduate faculty.
General Overview
This resource was developed in collaboration with several offices across the university, with each office being keenly aware that graduate (master’s and doctoral) students often understand the importance of developing hard or technical skills. However, today’s employers look for graduates who have both hard skills and also transferable (often called soft) skills.
Most job ads list at least five soft skills. However, most graduate students list fewer than three on their vita/resume. We are living in a digital age where algorithms are gatekeepers for job openings, as application tracking systems (ATS) search through resumes/vitas, sifting out applicants based on key words, phrases and other predetermined criteria. Graduate students can gain an edge over the ATS if they acquire the skills and later tailor their resume/vita to meet the hard and soft skills identified in the job description.
Special thanks to all the collaborators for this project:
- Steph Charles, graduate student
- Sara Childers, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
- Sam Craighead, Office of Distance Education and eLearning
- Marcela Hernandez, The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
- Nicole Hernandez, Research Commons at University Libraries
- Kerry Hodak, Office of Student Life: Graduate and Professional Student Programs
- Karin Jordan, Graduate School
- Chris Rideout, Student Life Career Counseling and Support Services
- Jessica Riviere, Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning
- Fernando Unzueta, Office of International Affairs