Want to discuss your career exploration? You may want to attend one of our upcoming office hours or make a 30-minute appointment. Some topics we can explore:

• How to identify your skills, interests, and values
• Navigating multiple career options at once
• How the career exploration process works, and how to get un-stuck
• How to tell your career story when you're in the midst of a career pivot

Grad 213: Making Informed Decisions (MIND) is normally offered on alternate years, based on staff availability. We also offer individual career exploration workshops throughout the year on topics such as getting started with career exploration, identifying career path options, telling your career story, and more – see our calendar for upcoming workshops.

So you’ve identified a career that you think you might enjoy. What now? It’s time to try that career on for size with an experiment that requires a little more time and effort.** A weeklong consulting workshop, perhaps? A three-month industry internship? A lectureship? A part-time internship with a UCSF office? Or maybe you’re even ready to start applying for jobs? Here are your next steps:

1. Review our list of ways to get experience.
2. Think about the criteria that an opportunity needs to meet, in order to be right for you. (Are you a postdoc? You might want a part-time opportunity. An international scholar? Visas may be a consideration. Is impact one of your core values? Look for outreach opportunities.) Use our Opportunity Comparison Matrix to list and weight your criteria.
3. Know that two-thirds of UCSF students/postdocs who find internships land them through networking, rather than a formal job application – so for best results, both applications and networking should be part of your strategy. Wondering how that works? Read our guide to finding and applying for internships. It'll guide you through getting your LinkedIn house in order, creating a résumé, interviewing and negotiating, and making a strong first impression.
4. Considering a full-time internship? Know that you'll need your P.I.'s permission (so talk to them well in advance!) and read our guidance so you're aware of the logistics and forms you'll need to take care of.
5. Make an appointment with an OCPD career counselor to discuss your situation, brainstorm possibilities, practice talking with your P.I., and/or confirm logistics.

We've collected a wealth of resources about the career paths most commonly pursued by UCSF PhD students and postdocs. Around the country and the world, it's increasingly well-understood that PhDs have a wide variety of career options available to them. 

• Read about 20 different career paths for PhD-level scientists (both in academia and beyond academia) in the Career Exploration section of Science Magazine's myIDP site. (note: you will be required to create a free account)
• Read about 15 common career paths for PhD-level humanists and social scientists (both within and beyond academia) in the "Job Family Resources" section of ImaginePhD
• UCSF also collects official data about career outcomes for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars.

If you've watched our video "The Fantasy, the Ideal, and the Reality of Career Exploration," then you know that career exploration is an iterative process (some would say a lifelong process) with many possible outcomes, rather than a linear set of steps. In this way, as UCSF alum Tina Solvik says, it's a lot like research! That said, here are some starting points:

• Self reflection is key to effective carer exploration. Ellen Elliott writes about this step in a JAX blog post. Once you know your preferences and tastes, you can use that information to look more closely at different types of positions in your field. Check out this Science Careers article by Beryl Lieff Benderly to learn more.
• The My Individual Development Plan Assessment Tool from AAAS, which was co-created by OCPD, allows you to input your skills, interests, and values. This tool then compares your skills/interests/values responses to key factors for 60 different career paths within 20 different career categories that are options for you as a scientist. Humanists and social scientists can find skills, values, and interests assessments at ImaginePhD. (Both tools require you to create a free account.)
• If you'd like to be guided through the process, consider taking one (or both!) of our structured career exploration classes, Motivating INformed Decisions (MIND) or Internships and Experiential Learning. These programs use a cohort model to help you identify and pursue experiences that help you clarify your career goals.

The short answers are, "As much time as you want!" and "Whenever you can!"

• An important part of career exploration is conducting informational interviews with people in a position that interests you. Check out our webpage Informational Interviews and Building Your Professional Network for lots of resources to help you with each step of this important process. According to University of Michigan's Active Career Exploration (ACE) framework, informational interviews can be done effectively in 10 hours over 1 month. Read more about the framework here.
• For a list of simple things you can do to explore careers, the National Postdoc Association (NPA) provides some advice. BiteSizeBio also provides some tips to build your career while in graduate school.
• If you are ready to really effectively explore careers, consider the Motivating INformed Decisions (MIND) program. MIND participants will explore a variety of career paths as well as connect with partners to take a close look at different career paths. Also consider the GSICE program at UCSF. GSICE allows trainees to prepare for, find, and gain hands-on experience in a career environment they want to explore.

Want to hear from a PhD student or postdoc that successfully explored different career options and was able to land a position in a different field?

For trainees in Basic and Biomedical Sciences:

• Jennifer De Mello, Chemistry PhD, now a senior business analyst
• Christine Buske, Cell and systems biology PhD, now a head of outreach and blogger
• Viviane Callier, Biology PhD, now a science writer
  • Learn more about Science writing and communications careers
• Peter Larson, Biology PhD, a former academic faculty and now a blogger and running coach
• Marga Gual Solar, Molecular and cell biology PhD, now working in science policy
• Nadia Jaber on her career exploration as a PhD student
• For more career transition stories, visit From PhD To Life

For trainees in Social and Population Sciences:

• Jo VanEvery, Sociology PhD, now an independent academic coach and research facilitator
• Adam Sanford, Sociology PhD, now an academic coach, writer, and adjunct instructor
• Sam Ladner, Sociology PhD, now a senior researcher at Microsoft

• Learn about opportunities in Contract Research Work from Sociology at Work
• Read about social scientists working in tech