On the Art of Selecting a Graduate Program

September 8, 2021

After taking into account the costs of pursuing a graduate degree, you now move on to one of the most stressful parts of your graduate experience: deciding which program is right for you. As a graduate student in the seventh (and final) year of my doctoral program with a remarkably large group of friends who have pursued graduate degrees, I have spent a lot of time talking to those applying to graduate school in a variety of fields and listening to what did and didn’t work for them, as well as the regrets that they had once the process was over.

By Benjamin Sawyer // October 16, 2012

Benjamin Sawyer is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at Michigan State University and Development Editor for GradHacker. You can follow him on twitter at @ben_sawyer.

1) Familiarize Yourself with the Field You Want to Enter
One of the first things to keep in mind is that the reputation of a university as a whole does not equal the reputation of a university’s departments. In other words, just because most people imagine a university to be a “good school” doesn’t mean that it has the best grad program for you. Therefore, if you want to spend the next several years of your life engaged in a particular type of research, make sure you know the best programs for that type of research. Though rankings systems such as US News and World Report can give you some idea as to the best programs for a particular program or specialty, there are very real reasons to be wary of using these reports as an end-all guide to programs (for example, US News and World Report’s rankings of doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities “are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to academics in each discipline”), so make sure you talk to your undergraduate advisors and do your own research on the nuances of a given program before you decide to spend your time applying.

2) Investigate the success rate of graduates from different programs
A graduate program can have the best faculty in the world, but that won’t matter much if you end up unable to gain the support to finish your research and land a job that will satisfy you. Thus it is wise to consider the success of past graduates in both securing the financial means required to complete their degree and their success on the job market following the completion of their degree. While the latter is fairly easy to find out, the former requires knowing the types of resources that are available to graduate students in your field, university, and department. For example, those in the humanities and social sciences can look at the list of students who have received Fulbright IIE, Fulbright DDRA, SSRC and other such grants as a gage of which school’s students have seen the most success in attracting significant external funding (though one should always factor in the size of a program when doing this). Also, most departments and universities will provide information on the types of internal fellowships and awards they offer to their students for research and writing, as well as those who received them, on their websites. Get to know this information, and don’t hesitate to ask any questions of grad directors or other professors if you can’t locate this information on your own.

3) Attempt to make contact
Once you’ve narrowed your list, take a minute to send out an email to the professors that you’ve identified as potential advisors. Though the information you’ll get from this can be limited, it can also be quite helpful. For example, some professors may not be taking graduate students, and knowing this could save you time and a $60 application fee. Other professors may give you more info about the program that may make you reconsider applying. In my personal experience, however, the general “thanks for writing, I’m taking graduate students” email that I got back from most professors made me feel that taking the time to apply to that school was a good idea, and helped to curb some of the feelings of confusion and doubt that goes along with this process.
In addition to contacting professors, I also would suggest that applicants take a minute to email a senior graduate student who is currently working with the professor they’ve identified as a potential advisor. Graduate students who have been in the program for a while can give you a lot of insight into the daily life of graduate students in that program, and their info is usually posted on their department’s website. Though I know I do not speak for all graduate students, I do not think I am alone in saying that I’ve always been happy to answer any questions that applicants have had about my program and advisor.

4) Cast a wide net
I will admit that all those I’ve spoken with do not share this opinion, but I still believe that it’s better to apply to too many programs than too few. As a former applicant, I know that application fees can add up, but I still think that having more options about where you’ll spend the next 2-7 years of your life will end up being worth the extra $250 you’ll spend on another 3 applications. Though you should be realistic as to which programs will consider you (you’re probably not getting into a top school with a 2.7 GPA and a bottom-end GRE score), don’t not apply to a program because you’ve decided that you’re not smart enough to be there or because you think a top program won’t consider you because you went to a less-known undergraduate institution. If you have a strong application, apply where you want to go. As most grad students will attest, the results of the application process rarely turn out the way you expect, and the only way to ensure you won’t be accepted to a program is not to apply.

Choosing a Program Now that You’ve Received Your Acceptances
Okay, now we’ve fast forwarded 4-6 months and you, my friend, are the bell of the ball. You’ve received a few acceptance letters from programs and advisors who are very excited to have you take on their good name, and now you must pick the lucky winner. Of course, you’ll want to evaluate the programs based on the criteria listed above; you’d be crazy to turn down a top-ranked program with a solid graduate success rate and an excited advisor when your only other option is what you considered a “fallback.” But given that applicants often find themselves facing a choice between one or more equal schools, here are a few suggestions that may help you make the right choice.

1) Consider your funding package carefully
There are a variety of issues to consider when figuring the actual value of your funding package that may not seem obvious at first. As a completely random example, consider that Michigan State University offers you a stipend of $13,000 a year, and UCLA offers you a stipend of $18,000. Though the $5,000 more that UCLA offers you may sound great, the difference in the cost of living between Los Angeles and East Lansing probably makes the real value of the UCLA stipend less than that offered by MSU. Then again, the University of California schools offer graduate students the opportunity to register as “in absentia” during quarters spent researching away from the university, meaning that students living abroad can maintain their status as an enrolled graduate student and keep their university-provided insurance for nearly no cost. These factors affect the overall cost of attending graduate school, and are well worth taking into account when picking a program.
Of course, there is always the chance that you will not be offered a funding package. For professional degree programs such as a MBA or a MLIS program, this is fairly common and nothing to be alarmed about. For those in the humanities, social sciences and other programs not being offered any funding guarantee is (in my opinion) a good cause to jump straight to number 4 below.

2) Consider the university’s location
Though I don’t think that a university’s location should determine where you apply, I think it is a valuable way to break a tie between places you’ve been accepted. I say this for two reasons. First of all, there are a number of perks that come with attending a university that is located in a major metropolitan area, or is close to other research universities. These include access to multiple libraries, and the expanded opportunities that come from university collaborative such as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. Second, you’re not just picking a school, you’re picking a place to spend several intense years of your life. If cold winters and gray skies get you down, you should probably choose University of Texas-Austin over Northwestern. If you hate crowded urban spaces and traffic, you might want to pick IU-Bloomington over the University of Southern California. Though this may seem superficial, enjoying the place where you live makes it much easier to take the stresses that come with daily life as a graduate student.

