Resources for Graduate Students and Postdocs on Careers and Job Searching
Compiled in April 2005 by Karen Muskavitch (muskavka@bc.edu), Boston College
General Information
Boston College Career Center Resources for Graduate Students
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/resourcesfor/gradstudents/
Career Services in the Graduate School of Social Work
http://www.bc.edu/schools/gssw/career/
Office of Career Services in the Law School
http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/services/career/
Graduate Management Career Services in the Carroll School of Management
http://www.bc.edu/schools/csom/mba/careers/
Obtaining Employment page of Ph.D. Resources on Re-envisioning the Ph.D. website – check the “Publications”
link to an annotated bibliography, plus links to many “On-line Articles”, “Web Resources”, and “Discussion
Groups”
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/employment_index.html
Career and Job Search Information on Preparing Future Faculty website – links
http://www.preparing-faculty.org/PFFWeb.Resources.htm#career
Beyond the Ivory Tower, What you should know about nonacademic careers for Ph.D.’s. A collection of advice
columns that have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
http://chronicle.com/jobs/archive/advice/beyond.htm
Starting at the Bottom – column on Chronicle Careers by Susan Basalla on the realities of starting work in the
private sector (copy included in workshop materials)
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/05/2002050801c.htm
ADE and ADFL Online Job Counseling – page on Modern Language Association website with varied information
on career planning and the job market (hot-link may not work, try pasting URL into your browser)
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling
Boston College Graduate History Alliance: Information for Grad Students Seeking Teaching Positions in
Academia
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/svp/st_org/gha/GHA_Job_Hunt.html
gradPSYCH, The magazine of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students – check entries in
the Career Center columns
http://gradpsych.apags.org/
A Guide (and Advice) for Economists on the U.S. Junior Academic Job Market – essay by John Cawley on the
academic job search with references and links, American Economic Association
http://www.aeaweb.org/joe/articles/2004/cawley_2004.pdf
Science’s NextWave, the career development resource for scientists
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/
PhDs.org Science, Math, and Engineering Career Resources
http://www.phds.org/
American Chemical Society (ACS) Career Services
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=careers\index.html
ACS Department of Career Services Catalog
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/pdf/DCS_Cat05.pdf
ACS Career Library Publications – many useful items online
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=careers\pub02.html
Job-Search Strategies for Chemical Professionals – overview of the job search process
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/pdf/job_search.pdf
JobHuntersBible.com - Website with supplemental information for the popular book What Color Is Your
Parachute? Has many links.
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/index.html
Job Hunting Resources – a list of books and links compiled by the Survival Skills and Ethics Program of the
Univ. of Pittsburgh
http://www.survival.pitt.edu/library/biblio/jobhunting.asp
Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning a Master’s or Ph.D., Robert L. Peters
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997)
So What Are You Going to Do with That? A Guide to Career-Changing for MA’s and Ph.D.’s, Susan Elizabeth
Basalla and Maggie Debelius (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000)
What Color is Your Parachute? 2005: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers, Richard
Nelson Bolles, Mark Emery Bolles (editor) (Ten Speed Press, 2005)
A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science, Peter J. Feibelman (Perseus,1994)
Careers in Science and Engineering, A Student Planning Guide to Grad School and Beyond, Committee on
Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, NAS, NAE, IOM (National Academy Press, 1996) available online
at http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/careers/
Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, “a
collection of practical advice, experiences, and opinions from seasoned biomedical investigators and other
professionals” Chapter 1 covers Obtaining and Negotiating a Faculty Position and Planning for Tenure,
available online as pdf http://www.hhmi.org/grants/office/scimgmt.html
The Academic Job Search Handbook, 3rd Edition, Mary Morris Heigerger and Julis Miller Vick (Univ.
Pennsylvanis Press, 2001)
Surviving the Academic Job Search, Christina Boufis and Victoria Olsen (Riverhead Books, 1997)
Job Search in Academe, Dawn M. Formo, et al. (Stylus Publishing, 1998)
So You Want to Be a Professor: A Handbook for Graduate Students, P. Aarne Vesilind (Sage Publications, 2000)
The MLA Guide to the Job Search: a Handbook for Departments and for PhDs and PhD Candidates in English
and Foreign Languages, E. Showalter, et al. (MLA 1996)
The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist, John M. Darley, et al. (Am. Psych.
