Are you a graduate student or postdoc planning ahead for your semester? Are you struggling with time management? Have you started thinking about your career post-MA or PhD? If you answered yes to any of these questions, GradPro has the resources for you! This semester, GradPro will be hosting five virtual workshops to help graduate students get organized, explore career options, and prepare for the non-academic job market.
All UC Berkeley graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are welcome to attend. Keep an eye on the GradPro events page and the GradPro Digest, where registration will open in the coming weeks.
Planning Your Fall Semester (Virtual)
September 1, 2026, 4pm to 5pm
Success begins with a clear roadmap and well-defined goals. In this interactive workshop, our facilitators will guide you in creating a strategic plan to set and achieve goals that align with your priorities. Whether you aim to excel in research, build a new skill, or explore diverse career paths, you will leave this workshop with structure, tools, and tips for your semester plan.
Career Exploration for HSS Students (Virtual)
Date and Time: To be announced
This workshop is designed to help Humanities and Social Sciences graduate students explore non-academic career options. We will go over key resources to help you reflect on your own career goals, values, and skills. You will also learn about diverse non-academic careers that value the skills you have developed as a social sciences or humanities graduate student. Whether you have decided on a career beyond academia or are just beginning to explore the possibility of non-academic careers, this workshop will guide you through the important steps to take as you develop and refine your career goals.
Career Exploration for STEM Students (Virtual)
Date and Time: To be announced
While academia offers incredible opportunities, the professional world beyond academia is equally vibrant. This workshop introduces you to key resources to reflect on your own career goals, values, and skills. You will also learn about diverse non-academic careers in STEM fields and careers that value the skills you have developed as a STEM graduate student. Whether you have decided on a career beyond academia or are just beginning to explore the possibility of non-academic careers, this workshop will guide you through the important steps to take as you develop and refine your career goals.
Networking for Non-Academic Career Exploration and Preparation (Virtual)
Date and Time: To be announced
Learning to network to advance your career can be a daunting task. This workshop will offer key insights on how to identify career networks, conduct informational interviews, and create a plan to get started on your networking journey. This workshop will be particularly beneficial for those who have attended a GradPro career exploration workshop, but previous experience with career exploration is not required.
Handshake for Graduate Students (Virtual)
Date and Time: To be announced
Co-presented with Berkeley Career Engagement, this workshop shows graduate students how to use Handshake as more than a job board. You’ll learn to filter job and internship searches by degree level or visa sponsorship, browse BCE’s curated collections for master’s and PhD students, find employer events and career fairs, and book one-on-one appointments with a Career Educator. Because employers post to Berkeley’s Handshake site specifically to recruit our students, you’re applying in a smaller, more select pool than on a general job board, reason enough to set up your account and complete your profile now. For more, see Looking for Work? Why You Need a Handshake Account!
Internship Workshop/Mini-Panel (Hybrid)
Date and Time: To be announced
This panel features GradPro Professional Development Liaisons and BCE career staff sharing first-hand experience finding, securing, and making the most of internships during graduate school. You’ll get search strategies across Handshake, LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and USAJobs, plus programs that recruit advanced-degree students specifically, spanning national labs, museums, publishing, consulting, finance, tech, and public policy. Panelists will also cover translating an academic CV into a resume, preparing for interviews, and connecting with a PhD career counselor. Internships are one of the most direct ways to test a career path and build experience before you’re on the job market, and since many advanced-degree programs open applications months ahead, knowing the timeline early is half the work.
This article was written by Joni Landeros-Cisneros, a fourth-year PhD student in the Berkeley School of Education and a Professional Development Liaison with the Graduate Division.