Happy Tuesday! On this episode of The Grad Pod, we’re diving into the excitement and uncertainty that comes with approaching graduation. Haya is joined by Dr. Erin Brown, Director of the Professional Development Office at VCU’s Graduate School, to talk about how to navigate life after grad school. From workshops and one-credit courses to digital badges and networking tips, Dr. Brown shares the resources and strategies that can help you step into your next chapter with clarity and confidence.
HAYA: There was once a time in our lives as graduate students when we knew exactly what we wanted to do with our degrees and had an idea of what was to come after graduation. Maybe you didn't have all the answers, but you had a vision, and I want to start today's episode with validating that and being there.
There's a lot to consider when thinking about next steps post-grad. As spring goes, the closer we get to graduation, it is a time of celebration and accomplishments for many. Yet for many, it is also a moment that marks uncertainty, leaving behind a familiar chapter and entering a new one filled with possibilities, but also unknowns.
HAYA: Today on the grad pod, we're diving into what this transition looks like. How to embrace the end of this chapter while preparing for the next. On today's episode, I'm joined by Dr. Erin Brown, director of the Professional Development Office at the VCU Graduate School. This is Dr. Brown's second time on the grad pod, so bonus points for that. Dr. Brown, welcome to the Grad Pod!
DR. BROWN: Thank you for having me.
HAYA: So, to get started, Dr. Brown, I wanted to ask you about all the opportunities that the Graduate School is currently offering for students who are graduating each semester.
DR. BROWN: Well, we offer lots of opportunities for our students through the Office of Professional Development. The opportunities that we offer most frequently are our workshop on Wednesdays, and these are our virtual workshops.
Sessions that we have every Wednesday from 12 to 1, where we offer topics that are interdisciplinary in nature, that are of interest to our graduate students from any of our disciplines. And what I like to do with these sessions is have topics that I know will appeal to almost any graduate student.
Sometimes these are topics that I will do sessions on. For instance, we just had a session on impostor syndrome, which is something I know we'll get into a little later, but often doubts may creep up for students, and so I give them strategies on how to deal with that.
But, I often use our workshop Wednesdays as an opportunity to bring in some of our key campus partners. Sometimes graduate students feel like our resources at VCU are for undergraduates because they make up most of our students, and I will use these opportunities for them to get connected to those resources, like the writing center to help them think about, you know, maybe I have writer's block, maybe I have a long paper coming up.
The dissertation might be four years out, but now I'm writing 20 page papers. The writing center is also for graduate students. I'll bring in career services. To talk about CVs, interviewing, networking, and salary negotiation. I love to partner with those campus resources so that it opens up a window, so that later our graduate students know that they can book a consultation with any of those campus partners in the future.
HAYA: Awesome. Thank you for mentioning all those resources. It actually brings me to my next point, although you mentioned all these resources that are currently available to students at VCU to sort of help them enhance this process of preparing for life after graduation. For many students, there's still a bit of a gap between the academic world and the workforce.
So, how can students prepare? Or better prepare themselves for that transition while still in school. And do you think graduate students sometimes struggle with impostor, syndrome while they're looking for jobs? And how can they overcome those feelings?
DR. BROWN: Absolutely. some other things that we provide in our office are a couple of elective course and these are one credit courses that really provide students with an opportunity to do a deeper dive into career readiness. So one is our grad six 10 course, which is actually taught by one of our career counselors.
And so we offer this career professional development, planning a course specifically for graduate students, which allows them to really reflect and think about how are they going to use their graduate degree in the future.
It’s an opportunity because it is a course for them to set aside time for several weeks, a whole semester to really dig into. Thinking about what is it that I wanna do with my future? We also have an oral presentations course GRAD612. For some of our students who may be great at writing, you know, graduate school is, is writing-intensive regardless of your major.
And so some of our students really excel academically and writing, but maybe have a little anxiety feel like they wanna. Beef up their public speaking. So that course really helps them with that. Again, one credit. We also know that we have this model here at VCU that every RAM is a researcher, and so many of our graduate programs are research-intensive and we want our Rams to go out and represent us at conferences that are external, but that can be very intimidating at first.