Assoc,. 2003)
Self-Assessment
Three Key Questions – Boston College Intersections Program, based on writings of Michael Himes
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/uvp/mismin/intersec/intersec/three_key.shtml
Self-Assessment; know what you want and what you have to offer – resources at the Boston College Career
Center
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/careers/step1/
How to Do What You Love – a column from Chronicle Careers by Susan Basalla on how to identify what you
love to do and find work you love
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/11/2002110401c.htm
Know Thyself – a column from Chronicle Careers by Sandra Yin on “career tests or personality assessments”
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/12/2003121001c.htm
Career Choices: Analyzing Data – About You – an article by Kathie Sindt on Science NextWave about
determining what you are interested in and what are your skills
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/04/23/1
Research and Networking
Networking for Dummies – column in Chronicle Careers by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/05/2002051701c.htm
Networking Your Way to a Job – a column from Chronicle Careers by Margaret Newhouse on job searching by
humanities Ph.D.s
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2000/01/2000012101c.htm
Three Networking Scenarios – articles by Dave Jensen on Science NextWave
Part One: Making the Best of Your Business Contacts
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/08/13/7
Part Two:
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/09/17/3
More than Just a Job-Seeking Skill: Networking Ability Forecasts Future Career Success – article by Dave Jensen
on Science Next Wave
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2005/02/17/1
Boston College Career Network, Networking with Alumni – information on how to network and access to a
database of BC alumni who are interested in talking with you
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/careers/networking/
Planning a Career after Graduate School – information on a variety of careers in and out of academia from the
Modern Language Association (MLA) (these hot links may not work; try pasting the URL into your browser)
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_planning
also see Developing an Academic Career at
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_academic
Developing a Nonacademic Career at
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_nonacademic
Career Information for Graduate Students and Junior Faculty Members
http://www.mla.org/pdf/jil_careerinfo_grad.pdf
PsychCareers – career website of American Psychological Association
http://www.psyccareers.com/
also see Careers in Psychology for the 21st Century
http://www.apa.org/students/brochure/brochurenew.pdf
Careers in Psychology page of APA Graduate Students web site
http://www.apa.org/apags/profdev/careers.html
see essay and resources on The Non-Academic Career Path
http://www.apa.org/apags/profdev/nonacadcareer.html
Careers for Chemists: A World Outside the Lab – presents the wide availability of alternative career options for
chemists and chemical engineers, ACS Career Service
Where to Find Information on Nonacademic Careers – article by Gabriela Montell on Chronicle Careers with a
list of Web resources
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2001/04/2001040604c.htm
Information about academic jobs – links posted on Chronicle Careers site
http://chronicle.com/jobs/resources.htm
The Job Search Process
Cover Letters, Resumes, and CVs
Cover Letters – tips, resources and samples from the BC Career Center
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/skills/letters/cover/
What You Don’t Know about Cover Letters – article in Chronicle Careers by Mary Dillon Johnson concerning
non-academic jobs
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/06/2002061101c.htm
The Basics of Cover Letter Writing – column in Chronicle Careers by Richard M. Reis concerning academic jobs
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2000/03/2000030302c.htm
The CV Doctor Returns – article in Chronicle Careers by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick including
annotated examples
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/10/2002101101c.htm
CV dos and don’ts – article in gradPSYCH; has link to a sample CV
http://gradpsych.apags.org/sep03/cv.cfm
The View from the Search Committee’s Side of the Table – column from Chronicle Careers by Margaret
Gibelman
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2001/12/2001120501c.htm
Writing CVs and Resumes on Re-envisioning the Ph.D. website – links to on-line resources and guides
http://www.grad.washington.edu/envision/phd/obtaining_employment/resumes3.html
CV to Resume: Representing Yourself Outside Academe – guide from the University of Chicago with examples
http://caps.uchicago.edu/resources/pdfs/cv2resume.pdf
From CV to Resume – column from Chronicle Careers by Margaret Newhouse, includes a link to an example
http://chronicle.com/jobs/99/12/99120301c.htm
Am I My Vita? – column from Chronicle Careers by Mary Morris Heiberger and Julia Miller Vick
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/11/2002110801c.htm
Tips on Writing a Curriculum Vitae – from ACS
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/pdf/DCS_CV.pdf
Resume Writing – tips, resources, and samples from the BC Career Center
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/skills/resumes/
Resume Preparation – Tips for Chemical Professionals – from ACS with many examples
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/pdf/tips.pdf
How to Prepare Your Curriculum Vita, 2nd Edition, A.L. Jackson and K. Geckesis (McGraw Hill, 2003)
Letters of Recommendation and Reference Lists
Letters of Recommendation – tips from the BC Career Center
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/skills/letters/recomm/
List of References – tips from the BC Career Center
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/skills/letters/refer/
Modern Language Association information on academic job searching
C.V.s, Dossiers, Application Letters, Writing Samples, and Portfolios (copy and paste URL into browser)
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_dossiers
Interviewing
Modern Language Association information on academic job searching
Interviews, Campus Visits, Job Talks, and Teaching Demonstration
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/job_counseling/job_interviews
Interview Skills – tips, techniques, and resources from the BC Career Center
http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/skills/interview/
Guidelines for Job Seekers and Hiring Departments – MLA information about the academic job search process
including information about interviewing at the MLA Convention (copy and paste URL into browser)
http://www.mla.org/resources/jil/jil_jobseekers
Using the Annual Meeting [of the American Historical Association] to Win a Position at a Small Undergraduate
College
http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/Issues/1995/12/0312anm1.cfm
Interviewing Skills for Chemical Professionals – from ACS
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/ACS/ACSContent/careers/pdf/interviewing.pdf