Professional Development for Graduate Students

When you participate in professional development, you build skills needed to succeed academically and thrive in your career.

The Graduate School Office of Professional Development supports graduate students to learn skills that benefit them academically and support them to pursue a wide variety of career paths, from academic to non-academic careers.

Start here: DiscoverPD

DiscoverPD helps master’s and doctoral students at UW–Madison advance their academic and professional goals.

You’ll read more about the facets of professional development.
Our 5-minute self-assessment provides you a report of your strengths and weaknesses.
You’ll explore customized recommendations within each facet, and add these to your Individual Development Plan.

Behind DiscoverPD is a curated database of professional development activities on campus and beyond. Your recommendations will draw from this database, or you’ll have the option to search the database if you know what you’re looking for.

Watch the 3-minute video.

Log in to DiscoverPD with NetID >>

Inquiry, discovery, and creation

Disciplinary expertise and interdisciplinary connections

Leadership

Career development

Managing projects and people

Communication

Diversity and inclusion

Personal and interpersonal effectiveness

Individual Development Plan

The Individual Development Plan (IDP) helps you reflect, plan, and discuss in order to achieve your academic and professional goals.

What is the IDP?

It’s a process in which you will:

assess your skills, interests, and strengths;
define a written plan for developing skills; and
communicate with your mentor(s).

The product of this process will be a written, ever-evolving IDP document.

You’ll revisit your IDP at least once per year, to update and refine as goals change or come into focus, and to record progress and accomplishments.

How it works:

To create your IDP, you can start with one of the IDP resources listed below, or attend an IDP workshop hosted by the Graduate School. Your graduate program coordinator or faculty mentor may also be able to help you get started.

UW–Madison IDP policy:

IDPs are required for graduate students and postdocs with NIH funding, and recommended for all graduate students and postdocs regardless of funding source.

Related resources >>

IDP for Humanities and Social Sciences

ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.

IDP for Biological and Physical Sciences

myIDP is a web-based career planning tool, hosted by the AAAS, tailored to meet the needs of graduate students and postdocs in the sciences.

Resources for Future Faculty

UW–Madison values preparing future faculty to be effective teachers, mentors, and researchers at worldwide institutions.

The Delta Program

The Delta Program in Research, Teaching and Learning in the Graduate School promotes the development of a future national faculty that is committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching and research mentoring practices for diverse student audiences. The Delta Program offers workshops, courses, an Internship Program, and a Certificate Program.

Join the Delta community to:
• Explore inclusive and engaging teaching practices
• Gain skills and experience toward strong job application materials
• Belong to a community committed to advancing effective teaching

For Future Faculty Series

The For Future Faculty Series provides in-person and online events and resources designed for graduate students and postdocs interested in careers as research and teaching faculty.

Participate in this series for guidance on topics such as:
• Understanding institutional fit
• Preparing your job application materials
• Conducting your job search
• Developing your research program
• Advancing your teaching skills

Professional Development Programming

Each semester the Graduate School, together with campus partners, hosts nearly 400 professional development events, which can be found through DiscoverPD and our events calendar.

Communicating research

Three Minute Thesis® is a competition in which students explain their research to a lay audience.

Grants and funding

An introduction to the grant proposal process: planning, researching, writing, and follow-up.

Networking

Tips and resources for graduate students to improve networking experience and effectiveness.

Project management

A one-day workshop, as well as materials from past workshops, about project management.

Online learning

Explore strategies to prepare to learn remotely, engage in your courses, and maximize your time.

More programming >>

Graduate research

A micro-course on conducting research, scholarly conversations, and sharing contributions.

Mentorship

Find out how to get the mentorship you need to be successful, and become the mentor you want to be to others.

Skill-building and career planning

Browse the free memberships and tools available to graduate student to build skills, explore career options, and more.

Introduction to patents

Learn the types of patents and patent concepts, the anatomy of a patent, and the patent process.

Intellectual property

An online micro-course about cultural, legal, and policy perspectives on intellectual property.

Events

September
- September 9
  
  Equity in Graduate Education Workshop 1: Intro to Mentoring & Wellbeing 12:00PM, Online
- September 9
  
  How to go into a career fair with confidence – Graduate School Office of Professional Development 1:00PM,
- September 9
  
  Excel 1: Introduction to Data Processing with Excel – Software Training for Students (STS) 5:30PM, (CMC) 2257, Helen C. White Hall
- September 10
  
  Introducing ML+X Nexus – Your Gateway to Collaborative Machine Learning and AI Resources! – Machine Learning Beyond Traditional CS Fields 12:00PM, Orchard View Room, Discovery Building
- September 10
  
  How to go into a career fair with confidence – Graduate School Office of Professional Development 1:00PM,
- September 10
  
  Illustrator 1: Creating Graphics with Illustrator – Software Training for Students (STS) 5:30PM, (CMC) 2257, Helen C. White Hall
- September 11
  
  ML+Coffee – Machine Learning Community Event 9:00AM, Discovery Building
- September 11
  
  Data Visualization in R: GGplot2 Basics 10:00AM, 3218 Sewell Social Sciences
- September 11
  
  How to set yourself up for career success – Graduate School Office of Professional Development 11:00AM,
- September 11
  
  How to go into a career fair with confidence – Graduate School Office of Professional Development 1:00PM,
More events

Professional Development for Doctoral Students: What To Do by Career Stage

It’s always a good time to work on professional development, but some skills can be especially impactful if you focus on them during specific stages of graduate school.