3) Visit the universities
One of the best parts about being accepted to graduate programs is that departments often provide accepted students with the financial means to attend recruitment events. Attend all of these that you can. These are great events that provide you with a chance to meet your potential advisor and colleagues, to get to know those who may be in your cohort, and to see the town in which you may soon live. Though this may end up doing little to change your personal rankings, the experience will almost certainly make you feel much more secure about your decision to attend that graduate school. In some cases, however, a visit will make you realize just how bad an idea it would be to attend that program, in which case you should not be afraid to……

4) Take a year off if you need to
There’s no reason to fear taking a year off. I’ve heard people say “if you take a year off, you may never go back,” and I’ve always said that if that happens, you’re probably better off (as Craig Ferguson said about comedy, I’m convinced you should only go into academia “because you can’t not do it”). I have a friend who got into his first choice program in physics, went to visit, and decided the program wasn’t right for him. He took a year off, reapplied the next fall, and is now happily studying at a university that is much better for him. I highly recommend that anyone in a similar situation do the same, especially if the only programs that have accepted you have offered funding packages to the majority of those accepted, but have offered you nothing.

In conclusion, I think what should be clear here is the importance of gaining as much information as possible about the schools you are considering. Though it may be exhausting, this information gathering process will ultimate help ensure that the first step of your graduate school experience is a mighty one.

I am, of course, just one graduate student, and my knowledge is shaped by the fact that I am a historian. If you have something to add to my analysis please share in the comments section below!

Source: Inside Higher Ed; On the Art of Selecting a Graduate Program

What to Expect From Graduate School

September 1, 2021

Let’s get this out of the way. Attending graduate school is different than college.

Getting a masters degree or Ph.D. is a different experience than earning a certificate, associates degree or bachelors degree.

Sure, all require you to attend classes taught by experienced professors, but that is the extent to which they are similar. Where undergraduate programs provide you with a basic foundation in your field of interest, a masters degree or Ph.D. program builds upon that knowledge, allowing you to specialize within that field. Your work is more directed, and you are less supervised by professors who serve more as a guide and mentor than an undergraduate professor.

Because most class sizes are smaller, participation is especially important.

Having prior work experience can help immensely with the transition into life as a graduate student. Undergraduate students may complete an internship before the end of their senior year, if they plan on heading right to graduate school. Some people choose to wait a year or more after graduation to get their masters degree so they can gain real world experience that will help them with their research.

The Graduate School Classroom

So what exactly is it like to attend a masters degree program? Expect to do a lot of reading in your graduate program, maybe more reading than you’ve ever done in your life. Keep up with it as best as you can. Do not expect to go to class and have a professor read an outline to you, detailing all information in the assigned reading. This practice is reserved for undergraduates who are just being introduced to the material for the first time. Rather, masters degree and Ph.D. professors will conduct discussions on the topic, allowing room for questions, concerns and new ideas.

Depending on your focus and the undergraduate school attended, your prior research paper assignments may have not been held to the strictest of standards. An acceptable graduate research paper will demonstrate more complex sentence structure and will be more scholarly in nature. Rather than answering a broad question, you will delve deeper to examine a small, but relevant aspect of the topic. With these research papers, you should expect more criticism from your professors and your peers. Learn from this criticism, and you are well on your way to becoming a successful graduate student.

Your research assignments should prepare you for your writing your thesis, or your final research paper required to get your masters degree. Choosing a thesis topic can be seem overwhelming if you’ve never completed a project of that size. Keep in mind that successful thesis papers are written by organized, planned and dedicated students.

A graduate student is a leader and an independent thinker. Thus they must lead and fully participate in discussions and seminars. If they don’t understand a concept after class, they do not wait for someone to hand them the answer. They remain proactive in their education, trek down to the library and research to answer their question. The speed at which the internet can retrieve information is especially valuable for graduate students. Often students have links bookmarked to help them in their graduate studies.

Because most class sizes are smaller, participation is especially important. Sometimes, you will have to support your thoughts and ideas during a discussion or debate.

Graduate School Research

Beyond the classroom, you will be sharing your research with others by presenting it at seminars and by having your papers published. Your research will culminate in writing a thesis or a dissertation. Don’t be modest or humble about your research. You never know who will be interested in it, and more importantly who is willing to partner with you to conduct it. For both research and class work assignments, reading and keeping up to date on the industries practices are important to having the most relevant research.

Networking is especially important at graduate school. It is here that you have the potential to form long lasting friendships and business partnerships. In graduate school, most networking is done at the these seminars. Nobody is going to know what you are interested in, or what work you have done unless you present it. Networking is also common at an internship or apprenticeship completed while doing their graduate studies.

Life After Graduate School

Graduate students who already have a career, and were taking the degree program in order to advance in that career have less to worry about after graduation. However, those students in their last year of studies and do not have a job in their prospective field should begin their career search immediately. There’s some good news and some bad news when it comes to the job search. Bad news first: The search process is most likely going to take a while. The good news: If you keep your search diligent and focused, you should expect to land a full-time position.

Because of the still shaky state of the economy, some graduate schools have extended their career services to recent graduates who are having trouble securing a job. For example, in 2009, Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management assigned career advisers to each student at the beginning of the school year. By the end of the year, 95% were well on their way to starting their careers.

Source: Campus Explorer; What to Expect From Graduate School

Tips for Scoring High on Your Next Job Interview

August 25, 2021

Your Interview Score Sheet

Now that your outstanding resume and tenacious job-seeking efforts have paid off, you’ve been invited to interview with your chosen prospective employer. You’ve worked hard to find the right position with the right organization, your focus now is on sealing the deal.

This is where your best interviewing skills will come into play; your chance to show this company why you’re their top candidate. If you are like me, the prospect of this interview is cause for a little bit of nervousness.

Use that Nervous Energy

The trick is to take advantage of that nervousness. Somewhere between being so relaxed that you don’t appear to care about the outcome of the interview, and being so nervous that you’re paralyzed with fear, is a happy medium where your anticipation keeps you at the top of the game.

For the purposes of this interview, don’t view your heightened nerves as something to be feared or dreaded. Instead, view them as a tool to keep you alert, sensitive and lively. Approaching your nervousness this way will be a good start to a great interview.

By the time you walk into the interview you will have already done your homework, studied for possible questions, and rehearsed several scenarios in preparation. Some of you final preparations will be to remind yourself of the general criteria by which you’ll be judged in your interview.

They will probably include evaluation of your:

Enthusiasm
Communication skills
Success record
Rational thought process
Maturity
Planning and organizational skills
Ability to work under pressure

Turn Up the Tact

Do your best to highlight your strengths and answer about your weaknesses tactfully. Whatever you do, though, don’t try to fake your performance on any of the above categories. It will likely show that you’re trying too hard.

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys being scored or rated for your accomplishments, thinking about these possible criteria might be a useful way to keep yourself focused and on-track. On the other hand, if being judged or scored is a nerve wracking thought, don’t think about these criteria during the interview. Simply plan out your material ahead of time.

