Resources for Graduate Students
Skills Assessment
Grad school is the perfect time to develop the skills you need for your future career! This skills self-assessment can help you figure out what skills you already have, and which you can spend your time developing so that you’re prepared to not only get, but also succeed in, your first job after graduation. The self-assessment is a simple survey that should take less than five minutes to complete.
After you finish, you can download a personalized report and conversation template to help you talk with your advisor/mentor about how to build the skills you need in grad school.
Additional Resources
Iowa State University’s Engineering Career Services has many resources specific to graduate students:
- Searching for Employment as a Grad Student: an overview of engineering industry and academic positions
- Preparing Effective Marketing Materials as a Grad Student: creating your CV or resume and communicating your academic experience to a non-academic audience
- Interviewing as a Graduate Student, including on-site interviews and presenting an effective interview seminar
- The Employment Process: a comprehensive overview of the steps to apply, interview, and negotiate for a job (not specific graduate students)
Penn State University’s College of Engineering also has many graduate student-specific resources for both industry and academic jobs
- Graduate Student Timelines: what to do each year of your graduate studies in order to prepare for your job search
- Résumés and More: job search basics including what materials you need for different types of jobs
- Types of Interviews: details on traditional, behavioral, case study, technical, group, and panel interview formats for industry jobs as well as conference and campus interviews for academic jobs
- Where To Look For Jobs: comprehensive list of job advertisement websites
- Job Offers and Next Steps: how to evaluate and compare job offers, negotiate a salary, and make a decision (not specific graduate students)
- Types of Career Events and Activities: what to expect and how to prepare for information sessions, recruiting days, networking receptions, and career fairs
Select Research Findings
Here are select research findings relevant to staff and faculty supporting graduate students; a full list of publications is available on the Research page.
What skills do you need for an engineering job? Which skills will help you earn the most money?
Fleming, G. C., Klopfer, M., Katz, A., & Knight, D. (2024). What engineering employers want: An analysis of technical and professional skills in engineering job advertisements. Journal of Engineering Education, 113(2), 251-279.
Where do engineering PhDs work after graduation?
Borrego, M., & Grote, D. (2022). Career Paths of Engineering and Computer Science Doctoral Recipients.