June 2009

Graduate Career Advisors @ CaPS

Susan Molnar and Lorna MacEachern are available to meet with you to discuss your career options and job search strategies.

To book an appointment, call 514-398-3304, x0321.

Advising & CV Drop-In

Advising and CV Drop-In will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 15h00-16h30 and Fridays from 10h00-11h30 and does not require an appointment. First come, first served.

Join the next Job Finding Club

Have you finished your research and are struggling to find a job? If so, consider joining our Job Finding Club in August!

The Job Finding Club is open to graduate students and is an excellent way to learn the basic steps of the job search process and also a great to look for a job in a structured environment.

The next session runs August 17th to 28th. To find out more details and how to register, click here.

Become of a fan of CaPS

Become a fan of the McGill Career Planning Service (CaPS) on Facebook to stay informed about the latest CaPS events!

Contact me

If you have any suggestions about how we can better serve you, don't hesitate to contact me.

Susan Molnar, M.Ed.
Graduate Career Advisor
(514) 398-3304 x0759
susan.molnar@mcgill.ca

Congratulations to all those who convocated!

CaPS would like to remind you that you can still take full advantage of our services and programs. Graduate students have access to our services, free of charge, for a year after graduation and for two more years after that for a nominal fee.

Summer hours

Please note that our office is open Monday through Friday (9AM - 5PM) until June 24, after which we are open Monday through Thursday (9AM - 5PM). We will be closed June 24 and July 1 for public holidays. Full-time service resumes the first full week of August.

In this issue:

Planning ahead for a Teaching Career
Beyond the Ivory Tower - Every Ph.D. Needs a Plan B
Workshops
Contact Us

Planning ahead for a Teaching Career

The following resources are offered to graduate students in order to help prepare you for a teaching career. Please note them for the Fall registration period.

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (EDPH 689, 3 credits)
Ed Psych & Couns (Collegial): Students will develop an understanding of teaching and learning as a process in which instruction is based on the learning to be accomplished. Students will design, develop, and evaluate a university course of their choice, and will develop facility and confidence in using teaching methods appropriate to their domains.

Teaching & Learning Services offers a range of course for graduate students wishing to improve their teaching skills. Currently there are no workshops offered however they can provide you with samples of teaching statements and teaching philosophies specific to your department. Please contact them for more information.

[back to top]

Beyond the Ivory Tower - Every Ph.D. Needs a Plan B

by Alexandra M. Lord

Few students understand that you can prepare for both academic and nonacademic jobs in graduate school

---

The résumé runs two tightly packed pages, with extended margins. The small font makes me reach first for my glasses and then, in a moment of irritation, for a magnifying glass, which may say more about my vision than the font.

This is the fourth résumé from a doctoral student that I have been asked to review this month, and I find myself feeling frustrated and concerned. As the creator of Beyond Academe, a Web site that helps historians find nonacademic jobs, I frequently receive e-mail messages from Ph.D. students who are desperately looking for work. In the last few months, as the economy has worsened, I have received more requests than usual.

The converted CV I am looking at now is almost identical to the last one I reviewed. And that, more than anything, has me alarmed. These résumés all make it fairly clear that most graduate programs in the humanities still promote the idea that their students will become professors.

As we all know, the truth is quite different. In history, English, philosophy, and almost every humanities discipline, a significant majority of Ph.D.'s will never obtain tenure-track positions. A student can do everything right — win teaching awards, publish articles, and have a degree from the nation's best graduate program in a particular field — and still fail to obtain an academic position after years of searching.

[continue reading this article]

[back to top]

Workshops and Events

Registration for all of the following workshops is available through myFuture. Click on the "Workshops/Events" tab and select the "Workshops" tab.

• 9th Annual Self-Employed Artists' Conference
  June 8, 9h00-17h00: YES Montreal
  

  For more information and to register, visit http://www.yesmontreal.ca/yes.php?section=artists/conference

• Everything You Need to Get Your Job Search Started: Intensive “One Stop Shop” for Grad Students
  June 19, 13h00-16h00: Brown, Room 3001
  

  By attending this workshop, students will be able to:

  1) Compose a more effective and tailored CV.
  2) Define the essential components of a cover letter.
  3) Understand the importance of, and define what is involved in, thorough interview preparation.
  4) Identify the best forms of verbal and non-verbal communication in order to conduct themselves in a professional manner before, during and after an interview.
  5) Understand the importance of an action plan which includes identifying the eight steps that guide the career planning process and which of those steps needs development.

[back to top]