The important thing to consider here is that your interviewer will be watching your behavior, responses and questions to gain helpful insights about you. Be prepared and be yourself.

Credit: Celarity, Tips for Scoring High on Your Next Job Interview

How To Save On College Textbooks

August 18, 2021

Textbooks have long been a significant expense for college students, and they’ve only gotten pricier in recent years. Vox reports that textbook prices have risen almost as quickly as tuition, and students spend an average of $1,200 annually on textbooks. Because of how much money even a single book can cost, almost two-thirds of students say they don’t buy the textbooks for their courses at all.

One reason textbooks are so pricey is that they’re surprisingly expensive to produce: Vox estimates that the cost of making just one textbook can reach $750,000 due to all the workers who research, edit, and distribute the text. These books also have a short shelf life. In STEM fields, new discoveries are made almost daily, which means textbooks must be updated constantly. This shortens the cycle of production for new editions from roughly every five years to every two or three years. Consequently, expensive books become obsolete very quickly.

A lack of competition in the industry may also contribute to high textbook prices. A report from BusinessInsider points out that most textbooks come from one of five publishing companies: Pearson Education, Scholastic, McGraw-Hill Education, Cengage Learning, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. These five publishers produce about 80% of textbooks and charge high prices with little concern for the consumer.

The term “textbook” typically conjures to mind 800-page chemistry textbooks, and these are often the texts that cost upwards of $300, with new editions arriving every other year. But other kinds of books drive up your bill each semester, too. Liberal arts classes in fields like English or history may not require one expensive textbook, but many assign several novels or plays. Though each may only cost $10-$15, it’s not uncommon for professors to assign several books per course, and the cumulative cost may exceed $100 in some classes. Additionally, some of the other resources we refer to as “textbooks” are expensive, single-use items like workbooks for math classes or lab notebooks for science courses.

So what can be done to combat this expense? Professors usually submit their textbook selections to a campus bookstore, where prices are at their highest. Before you buy, consider other options to mitigate the cost of your textbooks.

Buy Used Textbooks

Perhaps the easiest remedy is to buy your books used. University bookstores will often offer used copies of textbooks for a lower price. Websites like Amazon, Chegg, and OTHER act as marketplaces for people to resell their old textbooks, where prices are often lower than at university bookstores.

When buying online, there are a few things to keep in mind. Many textbooks have older editions floating around — which might have different page numbers, new sections missing, or outdated information — so it’s easy to accidentally buy the wrong edition if you aren’t careful. Make sure that the ISBN (a 10- or 13-digit number that should be listed on the school bookstore website or teacher’s syllabus) of the book you’re buying matches the ISBN of the book you’ve been assigned.

Also be aware that shipping from online retailers can take weeks, depending on the site and the method of shipping. Many professors will expect their students to have copies of the text by the second or third week, so if you order online and the book doesn’t arrive promptly, you may need to borrow from one of your classmates.

Outside of those conventional methods, you should explore options like buy/sell Facebook groups for students at your school. Many professors reuse the same textbook from semester to semester, so you may be able to get a deal from a student who took the class previously. Additionally, larger campuses may attract competing bookstores that offer the same texts for slightly lower prices.

Not all textbooks can be purchased used. Aforementioned resources like lab notebooks and workbooks must be purchased new. Other textbooks may come with an online access code that’s needed to view some of the materials, including required homework assignments, These access codes are often available only with the purchase of a new copy. In the case of brand new books, used copies may be unavailable.

Rent Textbooks

Campus bookstores and some of the bigger textbook sites, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble, allow students to rent textbooks. This is usually even cheaper than buying a book used, but comes with a few caveats. You cannot significantly mark up or damage the textbook, so if you’re a student who likes to highlight, underline, or annotate in the margins — or if you have a pet who gets toothy with nearby books — renting may not be for you.

Renting also means that the book must be returned by a certain date; make sure that the due date is after your final exams so you have access to the material for the entire term. Campus bookstores generally ensure their rental dates line up with the academic calendar, but other websites may not, so double-check before renting.

In case of damage or late returns, rental agreements typically require students to pay the full price of the textbook, so be aware of your obligations before renting.

Buy Digital Textbooks

Many textbooks are available in digital formats, which are usually cheaper than their physical copies. These editions are usually identical to the paper textbook, but may be optimized for specific hardware like iPads, Kindles, or Windows PCs. Make sure your computer works with the digital copy before you buy it.

As the digital textbook marketplace grows, companies have developed innovative solutions for the modern classroom: Vox reports that some textbook publishers have even launched subscription services. These allow you to pay an annual fee that guarantees you digital access to every textbook that the publisher offers.

A recent article from Wired also details the rising prevalence of open educational resources from providers like OpenStax, which offer free digital textbooks also written by experts in their respective fields.

Wait Until Syllabus Day

Sometimes waiting until the first day of class can help you save money on textbooks, too. In the case of introductory and general education courses, sometimes the department assigns a textbook to all sections of a class, a textbook that the instructor has perhaps opted not to use. In these cases, they might assign PDF scans from the textbook or articles online, alleviating your need to buy the book.

In other cases, professors may change the book requirements between when you signed up for the course and the first class meeting. If you buy all of the listed books before the first day of class, you may wind up purchasing books the professor has decided not to teach from.

Some classes may have optional textbooks or supplementary texts for graduate students (if the course enrolls undergraduates and graduate students side-by-side), delineations that the campus bookstore won’t be aware of. Unless your course specifically requires you to use certain books before the first class, wait until your professor has reviewed the syllabus before you buy anything.

Resell Textbooks

Once the semester ends, you may find you don’t need a textbook anymore. If you want to get your money back, the easiest thing to do is sell anything you purchased back to the campus bookstore. You can recoup some of your expenditure by selling these textbooks back (especially that revised edition of a book you had to buy new), and there are several ways to do so.

Campus bookstores will usually buy your books back at the end of the semester. You return your books, they scan them into their system, and you walk away with cash. Be aware that the campus bookstore will not pay full price for your used book, and that you may only get a small fraction of your initial outlay back.

Other online marketplaces offer opportunities for you to sell the book at your own price, but also require a bit more work on your end. You may not find a buyer for all of your books, and even if you do, you’ll need to find a way to ship anything you sell.

You can also take advantage of the online campus groups mentioned earlier to sell the book directly to other students at your school. Joining major-specific student groups can also increase the likelihood of finding someone who wants to buy your book, and you should thoroughly investigate these options.

