How can MIT Career Advising and Professional Development (CAPD) help you? We empower PhD and Master’s students to explore their life and career goals by helping them to develop core competencies and build professional networks.
Advising and professional development, tailored for advanced trainees.
Tailored services for MIT graduate students are provided by CAPD’s Graduate Student Professional Development and Career Advising wings.
Advising & on-demand resources
Career advising for graduate students
Visit CAPD for a one-on-one conversation that fits your unique situation. You can discuss how to articulate your skills, review job documents, plan for industry and academic job searches, prepare for interviews or job offer negotiations, and more.
Whether you decide to pursue a career in academia, industry, or beyond, CAPD is ready to support you.
Professional development for graduate students
Graduate professional development is skills-based training complementary to your academic coursework that will augment any career path you decide to follow, within and beyond academe.
MIT provides professional development resources to help you deepen your skills and knowledge in seven areas: career advancement, communication, interpersonal skills, leadership and mentoring, personal development, social responsibility, and teaching.
Honing these competencies will give you the confidence to thrive and contribute as a researcher, educator, industry leader, and citizen.
Application materials for PhDs and postdocs
We know PhDs and postdocs have a lot to think about when it comes to employment and life after MIT. Transitions are exciting and sometimes a little nerve-wracking, and CAPD is here to help.
Make preparation for your job search easier with new resources that will guide you through the process of creating all the documents you might need to take your next steps into industry or academe.
These resources have been designed by CAPD staff to work for you on your schedule, and we are excited to see what we can empower you to accomplish next.
The C.H.A.O.S. process
Graduate studies can feel a lot like chaos. There’s a lot going on between research, teaching, clubs, and activities. How can you stay focused and centered with so much going on? Will you ever have time to reflect on how you got here? How can you plan your next steps while taking on so much?
These are important questions, and C.H.A.O.S. can help! C.H.A.O.S. is a tool developed at MIT for MIT graduate students. It’s an acronym for a non-linear design thinking process that will help you find patterns and order within the chaos. You can use it now to take stock of how things are going, reflect on the past, or think ahead and plan for what comes next.
Individual Development Plans (IDPs)
Individual Development Plans, or IDPs, are a key professional development tool used within both academia and industry to establish priorities, set goals, and track progress. You can create your own tailored IDP to guide you in self-assessment, exploration, goal setting, implementation, recording milestones, and reflection.
By creating and using an IDP, you can optimize your PhD years by planning experiences that will help you build the competencies and skills you need not only to finish your degree, but to keep rising throughout your career.
Graduate Student Career Exploration Grant
Leverage an opportunity to complete short term experiential learning opportunities outside of academia! This grant enables you to explore potential jobs in industry, build your professional network, and develop professionally.
The Graduate Student Career Exploration Grant awards a small grant ($1,000 or $1,500) to help graduate students cover the cost of completing a one-month underfunded domestic internship over IAP in a career field they would like to explore further.
Certificates
PhD & Postdoc Grant-Writing Certificate
Created for PhD students and postdocs aiming for tenure-track roles in academia or research-supporting roles in industry, this certificate program provides training in the principles of grant writing and the grant submission process.
Mentorship Certificate
This certificate program is designed for PhDs and postdocs who wish to develop their mentoring skills and grow their practice of productive and inclusive research mentoring.
Signature events and series
Faculty Job Search Series (FJSS)
The Faculty Job Search Series (FJSS) supports graduate students and postdocs who are preparing for the faculty job market. Build a strong application informed by experts across the Institute via overviews, faculty panels, deep dives, and hands-on-workshops aligned with the timeline of the faculty job search.
The program brings together expertise from around the Institute, including faculty, CAPD, the Writing and Communication Center, the Teaching and Learning Lab, the OGE, and the Engineering Communication Labs.
Graduate Students Mentoring Circles
The Graduate Student Mentoring Circles is an initiative created by Career Advising and Professional Development (CAPD) and the Office of Graduate Education (OGE). The Mentoring Circles connect current graduate students with alumni who provide relevant perspectives on pathways to academic and industry careers.
MIT Research Slam
The MIT Research Slam is a research presentation that builds on the classic “elevator pitch” or 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Presenters explain their research to a curious, non-specialist audience in ≤3 minutes (strictly enforced) using one slide with no animation, video, or props.
This format was created by University of Queensland (UQ) in 2008 and quickly spread across the globe. Now this competition is offered in more than 200 universities in more than 85 countries of the world.
Path of Professorship
The Path of Professorship workshop is an annual multi-day workshop preparing MIT graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to enter careers in academia. The event is designed for attendees who identify as or support the unique experiences of women. Women and non-binary professors from MIT and a diverse range of colleges and universities share about their experiences in academia in an exciting and informative weekend.
The workshop is open to individuals who identify and or support the unique experiences of women and other underrepresented gender groups. Its aim is to provide information about academic scientific careers and the application process. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to pofp2024@mit.edu.
Graduate Women of Excellence
Biennially, CAPD and the Office of Graduate Education (OGE) honors a cohort of Graduate Women of Excellence at the Celebration of Graduate Women.
The selection process is based on students’ leadership and service contributions at the Institute, their dedication to mentoring, and their drive to make changes to improve the student experience. The celebration was created by the OGE and is made possible by a team of dedicated individuals, including three Graduate Community Fellows.
Spilling the Tea
At these small-scale, limited-enrollment events, join in a conversation with an alumni leader over (iced) tea and cookies. Each of the “Spilling the Tea” parties takes an important topic as its theme, such as women and leadership, women and communication, women and balance, and more.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to benefit from mentorship and community alongside fellow MIT graduate women.
All MIT graduate students who identify as women are encouraged to attend.