Below are some recommendations of what to do whether you are just starting graduate school, well into your program, or in the latter stages of a PhD. While you’ll develop many of these skills through the coursework, research, and scholarship that is part of your graduate program, you can also seek out opportunities to further develop these skills by searching the DiscoverPD database.

These recommendations are based on research from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) on PhD Professional Development: Value, Timing, and Participation, which surveyed PhD alumni including those at UW–Madison to determine which activities they found the most useful at each career stage of graduate school.

Here are a few things to think about as you get started:

You might find that some of these ideas are more relevant to you than others. Alumni in the CGS survey reported different participation in some activities depending on whether they were in humanities or non-humanities programs. Use your judgment but think creatively about whether these skills might be useful to you.
To maximize your likelihood of success, incorporate ideas from the lists below into your Individual Development Plan. Use the SMART goal method to develop action-oriented goals.
Talk with your mentor(s) or more senior graduate student peers to increase your accountability to follow through on your goals and get even more advice.

Most PhD alumni suggest that taking advantage of professional development opportunities in these areas is the most useful when done in the beginning stages of a PhD program.

Communication: The graduate student events calendar compiles workshops and events that focus on communication skills. Think about communication broadly – encompassing written, verbal, visual, and digital skills – as well as being able to tailor media to engage fellow scholars and the general public.

Public Speaking: Try these public speaking tips from GradHacker. To develop effective materials for public speaking events, look to DesignLab for help creating presentation slides, research posters, and more.

Networking: Learn how to network authentically and effectively, then put that knowledge into practice during graduate school. You may already be thinking about networking in different ways, such as building intellectual or professional communities with the new people you meet on campus, or building relationships with those in your program and courses. Whether you join an existing writing group, start a regular social outing for peers, or something else, these interactions all help build your network.

Digital Literacy: DesignLab can help you learn how to work effectively with digital media, including presentation slides, infographics, webpages, video, and audio. To learn how to use different software, look to the classes offered by Software Training for Students or through LinkedIn Learning.

Quantitative Literacy/Data Analytics: The Data Science Hub offers workshops to help you learn data analysis skills, and compiles a list of data science resources on campus. The Social Science Computing Cooperative offers training and support to researchers who use statistical analysis.

Academic Writing: The Writing Center offers writing workshops to enhance your academic writing and a self-paced, in-depth guide to academic and professional writing. Additionally, a micro-course from the UW Libraries introduces you to copyright and fair use for your projects.

Research Ethics/Scholarly Integrity: Get an introduction to research ethics and integrity with UW–Madison specific information on Research Integrity at UW–Madison, Responsible Data Planning, Use, and Sharing, and campus guidelines on Responsible Conduct of Research.

Diversity/Multicultural Competency: Many diversity training resources are available on campus, including the annual UW–Madison Diversity Forum. The micro-course Reflecting on Social Justice Foundational Concepts is a great starting point.

Teaching Preparation: The Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring supports UW–Madison instructors in their continuing growth as practitioners of the complex, challenging, and dynamic craft of teaching. The center serves faculty and staff instructors, as well as graduate student TAs and LSAs, through just-in-time training (e.g. designing a course) and professional development opportunities (e.g. Teaching at UW workshops, TeachOnline@UW). Additionally, the Delta Program, housed in the Graduate School, engages students in teaching, mentoring, outreach, and advising professional development, and UW–Madison is a member of the CIRTL Network (the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning). A self-guided micro-course on Including & Navigating Race in the Classroom introduces the importance of representation in class materials, and focuses on how to facilitate productive dialogue with students that doesn’t bring harm.

Networking: Improve your experience and effectiveness with networking, a skill that can be vital for career success as you build professional and intellectual communities and relationships.

Project Management: Learn about the principles of project management. Consider attending the Project Management Workshop hosted by the Graduate School each January (Check GradConnections Weekly in your inbox for workshop announcements.)

Leadership Development: The Center for Leadership & Involvement connects students with opportunities to develop leadership capacity and offers a leadership certificate to interested students. The UW–Madison Leadership Framework further articulates ways you can engage in leadership on and off campus.

Grant Writing: Get an introduction to the grant proposal process with this grants and funding micro-course, then learn the basics of planning and writing a grant proposal.

Research or Fieldwork Abroad: Campus offers many funding opportunities and other support to help you pursue research or fieldwork outside of the U.S., including:

the Student Research Grants Competition (eligibility varies each year)
funding for fieldwork abroad through the Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS)
Study Abroad scholarships
the UW Graduate Research program and UW Graduate Fellowships Research program through International Academic Programs. Through these programs, you will be registered as a full-time student, as well as enrolled in CISI insurance, for the duration of your research with access to emergency support while abroad.