Credit: Best Colleges. Addressing the Need for Cheap College Textbooks

Grad School or Work? How To Balance Both

August 11, 2021

Achieving work-life balance with a full-time job can feel stressful enough. Add to that the responsibilities of grad school and it may feel downright impossible. So why bother taking the leap?

In today’s job market, the benefits of a master’s degree are clear. Not only can a degree help you gain specialized knowledge that advances your career, but it can also make it easier to transition to senior-level positions, increase your earning potential, and enhance your professional network.

Employers take notice, too. According to one report, 33 percent of organizations prefer to hire people with master’s degrees for positions typically held by those with only a bachelor’s. That’s great news for degree holders, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts an 18 percent increase in the number of jobs that require a master’s degree over the next three years. Even better: Advanced degree holders will earn an average of $1.38 million more than bachelor’s degree holders over their lifetime.

If you’re still on the fence about deciding to pursue a graduate degree, rest assured that with proper planning and focus, managing grad school and work will be easier than you think. Here are six tips to help you make it happen.

Grad School or Work: 6 Tips for Balancing Both

1. Pick The Right Program

The key to striking a balance among work, grad school, and your personal life is finding a program that best suits your needs—both academically and logistically.

Finding a Program That’s an Academic Fit

It’s important to really research the programs you’re interested in to be sure their goals and objectives meet yours. Gather information both by reading all offered materials and by gaining some first-hand insight into the way the programs operate. To do this, seek out current students and faculty, and ask about their experiences and what you can expect during your time in the program. Keep all your research organized and review it in-depth before making a decision.

Finding a Program That’s a Logistical Fit

Working professionals must take into account their work and personal schedules when considering grad school, as the pursuit of a degree will be a time commitment. However, there are an array of program format options that students can choose from to best align with their availability.

For example, nighttime classes may best complement a nine-to-five job, where those who want added flexibility and minimize commute times—or simply want to explore programs further away—might find that online classes offer the flexibility they need. Universities like Northeastern offer an array of full-time, part-time, online, hybrid, and on-ground graduate programs to best fit the needs of all working professionals, no matter what those needs may be.

2. Manage Your Time

People today pride themselves on their ability to multitask, but research shows that it doesn’t actually make us productive. In fact, multitasking hinders our ability to get our work done effectively. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), jumping from one task to another can actually cause a 40 percent loss in productivity. For this reason, it’s important to know how best to manage your time when balancing graduate school and work.

Avoid the “Planning Fallacy”

The most common culprit of stress for grad students is the “planning fallacy”—or overestimating the time it will take to complete short tasks, and underestimating the time it takes to complete projects. To avoid this, the APA suggests keeping track of how you spend your time. Account for every hour in your week, whether it’s showering, working, commuting, cooking, or sleeping. When you need extra time for assignments, review your logbook and reprioritize.

After tracking how you spend your time, it becomes easier to establish clear boundaries, which can help with time management, as well. Map out a schedule that works with your prior commitments the night before and stick to it. If you allot 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for coursework, for example, don’t start late at 7:30 p.m. Likewise, resist the urge to burn 10 minutes by checking email or social media during your dedicated study periods. If you need extra help staying on-task, there are a variety of mobile and desktop applications that will let you block certain sites for a period of time to stop you from procrastinating.

Practice Risk Management

Joe Griffin, Associate Vice President of Business Development and associate teaching professor in the Master of Science in Project Management program at Northeastern, suggests that, to balance work and school, grad students should identify risks, analyze them, then plan a risk response strategy.

“This could be as simple as realizing you don’t work well at night,” he says. “Plan a coursework strategy that mitigates the risk of unproductivity. Set aside time in the morning for working and let people know that is ‘your’ time. Set up a process that works for you—even if it’s at 2 a.m.—and stick to it.”

Experts say that utilizing all three of these suggestions—knowing how to avoid planning fallacies, establishing study boundaries, and practicing risk management—will help you manage your time better and achieve that optimum work-life balance.

3. Find ways to Apply Coursework to Your Career

In some instances, it’s important to keep your career and school work separate: You shouldn’t check work email during class, and you shouldn’t complete assignments during work hours. In the right situations, however, combining the two can actually be beneficial and ultimately save you time and energy.

Likely your professional work and your studies are closely related, so when you’re assigned projects in graduate school, consider how they may relate or could be applied to your current job. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to highlight a case study at work or brainstorm ways to develop new processes or workflows within your department.

Putting your coursework into practice or tying your work to your assignments will allow you to better understand the parallels in what you’re learning, a practice which will come in handy post-graduation, as well.

4. Make Time for Yourself

It’s tempting to prioritize grad school responsibilities over everything else in your life—it can feel like a lofty, expensive commitment that deserves top billing in your day. When you’re learning how to make time management work for you, though, it’s important not to forget to take breaks for yourself.

This might mean spending an hour reading a book you enjoy, going for a walk, or zoning out while watching TV. No matter what that “break” looks like to you, though, your brain needs this the time to unplug. Then, when you return to your responsibilities, you will be able to do so with a more energized and refreshed mindset.

5. Tap Your Network For Support

Managing grad school, work, and your personal responsibilities alone won’t be easy. Be candid and upfront with your friends and family about your new schedule, and learn when to ask for help. These key people in your life—including your coworkers and supervisors—should be informed of any conflicts that may arise due to coursework or study times. Maintain an open line of communication with them in order to keep your relationships from becoming strained due to this added layer to your life.

Your network extends beyond those people closest to you, however. Lean on classmates and faculty who can best relate to grad school experience. Knowing you can reach out to them when you’re struggling with a concept or assignment will help ease your mind when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just remember to return the favor, and be helpful and open to others who may be experiencing the same struggles.

Real-World Example: Scott Whear, a grad student pursuing his Master of Science in Project Management degree at Northeastern, was worried that pursuing a graduate degree would be difficult and stressful, but quickly learned that, with the right support system in place, it didn’t have to be. “With all the resources and committed staff that Northeastern has, you’re getting the cream of the crop to help you every step of the way,” he says.

Creating and maintaining effective relationships—both personally and professionally—takes work, but doing so can have a lasting positive effect on your grad school experience, and make balancing school work with your career a lot more bearable.

6. Keep Your End Goal in Mind

While navigating the balance between grad school and work can feel overwhelming at times, it’s important to remember to take a step back and think about why you started. Whether you enrolled to earn a promotion, get a raise, or transition careers altogether, taking the time to reflect on that can help inspire you to continue working hard in pursuit of your goals.

What’s more, if you can learn to effectively manage your time, balance your responsibilities, and enjoy this opportunity to connect with the best in the industry, you will graduate with more than just a degree—you will leave your program with skills that have value that extends beyond your time in school.

