Last fall, the OCPD spearheaded the Power of 10 Industry Career Series, a UC-wide collaboration designed to offer a broader range of career development programming to our PhD-students and postdoctoral scholars.
Launched through an NIH Advancing Research Careers (ARC) grant, the initiative brought together career services and postdoctoral affairs offices across the UC system to pilot a shared, system-level approach to industry-focused programming.
The seven-part series reached 667 participants from 8 of the 10 UC campuses, demonstrating how cross-campus partnership can extend impact while making efficient use of limited career development resources.
The Evidence: learning gains in every session
Post session, participants were asked to do a pre and post assessment, rating their level of knowledge before and after each session using a 1-10 scale. Data was collected for 5 of the 7 workshops offered.
Across all assessed sessions, participants reported meaningful increases in topic knowledge, with average gains ranging from +2.4 to +4.6 points.
| Session | Avg. Pre | Avg. Post | Avg. Knowledge Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC 1: Industry Career Options and Culture | 5.3 | 7.7 | +2.4 |
| ARC 2: Organizing a Job Search in Industry | 5.6 | 8.1 | +2.5 |
| ARC 3: Exploring Industry Postdocs (Genentech) | 3.1 | 7.7 | +4.6 |
| ARC 4: Writing a CV for Industry | 5.4 | 8.4 | +3.0 |
| ARC 5: Interviewing for Industry | 4.9 | 8.3 | +3.4 |
Participants consistently moved from moderate or low familiarity to strong confidence, particularly in areas where prior exposure is limited. The largest gains occurred in sessions focused on industry postdoctoral pathways, an option many trainees are curious about but rarely understand well.
What students and postdocs took away, in their own words
Participant feedback highlighted five areas of development that extended beyond information sharing:
Contextual and environmental awareness, including industry norms and external conditions
Strategic career navigation, approaching exploration and job searches with intention
Skill-based knowledge, gaining immediately applicable, transferable skills
Tool and technology fluency, including LinkedIn and AI-supported career tools
Professional identity reframing, shifts in confidence, mindset, and self-presentation
Representative comments illustrate these shifts:
From Industry Careers and Culture
“Ask the right questions to see the culture you fit in.”
“I had not considered recent layoffs and how that changes competition in the job market.”
From Organizing a Job Search in Industry
“How to tailor my resume and search strategically.”
“LinkedIn is actually important to the process.”
From Exploring Industry Postdocs (Genentech)
“That postdocs who go to industry can still return to academia.”
“What placement looks like after the program is completed.”
From Writing a CV for Industry
“How to read job descriptions and tailor my CV.”
“How to use AI effectively to generate a resume.”
From Interviewing for Industry
“How to answer ‘tell me about yourself’ beyond publications.”
“The psychology behind interviewing and how to prepare.”
Why we're excited
In short, our pilot:
Produced measurable learning gains across all assessed sessions
Addressed well-documented gaps in exposure to non-academic career paths
Reduced duplication of effort across campuses
Delivered high-value programming despite limited staffing
But more than that, the Power of 10 Industry Career Series demonstrates exciting possibilities when career centers and postdoctoral offices work collectively to leverage the wide-range of expertise of not just UC staff, faculty and alumni. Our goal is to offer an expanded set of program offerings in 2026 to meet demand, particularly around career exploration, and this pilot has given us the scaffolding and the strategy to do just that.
We are looking forward to launching at least two more collaborative series in 2026. Stay tuned!