BGS Career Development

Making It Count!

Career Services (Penn)

Update: Walk-in Wednesdays

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The final Walk-In Wednesday session for the semester is May 8, 2019 in Stemmler Hall Room 105 from 12-2 PM. These 15-minute sessions are great for reviews of your application materials, quick questions about networking, job searching, career exploration, or any other career-related question.

During the summer, walk-ins will be held daily from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in the Career Services Office. If you can’t attend those walk-ins you can always call Career Services at 215-898-7530 to schedule an appointment with a career counselor. Career Services is located at 3718 Locust Walk, Suite 20, McNeil Building.

BGS Professional Skills Series: “Informational Interviews”

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Next up in the BGS Professional Skills Series: “Informational Interviews”! This talk will take place Tuesday, April 16, 2019  from 4:00 – 5:00 PM in Barchi Library (140 John Morgan). Co-hosted by PGWISE and EE Just. Light refreshments will be served!

Dr. Helen N. Pho, Associate Director at Penn Career Services, will address the following topics:

  • How to prepare for an informational interview, including what questions to ask
  • How to create a good impression when answering the “tell me about yourself” question
  • How to ensure that your networking conversation is beneficial to you and meaningful for the professional

To register, click here or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:

https://forms.gle/GtwJL5zcoeTMApy2A

If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Lopez.

Career Services – Handshake Job Lists

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Handshake is Penn Career Services’ primary tool for communicating with students. All students have been pre-assigned a Handshake account, but you will need to activate it by logging in with your PennKey and password.

When you first log in, you will be prompted to fill out your career interests. This is a critical part of the process, because these selections will dictate what you hear from Career Services in terms of specific emails about jobs, workshops, employer events, and so on. For people who already have activated their accounts, they can (and should) keep their career interests updated. This is how:

Click on your picture in the top right hand corner and select “career interests”:

Students should fill out as much as possible on the next page. You can always come back and change, add, or delete selections. The monthly newsletter sent to the “Current PhDs in STEM fields” contains a wide range of information for this population, including job postings:

The next two sections are the most important ones for the job postings Career Services sends. You should select “Biotech & Life Sciences” and “pharmaceuticals” if you are interested in industry opportunities. You can select “higher education” if you want to follow the faculty path, and you should select any other field of interest.

Once you complete these selections and begin exploring events, jobs, and employers, you will see recommended jobs on the main student log-in page based on your activity. If you “favorite”an employer, you will receive an email when they post a job or register for an upcoming career fair.

Finally, students who are actively seeking opportunities should upload a resume to Handshake and make it public. (Be sure to have a Career Services adviser review it first!) Employers can search public resumes and reach out to students directly. Here’s how students can do this: https://vimeo.com/294839748

Career Services: Negotiating for Faculty Positions and Postdocs

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Have you ever negotiated with an employer for salary or a job offer? Have you done it successfully? A Career Services counselor will discuss strategies for what to think about and do when you interview and when you receive an offer. This workshop will address:

  • The basic principles of successful negotiation
  • What can be negotiated
  • How should you respond when offered a position


We also have online resources on negotiating academic job offers, please visit: https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices//careerfields/academicfaculty.php

When: February 19, 2019, 12 – 1:30 PM

Where: McNeil Building Conference Room 97

Register here

Career Services: Preparing for Academic On-Campus Interviews

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“This program is open to doctoral students and postdocs as part of the Academic Job Search Series.

If you are applying for faculty jobs, and want to be able to communicate effectively during interviews, then plan on attending this workshop to learn about effective strategies you can use during on-campus interviews. We will discuss how to prepare, what questions you might get asked, and share tips and strategies to help shape your answers.” (Via Penn Career Services)

When: Tuesday, Jan 29, 2019, 12-1:30 PM

Where: McNeil Building Conference Room 97 (3718 Locust Walk)

Register via Handshake.