Consider all these strategies for balancing work and grad school, then take the next step in your professional journey.

Credit: Northeastern University Graduate Programs, Grad School or Work? How to Balance Both

Mentally Preparing For Graduate School: What You Need To Know

August 4, 2021

Whether you’re considering going to graduate school, in the process of applying, or already enrolled, there is a lot of preparation that goes into becoming a graduate student.

The good news is: earning a graduate degree a wise investment. The number of jobs that prefer a master’s degree is projected to increase 18 percent by 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and more than a third of employers are hiring professionals with a master’s degree for positions previously held by those with a bachelor’s.

Earning a graduate degree will equip you with more than just a competitive advantage, however; you could also increase your salary potential. Individuals with a master’s degree are estimated to earn an average $1.38 million more over their lifetime than bachelor’s degree holders.

Follow the steps below to better prepare yourself for success in graduate school.

How to Mentally Prepare for Graduate School

You overcame the first obstacle: getting into graduate school. Yet now it might feel like a dozen other challenges lie ahead. After all, this is a new experience, which is nerve-wracking in itself, but this choice also requires a large financial and time commitment.

So while this graduate school experience might seem daunting now, remember the benefits. Knowing what’s on the other side of your degree program will help you start mentally preparing for graduate school—as will these other tips.

1. Start planning now.

Scour through your syllabi and map out all major assignments on a calendar, so you have a holistic view of what’s due and when. Seeing project deadlines next to your work and family commitments will help you more effectively allocate your time. If there’s a particular week that looks overly hectic, start strategizing which to-dos you can check off early to avoid any last-minute scrambling.

Now is also a good time to reflect on your undergraduate days. Were you a procrastinator who regularly pulled all-nighters, constantly refreshing your social feeds to avoid work? It’s easy to revert to old habits, so develop better patterns early, whether that means prioritizing a full eight hours of sleep, establishing a morning routine, or activating website blockers when it’s time to study.

2. Read ahead.

If you’re still nervous about falling behind, or simply want to get a jumpstart on the semester, begin reading the assigned articles, cases, and books listed in your syllabus. By familiarizing yourself with the subject matter early, you can ask more informed questions in class and start connecting the concepts being taught with the research you’ve already read.

3. Prioritize finding your balance.

Establishing work-life balance in graduate school is important—particularly when you’re already juggling a 40-hour or more workweek on top of other commitments. In order to avoid burnout, prioritize balance.

This could mean improving your time management skills, taking breaks when necessary, or knowing when to say “no” to certain work or social engagements. “Balance” means something different to everyone, and so you need to establish a schedule and routines that feel right for you. Graduate school should be an enjoyable experience, not a stressful one. Although the stress won’t always be avoidable, balance can help minimize it.

4. Leverage your new network.

Remember, you’re not in this alone. Any doubts or questions you have, your peers have likely had too. Get to know your fellow classmates. Learn more about their current jobs, why they enrolled in the program, and their professional goals. Through that process, you can start to build a support system, which makes the grad school experience more manageable and more fun. Plus, you never know where those connections might lead you.

“Once you graduate, you could be working alongside some of the greatest minds in your field,” writes Christopher Dousharm, a graduate of Northeastern’s Corporate and Organizational Communication program. “And before that time, any of those people could be in your classroom. Make friends, build connections, and be ready to learn from your peers.”

The same goes for your professors. Faculty bring decades of shared industry experience and thought leadership to the classroom. Leverage their expertise, absorb their lessons, and ask a lot of questions—whether about past lectures, your work, or how they’ve applied what they’re teaching in the field. Your professors want to help, so don’t be shy in reaching out.

5. Remember that this is temporary.

One of the key things to remember when you’re mentally preparing for grad school is that this experience is temporary. You won’t be juggling all these commitments forever; there’s an end in sight. And when you achieve that end goal, the payoff will make the sacrifices and hard work worth it. Immerse yourself fully, and enjoy this time while you can.

Choosing a Graduate Program

The most important step in preparing for success in grad school is, of course, choosing the right master’s degree program for your personal goals. If you are considering going to grad school but have not yet chosen a program to apply to, here are a few factors you should take into consideration when evaluating your options:

Learning options and flexibility: Be sure to choose a program that works for your needs. If you know that you’ll be juggling school with professional or family obligations, find a program that allows you to maintain a balance.
Hands-on learning: Earning a master’s degree should prepare you with the skills you need to enter the field, and doing so often involves learning through real-world experiences. Programs that are built around experiential learning offer students opportunities to gain practical experiences in their field of interest.
Industry-sourced faculty: At the graduate level, having professors who are actively engaged in your field of interest can be highly valuable to your education. These scholar-practitioners bring their own experiences and perspectives to the classroom, providing students with unique insights into the workforce.

No matter the program you choose and ultimately enroll in, preparing for your graduate education can be a long journey. Throughout every stage in the process, there are resources available to help ease your transition and prepare you for success.

Credit: Northeastern University Graduate Programs, Mentally Preparing for Graduate School: What You Need To Know

7 Interview Tips That Will Get You Hired

July 28, 2021

Interview Tips That Will Help You Get Hired

Here are some job interview tips that can help you interview effectively. Proper preparation will help alleviate some of the stress involved in job interviews and position you for a positive and successful interviewing experience.

1. Practice and Prepare

Review the typical job interview questions employers ask and practice your answers. Strong answers are those that are specific but concise, drawing on concrete examples that highlight your skills and back up your resume. 1

Your answers should also emphasize the skills that are most important to the employer and relevant to the position. Be sure to review the job listing, make a list of the requirements, and match them to your experience.

Even the most well-prepared response will fall short if it does not answer the exact question you are being asked.

While it’s important to familiarize yourself with the best answers, it’s equally important to listen carefully during your interview in order to ensure your responses give the interviewer the information they are looking for.

Also, have a list of your own questions to ask the employer ready. In almost every interview, you’ll be asked if you have any questions for the interviewer. It is important to have at least one or two questions prepared in order to demonstrate your interest in the organization. Otherwise, you might come across as apathetic, which is a major turnoff for hiring managers.

2. Develop a Connection With the Interviewer

In addition to indicating what you know about the company, you should also try to develop a connection with your interviewer. Know the interviewer’s name, and use it during the job interview. If you’re not sure of the name, call and ask prior to the interview. And, listen very carefully during introductions.

If you’re prone to forgetting names, jot it down somewhere discreet, like in small letters at the bottom of your notepad.

Ultimately, building rapport and making a personal connection with your interviewer can up your chances of getting hired. People tend to hire candidates they like and who seems to be a good fit for the company’s culture. Here’s how to get the hiring manager on your side.

