Professional Development Resource Lists

As the Graduate Student Professional Development Resource Hub, GradPro keeps track of valuable professional and career development resources and opportunities for graduate students. Below, find curated lists of selected on- and off-campus career and professional development resources and opportunities. Graduate students can also sign up for one-on-one consultations with a GradPro Professional Development Liaison to get customized guidance on resources and opportunities.

Career Exploration Resources

• Learning About Non-Academic Job Families and Sectors
• Career- and Self-Assessments
• Making a Professional Development Plan

Developing a Professional Network

• General Networking Resources
• Working with Academic Mentors and Advisors

Professional Development Resources by Identity or Affinity Group

• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Graduate Students
• First Generation and/or Low-income (FGLI) Graduate Students
• Neurodivergent, Disabled, and Chronically Ill Graduate Students
• Undocumented Graduate Students
• Womxn Graduate Students

Learning About Non-Academic Job Families and Sectors

• Versatile PhD: Career finder with sample resumes and cover letters from PhDs in both the HSS and STEM who have transitioned to jobs in various non-academic industries.
  
• ImaginePhD: Career exploration website that organizes career paths into job families, and describes roles, skills, and the application process. Get matched with job families by completing the self-assessments.
• InterSECT Job Simulations: Job simulation website geared towards PhDs to explore what it might be like to work in different career paths or job families.
  
• QB3 Career Development Resources: Berkeley’s own QB3 website provides overviews and additional resources on career paths that are popular with bioscience graduate students.
• Reviews of Careers with High Social Impact: In-depth analyses and guidance from 80,000 Hours on various career paths that have high potential for positive social impact, such as AI governance and policy, bio-risk research, and nuclear weapons safety.
  
• CareerOneStop Overviews of Careers in Different Industries: A Department of Labor sponsored website that lists jobs and roles by education level in different career clusters.
  
• Occupational Outlook Handbook from U.S. Bureau of Labor: Also a Department of Labor website, provides additional information on pay and projections on the careers with most growth potential.
  
• The Forage: Offers free, self-paced virtual work experience programs to help students seeking jobs understand what it is like to work in different industries or for top companies.
• Candid Career Interviews with Professionals: Watch videos of informational interviews with professionals across a variety of industries and job families.

Career- and Self-Assessments

• ImaginePhD Assessments: ImaginePhD provides skills, values, and interests assessments for Humanities and Social Science students. UC Berkeley graduate students can create a free account using their Berkeley email address.
• MyIDP Assessments: MyIDP is a free tool that provides skills, values, and interests assessments for students in STEM. 
• Stanford’s Meaningful Work Kit: An experimental assessment developed at Stanford that helps job-seekers narrow their values, work culture preferences, and career priorities. 
• GradPro Workshop: Participate in our workshops offered each Fall semester for guidance and strategies for career exploration and self-assessments.

Making a Professional Development Plan

• Planning Your Career Advancement Goals: MyIDP is a free tool that provides tips on how to set career advancement, skill development, and project completion goals for graduate students in STEM. 
• ImaginePhD Career Planning: ImaginePhD lets students log their immediate, short-term, and long-term career plans and to export these plans into a chart. UC Berkeley graduate students can create a free account using their Berkeley email address.
• Suggested Goals for Building Individual Development Plan: ImaginePhD includes a list of suggested goals for building an individual development plan.
• Setting SMART Goals for Career Development: CareerOneStop’s page on goal setting that helps individuals plan their careers by outlining steps to set and achieve SMART goals to ensure progress in their professional journey.
• Check-In Groups: GradPro offers graduate students weekly 50-minute Check-In Groups, available virtually, in-person, or as a hybrid. These sessions provide a space for reflection and troubleshooting goals.
• Template for One-Year Plan: Template designed to help you plan your goals for the year ahead, whether they relate to completing your degree, advancing your career, applying for funding, or achieving personal milestones.
• Template for Five-Year Plan:  Template designed to help you plan your goals for the five years, whether they relate to completing your degree, advancing your career, applying for funding, or achieving personal milestones.
• Workbook for Planning Your Semester: Workbook to be copied for mapping semester goals by week, month, and semester.

General Networking Resources

• “Cultivating Your Network of Mentors, Sponsors & Collaborators“: A National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity webinar on the importance of networks throughout your career (make an account or sign in with your Berkeley email to access the webinar).
• Networking Guide: Access this GradPro Guide to Networking in the section “General Career Preparation.”

