Episode 36: Career Prep for Graduate Students

Learn about Beyond Graduate School, a free, research-based career training platform available to all UW–Madison graduate students. Special guest Alissa Ewer, Assistant Dean of Professional Development and Communication at the Graduate School, shares how the platform supports students through every stage of the job search process.

Transcript

ALISSA OLECK: Welcome to Your Future. Your Way. where we explore the many ways to reach your academic and professional goals. Whether you are a recent grad considering career advancement or even changing careers, this podcast is for you. There is more than one way to do higher education. This is Your Future. Your Way. 

ENROLLMENT COACH MARTA: Hi. I’m Marta McCoy, an enrollment coach for the Professional Degrees and Certificates in the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Today, we are wrapping up our career services series with a spotlight on a resource that’s helping graduate students prepare for their job search. 

GENERAL HOST: Before we start, we want you to know that the views, information, or opinions expressed in this podcast do not reflect the views of the Division of Continuing Studies, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, or the Board of Regions. 

ENROLLMENT COACH MARTA: In this episode, we are highlighting Beyond Graduate School, a free research based career training platform available to all UW- Madison graduate students. Whether you are exploring career paths, preparing materials for job applications, or practicing for an upcoming interview, this platform is designed to help build your confidence for every stage of your job search. To tell us more, we’ll hear from Alyssa Ewer, the Assistant Dean of Professional Development and Communication at the Graduate School. She works in the Office of Professional Development, which is responsible for promoting learning opportunities that support the academic and professional growth of our graduate student community. Alissa played a key role in bringing Beyond Graduate School to UW- Madison graduate students. So let’s hear more about this platform. 

ALISSA EWER: My name is Alissa Ewer and I’m the Assistant Dean for Professional Development and Communications in the Graduate school. And the Graduate School sponsors this platform, the membership of this platform for all of campus. So we’re happy to tell you about it today, and we’d love for you to start using it. The content in Beyond Graduate School is available in a self paced and on demand format. That means that students can complete lessons in whatever order works best for them. 

Although Beyond Grad School does state that it’s important for students to know that there are these four stages to the job search process. The first step is evaluate, where students identify career opportunities. And students may have very clear goals in mind, and some may not. And this platform offers something for everybody. Even those who may be completing a master’s degree and already have a job and have clear goals in mind, this platform encourages them to consider other factors and, you know, future changes in their job, like what type of organization they see themselves at or what type of positions they might be interested in in the future. So it really has something for everybody. 

In the Connect stage, students learn how to build their network for job search and career success. When students move through the apply stage, they learn how to communicate their value to employers. Through well prepared application materials like cover letters and resumes, and how to be prepared to interview well. And finally, in the build stage, master students develop skills that benefit them now and into the future. So these skill areas could include things like career planning and goal setting, as well as developing their interpersonal and personal skills. Students can continue to use this after graduation. So this is, you know, setting them up for success not just as a student, but right after as well. 

So here is the type of content that makes up Beyond Graduate School. First in the list is on demand lessons. Some of these topics include career exploration, finding internships, networking, resumes, job documents, and more. The lessons are designed to actively engage students, and most end with next steps. The next steps are spending 30 minutes exploring the career interview library, which I’ll come back to and tell you about, as well as identifying their next lesson and scheduling time to complete it. 

Additionally, each lesson is accompanied by worksheets for the job search course lessons or more in depth workbooks that contain various chapters for the deep dive lessons. In addition to the on demand lessons, which are entirely self paced, Beyond Graduate School also hosts webinars and events on specific dates and times. The Graduate School advertises these webinars and events right alongside our own programming. Students can register for those. And here’s a tip if you’re interested in one of those webinars, but you cannot attend at that time. If you register, you still get access to the recorded webinar video afterwards. 

And next are the career interview library, which features one on one interviews with people who’ve earned master’s degrees. And through these videos, and there are over 150 of them to choose from, you’ll hear from people, how people navigated the job market, landed their jobs, and are building impactful careers. You can use these to explore different types of jobs. See the variety of disciplines where graduates are using their master’s degrees and better understand what it takes to be successful in the job search. 

And next, we wanted to show you kind of the two main curricular parts of the site, the job search strategy and the deep dive. The job search strategy course addresses common challenges or job search related questions that students are grappling with, and they offer this in bite size information on each topic. The deeper dives, on the other hand, go further in depth on some of the same topics. We suggest looking at both the job search strategy course and the deep dive lessons to see which fits your needs best. 

Just a little bit more detail about the job search course. These are on demand lessons that comprise the job search course. Students can jump in and go wherever they want to, or they can go from beginning to end through the course. Chapters are structured around common questions that students have, and most lessons, like I mentioned, are accompanied by worksheets for reflection. The deeper dives go further in depth. And each of these could be its own standalone course. They feature lengthy workbooks with multiple chapters, and true to their title, they go into depth in each of the topic areas academic skills, identifying finding a stable career, how to use LinkedIn, how to network, finding and applying to jobs, and interviewing skills. Okay, so that is the end of our overview. 

Thanks so much for your time, everyone. 

GENERAL HOST: This episode of Your Future. Your Way. comes from UW-Madison Professional programs, offering over 90 graduate level programs, including online and evening and weekend options for working adults. For more details, visit us at go dot wisc dot org slash pro. 

ENROLLMENT COACH MARTA:  Thanks so much, Alissa, for that great overview. From self paced lessons and worksheets to live webinars, Beyond Graduate School is loaded with resources to help students succeed during their degree and beyond. As a UW-Madison student, you’ll get full access to this and other professional development platforms. Just one more reason to consider becoming a badger. 

That wraps up today’s episode. If you have any questions about professional graduate programs offered by UW-Madison or need guidance on your application materials, an enrollment coach like myself, is happy to assist you. You can reach us at coach at pdc dot wisc dot edu And thanks for listening. We hope this episode has inspired you to explore your next steps. Until next time, On Wisconsin! 

ALISSA OLECK: Join us next time to learn more about professional programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Learn how to shape Your Future. Your Way.