Grad Students: Job Search Outside Academia
Tufts Masters and PhD grads are successful in careers in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. The Career Center supports grad students as they prepare documents, search and apply for positions, interview and make decisions about options. Use the following resources to help you move forward.
Resumes and Cover Letters
In addition to the samples and tips below, visit the Career Center resume & cover letter page for info about formatting and customizing your documents, creating a list of references, and more.
- Tufts resume samples for grad students in AS&E (PDF)
- Turn Your CV into a Resume (University of Washington)
- CV/Resume Differences (University of Illinois, Urbana – Champaign)
Job Search Tips and Listings
- National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States (available in the Tisch Library): Look for associations in your field, many of which offer job search advice and position listings
- Beyond Academe: Tips on job options, changing a CV to a resume and career paths; produced by and for historians
- Idealist: Jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities in the nonprofit sector
- Career Fields for PhDs by Skill Set: Matches different skill sets to complementary career areas in business, media, academia, nonprofits and government
- Careers in Psychological Science: Essays from psych PhDs working in outside the academy
- USAJobs and Go Government: Federal Government jobs as well as advice for students and recent grads
- MyVisaJobs: Helps international students identify target employers where sponsorship is likely; includes list of Top 100 Employers of H1-B visa-holders searchable by company name, job function, city and state
- HigherEdJobs: Includes administrative positions at colleges and universities
- HERC Higher Ed Career Smart Brief: 3x weekly newsletter summarizing higher ed news
- New York Academy of Sciences: Science Alliance: Interviews of PhDs who have transitioned to different career fields
- Salary and Cost of Living Information, including sites like Glassdoor.com and the Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Nonacademic Career Options for PhDs in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Columbia University)
- Outside Academia: Pursuing Careers in Industry, Business or Nonprofits (Brown University)
Resources
Online
- Interstride: Access to both the domestic and international job market for students interested in global opportunities
- Imagine PhD: Create a free account to access self-assessment tools, information for 16 job families in the humanities and social sciences, sample resumes and cover letters, and more
- myIDP: Brought to you by Science Careers, this resource offers info on various scientific career paths, as well as self-assessment and goal-setting tools
- Opportunities in Public Affairs: Job and internship opportunities in the DC area focused on government, public relations, advocacy, and media. Log in with username: TuftsCC and password: Jumbo
- The Professor is In, The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. into a Job by Karen Kelsky, PH.D. (Three Rivers Press 2015)
- So What are you Going to Do with That? Finding Careers Outside Academia by Susan Basalla & Maggie Debelius (University of Chicago Press 2015)
- Next Gen PhD, A guide to Career Paths in Science by Melanie V. Sinche (Harvard University Press 2016)
