Career Center Info Session
Here is a transcript from our Career Center Info Session, courtesy of Matt Gudorf:
Presenters:
Susan Belmonte // sbelmonte@gatech.edu // Teaching and Law Careers
Robbie Ouzts // robbie.ouzts@gatech.edu // Advising Graduate students.
Center for Career Discovery and Development
Robbie: All aspects of job search and advising. Also does counseling.
Susan: Works with Teaching and Law advisement program. Teaching K-12
is a field that many graduate students look into; but Law is a field
that perhaps many people have not looked into.
Patent Law is one area in law where you can practice without going to law school.
Patent examiners, patent agents, etc.
Vanderbilt has a program for medical researchers. If you already have a Ph.D. you can
go to Vanderbilt you can go for free to get an M.D. Francisco Costalanta??[Unknown spelling]
Two offices have merged for co-ops and internships to produce Center for Career Discovery and Development
C2D2 is the shorthand for the department. Robbie and Susan are trying to keep graduate students informed.
Graduate students tend to self-select out. (Write themselves off for career fairs and other events deemed for undergrads).
Look for the “Grad-Friendly” Marker. (Golden Downwards pointing Pentagon with “Graduate Student Friendly” in blue print)
Robbie: Working Grad Co-Op internships into the Physics Graduate Program hopefully.
It’s a great opportunity to look into a company to see if you like them.
Best to make a connection with someone within the company to explore opportunities to get a foot in the door.
Very few people apply and are picked out randomly.
Susan:
Public and Private schools have Ph.D. built into pay scale.
Graduate Teaching Fellows: Year of experience teaching in a middle/high school.
Technical Advisor: Being hired by a Law Firm for technical expertise. Can be a full time position.
Robbie: You are not your major. Most people five years out arent necessarily doing something specific in regards to their
research.
Think about your natural skillsets and things you are good at (negotiation, leadership, etc.) and try to define
your role that way. It’s okay to do career exploration and branch out. Who do you know that has a job that you like.
Ask someone that has the job you’re looking at.
Use apps on mobile device to stay in touch and respond. (LinkedIn referenced).
Q: When would you start to become active in these things. For Advisors don’t think internships are good idea.
Susan: Career fair in September are hiring further and further out.
(General Discussion about how Physics does not really allow/encourage internships)
Industry prefers industry experience.
Robbie: Register on Career Buzz. It’s a centralized job posting system.
Versatile Ph.D, there’s an Atlanta group meeting/chat rooms that have same issues, look for industry jobs, etc.
If you’re doing something and you don’t like it that needs to be taken into consideration.
Seventy percent of people that are employed are passively looking for jobs. Lots of competition.
Q: Exploring other career options, how do you get an accurate idea of what you would be doing in that field.
Interviews with people (People like talking about themselves [sic]).
Q: How long are the Medical/Law programs after Ph.D.
M.D. 4 years
J.D. 3 years can get
Fulton county will hire you to teach in a public school. Can get certification while teaching but must pass certificiation.
Two critical teaching shortages: Chemistry and Physics.
CRIDC: used to be graduate career symposium.
Place to post abstracts and present research in a comfortable environment.
Every company wants leadership, writing, public speaking.
Invite
We are hosting an information session about the GT Center for Career Discovery and Development (C2D2), Tuesday November 29th at 3pm in the Howey Interaction Zone (S105). Please join us for a presentation and Q&A with two C2D2 advisors, Susan Belmonte and Robbie Ouzts, about the resources provided at C2D2. These include job application and interview preparation, finding co-ops/internships during grad school, and finding specific careers in teaching, law, industry, and more. International students are welcome! Food and drinks will be provided.
More info about C2D2 can be found at career.gatech.edu.