8th Annual Online Career Conference for PhDs

May 1st & 8th, 2021
ONLINE

Replays available to All Access ticket holders starting May 15th

The Overview

It’s our 8th annual online career conference this year. Much has changed for graduate students and PhDs since our conference last May. As the economy prepares for recovery, we want to help you prepare to enter the professional workforce.

Because of the covid-19 recession, the academic job market has changed forever. This has left many graduate students and PhDs lost and worried about their future. We know the feeling all too well. Leaving academia can feel like a big, mysterious step into the unknown. It’s daunting and overwhelming. It’s why we started this annual career conference 8 years ago.

Given our current economic climate, PhDs still have job prospects — they might just not be in the academy. So for those considering nonacademic career options, now is the time to get ready for the economic recovery from COVID-19. We want to ensure that the conference this year addresses these unprecedented times, and empowers PhDs to be ready for the recovery.

This year’s conference will therefore provide attendees with 3 things:

Our usual how-to seminars on what it takes to find and secure meaningful work;
Career advice for PhDs by PhDs who have successfully launched post-academic careers;
Career support and advice for grad students and PhDs concerned with hiring trends post-COVID. We know that there are specific career sectors with more growth than others right now. Rest assured, a significant part of our programming will be tailored to changes in job searching during COVID and what to expect in the recovery.

The Program-At-A-Glance

For full details on including panel descriptions, learning objectives, and speaker bios, please download the conference program by clicking HERE.

Day 1: How To Seminars

11-12 PM ET: How to Explore Career Options that Leverage Your Education with L. Maren Wood, PhD (CEO, Beyond the Professoriate)

After this session you will be able to:

Identify your primary strengths, skills, and interests.
Find key resources for researching relevant career options after COVID-19.
Build confidence in your career path.

12.15 – 1.15 PM ET: How to Find Your Best Career Fit with Susan Joudrey, PhD (Senior Advisor for Learning Development, Beyond the Professoriate)

After this session you will be able to:

Identify your values and priorities for your job search.
Develop a 3 month job search strategy.
Employ mindfulness and self-compassion during the job search.

1.30 – 2.30 PM ET: How to Translate Your Academic Skills & Experience with Brigét Horne (Resume Coach, Beyond the Professoriate)

After this session you will be able to :

Identify your transferable skills for nonacademic employers.
Apply strategies to avoid common resume and cover letter mistakes.
Successfully customize your cover letter and resume for jobs you want.

2.45 – 3.45 PM ET: How to Find Mentorship & Why You Can’t Job Search Alone with Diane Sepa-Kishi, PhD (Aurora Product Manager, Beyond the Professoriate) and Malisa Kurtz, PhD (Digital Marketing Strategist, Beyond the Professoriate)

After this session you will be able to :

Understand why networking is more important than ever.
Create achievable goals for finding mentorship and expanding your network.
Use the internet to discover non-academic job options and as part of your job search strategy.

Day 2: Career Success

11-12 PM ET: Networking and Staying Socially Connected

Does the word ‘networking’ make you feel uncomfortable? Come learn why building a professional community that can support you is essential to the job search and how you can do so in ways that feel more authentic to you. In-person networking may not be possible at this time, but there are plenty of ways to connect with people online, as our panelists will discuss.

12.15 – 1.15 PM ET: Hiring and Negotiating

Congrats, you got an interview! Wondering how to prepare? Panelists will demystify common interviewing and hiring practices for professional careers. Typical interview stages, processes, and questions will be discussed in order to help you learn how to prepare effectively for the interviewing and hiring stages.

1.30-2.30 ET: How to Transition into a Nonacademic Job

Curious to learn about fellow PhDs’ experiences transitioning to 9-to-5 roles? Come hear what our panelists have to say about moving from academia to industry careers in terms of their new schedules, day-to-day work, interactions with colleagues, and more.

2.45-3.45 ET: Job Searching During COVID-19

In this session, panelists will share their experience of job searching during COVID-19. We know how difficult it can be to move on from academia and chart new career paths, especially in our current landscape, and so we’ve brought together PhDs recently on the market to help empower you on this journey.

What Past Attendees Have Said

"I walked away from this conference feeling both hopeful about future prospects and much more confident about my ability to succeed outside of academia. "

"Thank you to the entire Beyond Prof team for turning my non-faculty job search upside down, for the better! I move forward from the conference feeling connected, empowered, and very well-equipped to explore different career options outside of academia. "

"These sessions confirmed things I was doing correctly and provided lots of new ideas to expand my ability to successfully navigate the job market outside of academia. Each speaker brought a different perspective and their willingness to be candid about their own stories made these sessions very down to earth and the speakers' stories easy to relate to. "

"I love the fact that your panelists discussed a wide range of employment opportunities and career paths in the United States as well as Canada. And I would highly recommend this for ALL PhD students who are considering career options outside of academia."

And a special thank you to our conference partner, Mitacs.