Networking: As you prepare to enter the job market, make networking part of your job search plan. When you attend professional conferences, make meeting new people part of what you aim to get out of the experience. And if you are exploring career options, consider informational interviewing as a way to both learn about jobs and establish valuable connections that could lead to job offers down the road.

Career Preparation: The Office of Professional Development regularly hosts workshops on interviewing, job negotiations, and similar topics, so check the graduate student events calendar for opportunities. Recordings are often available on the Graduate School’s YouTube channel. When it’s time to apply for a job, Writing Center workshops can help with preparing materials – both academic and non-academic – and has on-demand guides for CVs, Resumes, and Cover Letters in the Writer’s Handbook. Beyond Graduate School is a one-of-a-kind online career training platform for master’s students, with on-demand, self-paced learning modules for exploring career options and learning proven job search strategies. Beyond the Professoriate empowers PhD students to make informed decisions about their career path and learn successful job search strategies to navigate the faculty job market and explore professional careers beyond the professoriate.

Entrepreneurship: The Weinert Center at the Wisconsin School of Business serves as a resource for all students interested in entrepreneurship and hosts the Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch program. The Innovate Network also provides resources in the campus and Madison community. To become familiar with intellectual property as you may encounter and produce it in your time as a student, check out the UW Libraries’ Intellectual Property micro-course or watch these videos on Intellectual Property and Invention Disclosure for Graduate Students.

Search the DiscoverPD database for more opportunities related to these topics >>

Career Exploration

Career advising for graduate students is usually offered within your school/college, department, or program, supplemented by career exploration programming offered through the Graduate School.

Beyond Graduate School

Beyond Graduate School is a one-of-a-kind online career training platform for master’s students. The platform provides on-demand, self-paced learning modules that allow master’s students to explore career options and learn proven job search strategies to secure employment after graduation. Beyond Grad School also hosts a unique video library where students can hear from master’s degree holders working in all career sectors.

Beyond Graduate School benefits master’s students by:
• supporting career exploration and building job search skills.
• providing proven job search strategies so students can leverage their education into professional careers of their choice.
• providing accessible, well-curated resources for busy master’s students.
• complementing existing on-campus graduate student career supports.
• offering recorded seminars, workbooks, and a one-of-a-kind informational interview library where students can learn from other master’s degree holders.

To log in, visit Beyond Graduate School, select University of Wisconsin-Madison, and enter your institutional login information.

Beyond the Professoriate PhD Career Training Platform

Beyond the Professoriate’s Career Training Platform helps graduate students, postdocs, and PhDs successfully transition into academic or nonacademic careers.

Through two programs of study (Academic Careers and Professional Careers), postdocs and graduate students can explore career options and learn job search strategies to secure employment in academia and beyond.

Beyond the Professoriate’s Career Training Platform benefits grad students by:
• Supporting career exploration.
• Providing accessible, well-curated resources for busy graduate students.
• Promoting engaging learning through reflective activities that encourage students to apply what they’ve learned.
• Complementing existing on-campus graduate student career supports.
• Offering recorded seminars, reflective prompts, and assessments that guide the student experience and foster user engagement.

To log in visit Beyond Prof’s Career Training Platform, select University of Wisconsin-Madison, and enter your institutional login information.

NCFDD

NCFDD is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community for faculty members, postdocs, and graduate students. It provides online career development and mentoring resources in a ready-to-access format that you can view anytime.

Starting with a core curriculum, NCFDD offers insight into foundational skills such as planning each semester, developing a daily writing practice, cultivating a network of mentors and collaborators, and managing stress and rejection.

Members can sign up to participate in online events including webinars, bootcamps, multi-week courses, and structured writing challenges. Plus, the NCFDD Discussion Forums offer a place to connect with others to seek or share advice.

Create an account to take advantage of expert webinars, writing challenges, the “Monday Motivator” e-newsletter and more.

Once you sign up through UW–Madison's institutional membership, you will have access to the full range of resources, trainings, and courses available through NCFDD.

Alumni career profiles

Marcela Guerrero
Assistant Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Guerrero received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, and holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Jared Knowles
President, Civilytics Consulting LLC
Jared Knowles founded Civilytics Consulting, LLC, in 2016 to pursue his passion of providing high-quality public performance metrics for government services. Knowles completed his political science PhD in 2015 at UW–Madison, where he was also a fellow in the Interdisciplinary Training Program in Education Sciences.
Sasānēhsaeh Pyawasay
Native American Student Success Coordinator, University of Wisconsin System
Sasānēhsaeh Pyawasay is an enrolled member of the Menominee Nation from the Menominee Indian Reservation of Wisconsin. She attended UW–Madison as an undergraduate majoring in Sociology and American Indian Studies and continued to earn a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) in 2009.
More alumni career profiles and employment sectors