3. Research the Company, and Show What You Know

Do your homework and research the employer and the industry, so you are ready for the interview question, “What do you know about this company?” If this question is not asked, you should try to demonstrate what you know about the company on your own.

You can do this by tying what you’ve learned about the company into your responses. For example, you might say:

I noticed that when you implemented a new software system last year, your customer satisfaction ratings improved dramatically. I am well-versed in the latest technologies from my experience with developing software at ABC, and appreciate a company who strives to be a leader in its industry.

You should be able to find out a lot of information about the company’s history, mission and values, staff, culture, and recent successes on its website. If the company has a blog and a social media presence, they can be useful places to look, too.

4. Get Ready Ahead of Time

Don’t wait until the last minute to pick out an interview outfit, print extra copies of your resume, or find a notepad and pen. Have one good interview outfit ready, so you can interview on short notice without having to worry about what to wear.

When you have an interview lined up, get everything ready the night before.

Not only will planning out everything (from what shoes you will wear, to how you’ll style your hair, to what time you will leave and how you’ll get there) buy you time in the morning, it can help reduce job search anxiety, and it will also save you from having to make decisions, which means you can use that brainpower for your interview.

Make sure your interview attire is neat, tidy, and appropriate for the type of firm you are interviewing with. Bring a nice portfolio with extra copies of your resume. Include a pen and paper for note-taking.

If you’re interviewing virtually, have all the technology set and ready in advance. Do a trial run to be sure everything is working properly, and you’re comfortable with it.

5. Be on Time (That Means Early)

Be on time for the interview. On time means five to ten minutes early. If need be, drive to the interview location ahead of time so you know exactly where you are going and how long it will take to get there.

Take into account the time of your interview so you can adjust for local traffic patterns at that time. Give yourself a few extra minutes to visit the restroom, check your outfit, and calm your nerves.

6. Try to Stay Calm

During the job interview, try to relax and stay as calm as possible. Remember that your body language says as much about you as your answers to the questions. Proper preparation will allow you to exude confidence:

As you answer questions, maintain eye contact with the interviewer.
Be sure to pay attention to the question so that you don’t forget it, and listen to the entire question (using active listening) before you answer, so you know exactly what the interviewer is asking.
Avoid cutting off the interviewer at all costs, especially when he or she is asking questions.
If you need to take a moment to think about your answer, that’s totally fine, and is a better option than starting out with multiple “ums” or “uhs.”

Check out these tips on avoiding job interview stress to help keep your nerves calm. If the thought of a job interview puts you in panic mode, reviewing these interview tips for introverts will be a great place to start.

7. Follow-Up After the Interview

Always follow up with a thank-you note reiterating your interest in the position. You can also include any details you may have forgotten to mention during your interview.

If you interview with multiple people from the same company, send each one a personal note. Send your thank-you email within 24 hours of your interview.

It’s worth the extra effort. A Robert Half survey reports that 80% of hiring managers said it was helpful or somewhat helpful to receive a thank-you note after an interview.2

Bonus Tips

Avoid These Common Interview Mistakes

What shouldn’t you do when interviewing? Here are the most common job interview mistakes, blunders, and errors a candidate looking for employment can make.

Take the time to review these mistakes before your interview, so you don’t have to stress out about blunders after it.

Successfully Handle Any Type of Interview

Review tips on how to handle interviews that are different from a typical one-on-one meeting. These include tips for phone interviews, second interviews, lunch and dinner interviews, behavioral interviews, interviewing in public, and more advice for interview success.

Also review these signs that your job interview went well, so you can see what skills you may need to brush up for next time.

Credit: The Balance Careers, 7 Interview Tips That Will Help Get You Hired

We will Survive Grad school

July 20, 2021

Thriving and Surviving Grad School

by Ami Palmer

Assuming no disasters, this will be the last year of my PhD program. Before the final push, I want to share some hard-earned wisdom so that those entering programs now can find success and avoid common pitfalls.

At this point your mind is probably fairly settled with respect to doing a PhD (although its resolve will be tested–believe you me!). Before that enthusiasm wanes, I’m going to share what I take to be some of the most important strategies for thriving and surviving in what will be both the most grueling but rewarding period of your life so far.

No Person Is An Island

Despite most of our social awkwardness, we are intrinsically social creatures. As Aristotle put it:

But he who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god: he is no part of a state. A social instinct is implanted in all men by nature, and yet he who first founded the state was the greatest of benefactors.

If you think you’re going to get through grad school alone without a social support network, you’re deluding yourself. In practical terms this means you should create favorable social and psychological conditions for your success–that is, you need to join, create, and invest in community.

You may not like everyone in your department but at minimum you should attend official department events (social and otherwise) and organize/participate in some unofficial social events, for example parties, karaoke nights, bowling nights, and day trips.

Grad students who don’t invest in their community run the various risks associated with social isolation and lose out on many of the obvious benefits. You can’t afford these risks or to lose these benefits. Shift the probabilities of success in your favor and spend some time getting to know other grad students and faculty outside of the classroom. Here are a few reasons why.

Emotional Well-Being

At some point (perhaps many) in grad school you will experience bouts of depression and despair–even if you aren’t typically disposed. The most effective buffer and remedy to depression is a community–friends that care about you and that understand what you’re going through; i.e., other grad students. It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pull yourself out of a depression by your own bootstraps. You need to be in an environment where others care about your well-being.

But here’s the catch. You can only have a community of people who care about you if you’ve invested in that community beforehand. Few people are sympathetic to those who only take support when they need it but are conspicuously absent when they don’t.

You want your grad student community to be a place of caring, strength, and support. But this doesn’t happen on its own. You must invest. I promise you that if you do this you will get out much more than what you put it.

Writing/Research

The quality of your work increases when you engage your ideas with a community of experts and experts-in-training. I know it’s romantic, but few of us are Nietzschean ubermench holed up alone in our cave single-handedly creating ideas beyond our time. Most of us run into mental walls. To escape the thought loops and dead ends in your own head, you need other people to bounce ideas off of and to read your work. People will only do this for you if reciprocate.

Some of your best ideas will emerge from discussions with your colleagues at coffee shops, at bars, or on walks. But these discussions only happen if you’re willing to listen too. No one wants to be talked at. People also want to discuss their own ideas.

Being a Good Community Member

Take on duties, fulfill them. But understand that for community that won’t be enough on its own. Caring communities require reciprocal care and empathy. Recognize that you’re not the only one in your program that’s struggling. Ask people how they’re doing. Offer to talk about how someone’s doing and about their ideas.

