Graduate Students - UC Irvine Division of Career Pathways

Navigating Grad School

The Division of Career Pathways team and our partners are here to help UCI graduate students navigate their career planning process with a variety of resources and learning opportunities. Resources, services, and events are all free-to-access and are here to help you make the most out of your career search! Check out our event navigator page for the latest details, and register for events on Handshake.

Quarterly Grad Program Flyer (coming soon)

Career Development Tools

Career Discovery & Self-Assessment

Beyond The Professoriate
An online professional development platform for helping students explore both academic and industry career paths! Learn about career options, job search strategies, networking, and preparing your application materials. Beyond the Professoriate also includes an extensive library of informational interviews, live educational webinars, and workbooks to help you optimize your career search. Learn more and join Beyond The Professoriate.

ImaginePhD
An online platform targeted towards students in the humanities and social sciences. ImaginePhD categorizes career paths into job families based upon shared job duties, required skill sets, and core interests. It provides a range of resources for exploring career options, networking, developing relevant skills, and applying for jobs. Learn more and join ImaginePhD.

MyIDP
An online platform targeted towards students in STEM fields. This is a useful tool for career planning/exploration and self-assessment of skills, interests, and values! MyIDP can assist you in setting goals and finding career options that may best fit your personal and professional strengths. Learn more and join MyIDP.

Career Exploration Self-Assessments

Complete career exploration exercises that assess a variety of career related factors, including transferable skills, values and interests, and work preferences.

Focus 2 Career
A self-paced career and education planning platform that allows you to assess your values, interests, and skills while exploring relevant career and educational pathways. Learn more at Focus 2 Career.

Interstride
An online platform designed to support international graduate students. Centralized resources, including: job opportunities, networking and global career connections, webinars, and career readiness. Learn more at Interstride.

Interview Preparation

Big Interview
An online platform that helps you build your knowledge and skills in interviewing! Review interview questions and answers, do mock interviews, and learn more about what employers are looking for. Visit Big Interview to learn more, check out FAQ sheets, and handouts with more helpful tips.

Academic Careers

Academic Job Search Handbook: Consolidated resource guide to help you navigate the academic job search process, including finding positions, crafting application materials, and interviewing!
Application Materials: Check out some sample graduate student CVs!
- UPenn Faculty Job Search Resources
Finding Open Positions

Non-Academic Careers

Government Positions

Government positions — whether local, state, or federal level- are excellent career options for those looking to apply their passion and skills in real-world settings. Government jobs are unique from traditional academic and industry positions, including the application and interview process. Check out our resources to best prepare yourself for the job search process.

Federal resume examples

Government Interview FAQ

Federal job interview tips
Local government interview tips

Job Sites

Note: Ongoing changes in federal policies may influence typical recruitment timelines, job availability, and hiring processes for government positions. Please continue to check our website for updated guidance on government career searching.

Research in Industry

Whether you pursue a career in academia or industry, your research skills are a huge asset. It is important to think about the way you are presenting your skills and framing it for industry research settings. Check out our resources to learn how to prepare your application materials and refine your job search for an industry position that fits your needs.

Industry resume guides

PhD/Master’s resume guide
Converting academic CV into industry resume
PhD resume for industry- MIT Guide
UCLA Resume Career Guide

Job search strategies

Non-Academic Job Search Handbook: Consolidated resource guide to help you navigate the industry job search process, including finding positions, crafting application materials, interviewing, and offer negotiation!
Application Materials: Check out some sample graduate student Resumes!
Resume AI is a feature of Big Interview that allows you to upload a job posting and your resume and receive tailored, AI-based feedback! Use this tool to get suggestions for improving your resume, including keyword matching and recommendations for formatting changes.
Finding Open Positions

Student Support: Appointments & Career Resources

One-on-one Appointments

Schedule a 45 minute, one-on-one appointment with a Graduate Career Counselor. Discuss career-related topics such as the academic and non-academic job search, creating your resume/CV, interviewing, finding an internship, building a professional network and brand, developing parallel plans, and more.

Schedule appointments online through Handshake

From your Handshake homepage, select Career Center from the menu across the top of the page and then Appointments
Click on Schedule a New Appointment
Appointments are updated weekly for the following 1-2 weeks

Drop-In Hours

Come meet with one of our career educators for a 10-minute session- no appointment needed! Bring any questions you may have related to your career planning, job search, or interviewing and application needs.

Visit our drop-ins webpage to see our current drop-in hours and learn more.

Career Resources

Application Materials- Templates & Examples
- Resumes
- Cover Letters
Graduate Student Resume FAQ Sheet- tips for making the most of your resume.
Master’s Student Timeline: DCP recommended timeline to assist in career planning and professional development for Master’s Students
Doctoral Student Timeline: DCP recommended timeline to assist in career planning and professional development for Doctoral Students
Myths About Career Planning: Learn more about common myths surrounding career planning so that you can challenge inaccurate assumptions that might be getting in the way of your career search success.