Working with Academic Advisors and Mentors

• Working Productively with Mentors and Faculty: Access this GradPro guide to working with academic advisors in the section “Group Management and Team Work.”
• Getting the Mentoring You Need: A Berkeley GradNews article full of resources and tips on how to navigate relationships with academic advisors.
• Mentoring Graduate Students Checklist for Faculty: While this checklist was developed for faculty use, graduate students can use this guide to get a sense of what they can expect and ask of their advisor.
• The Ombuds Office: Provides students with impartial and confidential feedback on conflict.
• The Student Advocate’s Office: Advocates for students experiencing conflicts or issues on campus.

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Graduate Students

• Black Graduate Student Association: Focuses on building community amongst graduate students of African descent across the African diaspora. Opportunity to build networks of mutual support.
• Path to the Professoriate Workshop: A UC Berkeley program supporting underrepresented students as they prepare for an academic career in their discipline.
• Inclusive Excellence Hub: A physical venue where underrepresented graduate students can find camaraderie and build multi-disciplinary networks with their peers.
• STEM*FYI: Informal gatherings, workshops, and social events dedicated to increasing the success and retention of historically underrepresented students in all graduate STEM fields at UC Berkeley.
• “Survival Guide for Black, Indigenous, and Other Women of Color in Academe”: A 2020 article from the Chronicle of Higher Education on how to protect oneself from racism that may be encountered while working in academia.
• The Institute in Critical Quantitative, Computational, & Mixed Methods: A hub that offers a series of programs to advance underrepresented scholars of color in data science and other STEM fields.

First Generation and/or Low-income (FGLI) Graduate Students

• Path to the Professoriate Workshop: A UC Berkeley program supporting underrepresented students as they prepare for an academic career in their discipline.
• Inclusive Excellence Hub: A physical venue where underrepresented graduate students can find camaraderie and build multi-disciplinary networks with their peers.
• FGLI Grads: A student-run group supporting FGLI graduate students at UC Berkeley.
• STEM*FYI: Informal gatherings, workshops, and social events dedicated to increasing the success and retention of historically underrepresented students in all graduate STEM fields at UC Berkeley.

Disabled and Neurodivergent Graduate Students

• Career Engagement Resources for Disabled Students: A list of career-oriented resources developed by Career Engagement for disabled students at Berkeley.
• DSP Career Engagement Counselor: Sign up for a consultation with Ricardo Flores, the counselor who specializes in working with students with disabilities, by emailing him at [email protected].
• Neurodiversity and Disability Resources: A key collection of professional development focused resources for neurodivergent and disabled graduate students.
• Workforce Recruitment Program: A government program that places students with disabilities in federal jobs and internships.
• Big Interview Disability and Neurodiversity Playbooks: These specifically address challenges that candidates with disabilities and/or neurodiversity may face during an interview process.
• Path to the Professoriate Workshop: A UC Berkeley program supporting underrepresented students as they prepare for an academic career in their discipline.

Undocumented Graduate Students

• UndocuGrads Program: Access the Undocumented Graduate Student Specialist, sign up for a listserv, and learn about events specifically for Undocugrads.
• Free Legal Support Appointments: The East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) provides free legal consultations on employment options to undocumented UC Berkeley students and alumni.
• Birgeneau Perelman Fund for Undocumented Students: This on-campus financial award can be granted for professional development activities.
• Working for Yourself: A step-by-step guide that provides an overview of what is needed to become an independent contractor.
• Undocuprofessionals: An immigrant-led platform aimed at supporting professional development, regardless of one’s immigration status. Sign-up for their newsletter.
• My Undocumented Life: Compilation of resources and information for undocumented students, including information on various career paths.
• Career Services Presentation: A powerpoint presentation prepared by Dr. Behrens, a Ph.D. Career Adviser, which overviews professional development resources that are available to Undocugrads.
• Resources for Staff and Faculty: This article on the experiences of Undocugrads at UC Berkeley, this video on effectively supporting Black undocumented students, and this compilation of resources.

Womxn Graduate Students

• Forté: An organization focused on launching womxn into meaningful careers in business and leadership. They host skill-building workshops, leadership conferences, networking opportunities, and webinars.
• Women Who Code: A community that empowers, connects, and establishes community amongst womxn in tech. Membership is free, and provides access to all resources, live events, networking opportunities and more.