From the point of view of relationship-building, the most difficult but most important thing you can do is to recognize that we each come into grad school with different resources and to offer to others who lack where we don’t. Ask yourself, what are the background conditions of your success? Did your parents go to grad school? Do you have a loving and supportive family? Do you have natural self-confidence? Do you have high relative social status compared to your peers?

The best community members recognize where they have won the resource lottery, and do what they can to support other members who aren’t as lucky. To the grad student who is the first in their family to attend grad school, encourage and support them. To the grad student who has a poor relationship with their family, be caring. To the student who is insecure, build them up. Let them know when they’ve asked a good question or made a good point in seminar. A few words of recognition will do wonders.

Most importantly, listen and learn from others who don’t share your social background. Just because you haven’t experienced something doesn’t mean others haven’t. And just because you have experienced something doesn’t mean others have.

Scheduled Down-Time

Grad school–especially if you have teaching duties–is like drinking from a fire hose. You will almost NEVER have everything done on time that you’re supposed to. From this it follows that you can very easily burn yourself out if you only allot yourself down time “when I’m done everything.” Also, the occasional couple of hours off isn’t going to cut it.

If you never really know when your time off is coming it’s easy to fall into low productivity, procrastination, and/or burn out.

Every week schedule for yourself a full 24 hours off. I do from Saturday evening until Sunday evening. Pick whatever 24 hour period works for your semester schedule. It should be the same every week. This way, when you’re starting to feel burnt out near the end of the week you can push through knowing that you will get a full 24 hours off in just one more day.

This is not to say that you can only take 24 hours off. Some weeks and days will be busier than others. However, regardless of how busy your week is, always have a scheduled 24 hour break. Overall, you’ll be happier, more resilient, and more productive.

Avoiding Self-Esteem Traps: You Are Not Your Work

Possibly the best advice I ever received about grad school came from my sister (who had completed her PhD several years before I applied). She said, “don’t wait until after grad school to start living.” I’ve found this advice to be invaluable.

If all you do is academic work then it’s very easy to conflate the success or failure of one’s coursework and research with one’s self-identity and self-worth. Positive feedback on your work=”I’m happy, I’m awesome!” People critical of your work/research dead ends=”I’m sad, I suck.”

The inevitable vicissitudes of your research, writing, and ideas do not make them a stable foundation for your sense of self-worth. This is not to say your identity should be entirely disconnected from your work or being a student, but it’s easy to make the connection too tight when that’s all you do.

To avoid this problem you should expand your identity and source of self-worth to include other activities. In other words, participate in at least one non-academic group/activity. Volunteer with a charity, join a recreational sports league, do art, practice dance or martial arts. Find some activity that is entirely disconnected from your academic pursuits and make it part of your regular schedule. This way, when things aren’t going so well in school your entire sense of self-worth won’t comes crashing down along with it.

You are valuable for other reasons. Find meaning and purpose in other domains.

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Again, this goes without saying. Do not let your physical health go to crap. There is no shortage of literature demonstrating that people who exercise regularly have lower stress levels, are more productive, and have better mood regulation, amongst other benefits.

The main thing in this. In grad school, your primary battle is for your mental health. When you start to let yourself go, you’ll start having negative thoughts about yourself. You can’t afford more reasons for negative self-talk on top of all the other ones that already come with academic work.

The best physical fitness program is the one that you will actually do. Find stuff you enjoy. Not everyone needs to get swoll. Go for an hour walk a day if that’s what you enjoy. Group fitness classes are a fun way to stay in shape. Try hiking, biking, dance, and so on. It doesn’t matter–but do something at least 4 times per week. Much of your success depends on it.

Gratitude

One of the biggest traps you can fall into is to fail to be grateful for the extreme privilege of going to grad school. You begin to complain about how hard your life is. We all do it. But take a look around at how the majority of the world lives. Most people struggle just to survive. And if they aren’t struggling, they go to work at a job they probably wouldn’t choose if not for purely pragmatic reasons.

But you get paid to study and write about the things you love under the tutelage of experts. Think about it. Like just about every PhD student, you have a scholarship and stipend. Your education is free and–depending on the institution–you have somewhere between just enough for a simple life or a little more.

Most importantly, you chose this life. Unlike so many in this world, this life was not a choice forced upon you. Of all the possible choices you could have made after completing undergrad, you chose grad school. Nay, you had the privilege of making a choice.

Don’t let these thoughts stray far from your mind. It’s vital that you keep this attitude of gratitude throughout your studies. You chose pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. What made you think it would be easy? Or that you wouldn’t have to struggle? Isn’t that part of the reason you chose it in the first place?

When things get tough, remind yourself of the extreme privilege you have; that this was your choice; that you had a choice; that society pays you to do what you purport to love.

You are privileged beyond most of humanity for all of human history.

Be grateful.

Be Process Oriented

You are in grad school to become a scholar. You aren’t one yet. This means that you must focus on developing the skills and virtues of a scholar rather than on producing particular research units. If you develop these skills and virtues, the results will follow. But if you fail to develop them, the success of your research is purely a matter of luck.

This mindset will help you see criticism from your professors and peers as something positive. They are pointing to areas where you need to improve. You haven’t developed the virtues yet. Your skills are underdeveloped for genuine scholarship. The fact that your professor covers your paper in red ink is a blessing. Look at all these opportunities for development! These red marks point the way to becoming the scholar you wish to be.

Be grateful they took so much time on your work. As you’ll soon learn, grading and giving constructive feedback is tough time-consuming work. Imagine if they hadn’t said anything and allowed you to continue, oblivious to your undeveloped academic skills and virtues? You’d never become what you came here to become.

Epictetus describes the wrong attitude toward criticism:

And so far from looking for someone to bring you to your senses, you are distinctly offended by any advice or corrections. You say, ‘He’s nothing but a mean old man.’

– Discourses II. 17. 37

Thank your professors for pointing out where you need to improve. If all you seek is praise, you’ve come to the wrong place.

Extend the attitude of gratitude to your professors and peers for their feedback.

More on Mind-Set

To my mind, no one has surpassed Epictetus when it comes to describing how we ought to approach grad school:

You see, you are going to have to become a student again–that universal figure of fun–if you really mean to subject your opinions to honest examination. And you know as well as I do that this assignment can’t be completed overnight.

– Epictetus, Discourse Bk I. 11.

I take this to mean that we ought to approach grad school with humility, intellectual honesty, courage, and joy. We also need to understand that success won’t happen overnight, nor will it occur without sustained substantial effort. Grad school requires a great deal fortitude.

