Register for a Summer PhD and Postdoc Career Development Series
May 21, 2025
This summer, Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA) will facilitate an in-person PhD career development series on the Evanston campus from Monday, June 16 – Monday, July 21. The series will consist of a weekly workshop on Mondays from 10:00–11:15 AM as well as alumni programming.
Designed as a career development course, participants will:
- Understand career tools and resources available through Northwestern to help navigate the job search
- Be able to articulate their relevant skills and experiences to different audiences
- Understand the role values play in career exploration and determining career pathways
- Develop an understanding of best practices for networking, applying, and interviewing for non-academic positions
- Engage with alumni and professionals to learn about different career paths
These sessions are open to PhD students and postdocs from all disciplines. While it is not required to attend all sessions, it is strongly recommended, as the series builds competencies. Register below for the following sessions and email postdocs@northwestern.edu with any questions.
- Setting Goals for Summer and Exploring PhD Career Resources – Monday, June 16 at 10:00–11:15 AM CT via Zoom
To kick off summer, join us virtually to review PhD career resources to explore and pursue different career pathways. We’ll discuss how to structure the unstructured job search process and set goals as summer begins.
Register here for session 1
- Identifying the Right Roles for You: Skills, Values and Your Career – Monday, June 23 at 10:00–11:15 AM in TGS Commons
In this session, we’ll engage with self-assessment activities to identify what you want to do and how you want to do it in your post-PhD life. We’ll consider your skills, values, interests and goals and set action items based on that information to explore options, pursue professional networks, and ultimately target the right roles for you.
Register here for session 2
- Foundations of Networking – Monday, June 30 at 10:00–11:15 AM in 620 Lincoln Street, NCA Garden Level
Putting the work into network! We’ll spend time discussing how to develop a goal driven approach to relationship development. As the first part of two sessions dedicated to networking, you’ll practice your audience-specific professional introduction and develop networking communication drafts.
Register here for session 3
- Leveraging LinkedIn – Monday, July 7 at 10:00–11:15 AM in TGS Commons
Building on the previous session, we'll develop our LinkedIn profiles, draft text for different profile sections, and discuss strategies for researching organizations and identifying professionals to connect with.
Register here for session 4
- AI, Résumés and You – Monday, July 14 at 10:00–11:15 AM in TGS Commons
In this session, we’ll discuss the difference between academic CVs and resumes and best practices for writing compelling non-academic application documents. We’ll also explore how to leverage AI tools to analyze job descriptions to write more effective and targeted application materials.
Register here for session 5
- Behavioral Interviewing and Salary Negotiation for PhDs – Monday, July 21 at 10:00–11:15 AM in TGS Commons
In this session, we will learn how to prepare for behavioral interview questions and stand out as strong candidates across all industries of interest. This interactive workshop focuses on classic fit questions and how to frame unique PhD experiences for specific positions. Attendees will also have an opportunity to think about the offer negotiation process and navigating multiple search processes.
register here for session 6