And so we have opportunities through our Graduate School, like the three-minute thesis in the fall, which is sponsored by the Graduate School. That provides an opportunity for students to practice right here at VCU in a space that I feel is nurturing and inviting to get that opportunity to practice your research, to give that.
Pitch in an environment that I feel is inviting, friendly, warm, but also a little competitive. Right? And then in the spring, we have a similar environment with our Graduate Research Symposium that is coming up, where we want all of our students from different disciplines to just share their research with the larger VCU community.
There's judging our faculty get involved. There are prizes, but that really is an opportunity for our students to just show off what they have been doing all year long, and, and really practice what it is that we hope they're going to share out in the world at other conferences as well. Absolutely.
HAYA: And I love that you mentioned 3MT and the symposium because essentially, the students are really in a room with people who are their future colleagues. And this brings me to my next point, which is all about networking. We've all heard about the importance of networking, but for introverted students or maybe those who are struggling with this, generally speaking, what strategies could they use to start developing professional relationship during graduate school that will specifically help them in getting a job or with their post-graduation plans and, you know, really helping them kind of fulfill their, their own professional goals.
DR. BROWN: I always use the phrase, start where you are and use what you have. So your first network as a graduate student really is your cohort that you have other graduate students, as you said when you are a part of a graduate program, you are with other professionals who are going to become the folks that are the experts in the field.
And, so, I always talk to students about developing those relationships with your peers, but also with your professors. I do several networks at, several workshops every year on LinkedIn, which is now that professional social networking tool that we all are able to use to become acquainted with people across the world, who are the experts in the various disciplines that we are researching.
And so I talk to students about how we can leverage LinkedIn as a tool when you go to conferences and you're connecting with people.
When you are reading articles and you are seeing, people who are experts in something that is interesting to you, you can go online and you know, you can find that person and you can actually ask them a question and they'll respond, which I think is so unique now, whereas when I was studying years ago, you weren't able to connect so easily with people in your field. And so now, really the world is your oyster for our graduate students.
So, it's so exciting that they can connect so easily and build out a network. It's really at their fingertips. So I always tell students it really is about taking that first step and reaching out, and just making yourself accessible.
And sometimes it can be intimidating if you are a little bit more introverted, but pushing yourself a little bit beyond your limits to take that first step and be open and willing to put yourself out there.
HAYA: Absolutely. And as we near graduation at the time of recording this podcast, we're less than a hundred days away from graduation.
What advice do you have for students to make the most of their semester in both in terms of, preparing for their future, but also soaking in the final moments of graduate school and the graduate school experience?
DR. BROWN: would advise our students to take advantage of all of the opportunities that they have in their program.
Of course, take advantage of our office. We have at VCU. So many resources. Again, I would say career services has great resources, our library, In our office of Professional Development, we have digital badges that students can earn. Again, skills that you can now leverage and talk about on your resume or LinkedIn, that you can earn and show, that you have learned these. different things.
And so I would just tell students to continue, to develop and build on your resume. And now as you go into the workforce, or maybe you are looking for that promotion, if you are already in a job, you are now, you know, talking to your professors, you are talking to people in the field, doing informational interviews with people who have the roles that you are looking to go into.
As you think about that next step and that next level.
HAYA: Thank you, Dr. Brown. As we wrap up today's episode, remember that the transition from graduate school to the next chapter of your life isn't always a straight line.
It's a journey filled with both excitement and uncertainty, and that's okay. The resources and support available to you at the Graduate School are there to help guide you and support you through this transition.
But ultimately, it's up to you to take the next steps with confidence even when you don't have all the answers. Whether you're diving into your career, continuing your education, or taking time to figure it all out, trust that the skills, experiences, and connections you've built will serve you all well.
Graduation is not the end. It's a new beginning. So take a deep breath, embrace the possibilities ahead, and know that you are not alone in this journey. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Grad Pod. We wish you all the best as you take your next steps, and we are here cheering you on every step along the way.
CREDITS:
Grad Pod is produced by VCU's Graduate School. Haya Hamid is our host. Our producer and editor is Grace Albritton. Our theme music was composed, performed, and recorded by Austin Sellek and Claudia Andrade, students of Felipe Leitao, assistant Professor of Composition and Sound Design at VCU School of the Arts.
Do you have a question for us? Email us at grad school@vcu.edu and we may answer your question on an episode!
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