As I pointed out in the beginning, none of us are islands. We will sometimes falter. We will sometimes despair. And that’s why it’s so important to develop a caring community around you–people to support and encourage you when you can’t do it alone.

Grad school is incredibly rewarding but tough. You will be tested. At times, you will suffer doubt, depression, and occasionally despair. To overcome these mental obstacles you need to proactively create an environment and habits that mitigate affective volatility and foster support and resilience. A large part of this has to do with creating and participating in a caring community. The other big piece is to structure your life with good habits of action and of mind. With these features in place, you radically shift the odds of success in your favor both for becoming a scholar and for well-being.

For more great advice on grad school from Epictetus, I highly recommend: Discourse Bk II. 17 and 19; Bk III. 5 and 23; Bk IV. 4.

Ami Palmer is a PhD candidate in applied philosophy at Bowling Green State University. His research focuses on political epistemology and civic virtue in an environment of widespread misinformation and political polarization. He blogs at Wrestling with Philosophy and offers a free online critical thinking course at Reasoning for the Digital Age.

Paper Writing Help: Essential Editing and Proofreading Tips For Students

July 14, 2021

You’ve done it! After days of slaving away at your laptop, you’ve finally finished your paper. Instead of instantly submitting it, proofread it first. Try these tips to make sure you get top grades, every time.

Work on a print out version of your text

Even if you’ll be submitting your work electronically, print out a copy to proofread. Errors often jump out at you more on paper, and it’s a lot easier to mark it up, ready for you to correct any mistakes on screen.

Use writing tools

There are plenty of writing tools available online that can help you in your proofreading efforts, why not try some out?

Pro Writing Aid: Another readability tool, paste your work in and get suggestions on how to edit it to make it great. It’s clean interface can help those who get easily distracted and helps you focus on the task at hand.

Boom Essay service: An online writing company staffed by competent writers, that offers writing, editing and proofreading assistance for students. It’s a great service if you’re looking for an expert opinion of what you’ve written.

Readability Score: Paste your text in here to get a ‘readability score’, based on what education level a reader will need to be at to understand your work. It’s a great way to check whether you’re going over your intended reader’s head, or speaking down to them by accident!

X Essays: A constantly evolving writing service, the writers here keep on top of the latest topics and trends so their advice will stay relevant to you and your work. They offer many free features, great for cash strapped students.

Hemingway App: Paste in your work and the app will highlight any issues for you, including run on sentences, overused words and use of the passive voice. It’s highly visible nature will help you spot errors almost straight away.

Smart Edit: Located directly in Microsoft Word, this tools helps you edit within the program itself. This is great if you’re trying to stay offline to avoid distraction.

EssayRoo: An Australian writing company that provides editing and proofreading consulting for students. The service hires professional tutors and PhD writers and suggests assistance to both aussie and international college students.

Make several passes

Every time you read through your paper, look for different types of errors. On the first pass look for spelling and grammatical errors, on the second look for incorrect references, and so on. It’s a lot easier if you’re only focusing on one thing at a time.

Read out loud

The quickest way to find out if a phrase in your paper doesn’t make sense is to read it out loud. Sometimes errors don’t show up in a paper until you hear them read aloud.

Invite someone else to read your work

If a friend can read your work and pick up on the main themes, then you know you’re doing it right. Plus, you can then offer to read their papers too and help each other out.

Double check your references

On one of your passes, check that all the factual data you’ve included is correct. This may mean poring back over books and online journals to make sure you’ve put in the right date or name, but the time spent now is worth it to avoid losing marks over simple errors.

Take your time

Instead of a simple read through, take your time over your work. Read it through carefully, and make a point of examining every word for errors. It may feel tiresome, but it’s worth it in the long run.

Now, you have the tools and know how to make your paper the polished piece you know it can be. Set the time aside to proofread, and you’ll have top grades in no time.

6 Grad School Networking Tips

June 30, 2021

1. Embrace your tribe

First off, attend any events that will allow you to network or socialize with faculty members or students within your own program. Pay attention to the e-mails you get from your program—they might mention such soirees. Keep an eye out for campus flyers too.

You should also schedule regular office hours with your professors, ask a professor to act as a mentor, or suggest dinner with fellow students. Relationships grow most easily out of social situations, and you never know whom your closest colleagues might introduce you to.

2. Don’t skip the less-comfortable events

You won’t meet anyone new if you don’t venture out. Take advantage of any funds available through your grad program—or put up your own—to travel solo to a conference, visit a nearby school’s symposium, set up an informational interview, or attend a club meeting on a topic only tangentially related to your own. You might discover a new interest . . . or valuable contacts in your own field.

3. Always be prepared

Sitting quietly through a conference is a wasted opportunity. Brainstorm smart questions to ask beforehand, and familiarize yourself with speakers’ and other attendees’ research so you have a conversation starter. Dress professionally and take notes, listen, and follow up later. Genuine interest goes a long way toward making an impression.

4. Establish a professional presence

Some graduate students create business cards, whether through school or an inexpensive printing service, to help them stand out during informational interviews or conferences. While cards are a plus, it’s even more important that you cultivate a professional presence online.

Most contacts or interviewers will Google you at some point—you should know exactly what they’re going to find. Make sure your online profile is respectable. Beef up your LinkedIn profile with skills, endorsements, and a professional photo (no selfies from the beach). Or go a step further and create a professional website for yourself using a free site creator like Wix, Weebly, or WordPress. Your site can include contact information, a CV or résumé, any credentials or publications, and a blurb detailing professional and personal interests. Spending a single night making yourself look professional online will convince people that you are. (Because you totally are, obviously.)

5. Don’t be shy

Whether online or in person, don’t be afraid to approach people with questions or just a simple introduction. Easier said than done, I know, but as I’ve forced myself to do it more often, I’ve been continually surprised at people’s responsiveness. Ask contacts who are well-connected to put you in touch with people they think share your interests. Above all, don’t be afraid to follow up if you don’t get an answer; most people, even if busy, are eager to help.

6. Embrace internships and part-time jobs

One of my greatest mentors throughout my graduate career was a faculty member who hired me for five hours a week through a faculty aide program. I hesitated to apply, as the pay was miserable, but the position turned out to be mutually beneficial. He allowed me to tailor the job so I could assist with copyediting articles—something he needed help on and I needed experience in—and helped me in turn by giving me career ideas and advice. Our weekly coffee meetings evolved into a long-term mentoring relationship, and his input on both my thesis and my overall career has been invaluable.

So network, network, network. Even when it’s awkward. Especially when it’s awkward. You never know when that extra step could lead to an interview, a helpful mentor, or perhaps the most helpful contact of all: a new friend to grab drinks and commiserate about grad school with.

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