Home Student Life Career Services Ten Steps to a Successful Job Search for Grad Students & Post-Docs

Ten Steps to a Successful Job Search for Grad Students & Post-Docs

  1. Take time to assess your interests, abilities, and short- and long-term career goals…determine your career-related strengths and skills and what you have to offer an employer (you must convey this to employers utilizing specific ‘stories’ for documents and behavioral interview questions 1) Specific Situation, 2) Action You Took, and 3) Results for each story
  2. Create the appropriate documents: a 2-page résumé (industry/government) or longer CV (academic, some international positions) which should be tailored to the requirements in each job description, cover letter (when requested), research summary (2-3 pages, include illustrations), educational philosophy and/or other application documents (depending on your career-path) and have them critiqued
  3. Set goals – an average job search can take 6-10 months, and you may get responses anywhere from 24 hours to 4 months (or never), so setting weekly goals for number of applications, number of new contacts, and/or amount of time to spend on your job search each week can keep you on track
  4. Use Handshake @ Illinois to find potential employers
    • Utilize the ‘Search Employers’ section in Handshake @ Illinois to find potential employers
    • Attend career-related workshops and as many company information sessions and career fairs as possible
    • Apply for and schedule on-campus interviews (Note: The majority of company information sessions and on-campus interviews occur during the Summer/Fall)
  5. Check vacancy listings and apply for positions of interest consistently. Start by visiting employers’ pages directly. A sampling of additional links are at the bottom of this page
  6. Network actively…Faculty advisor and collaborators, other students & lab alum, family members and friends, and engage in online networking
    • Set up a profile on LinkedIn (& be sure to join the School of Chemical Sciences Networking group!)
    • Search by U of I or your undergrad institution – from that page, click on ‘Alumni’
    • Then filter by what they studied, geographic location, employer, and more (top 5 are visible but you can ‘Add’ any other major/location/employer/etc.)
    • Visit individual profiles of interesting alumni and select ‘connect’ button
    • Personalize your invitation by adding a note – mention that you 1) are an Illinois alum and 2) would like to learn more about their role/employer
    • You can only send 3 messages/month but can upgrade to Premium for free for 30 days for more
    • Once they’ve accepted your connection request, send a direct email (not through LinkedIn) with a few questions that help you learn about the company/their experience
    • If/when they reply, respond and ask if they have any advice for you as a job seeker OR mention a position you’ve seen online and ask if they can tell you whom you should talk with about that position
    • Request to schedule informational interviews with people who have careers you think you’d enjoy to learn more, prepare for an interview, and/or develop an ally who may be willing to help
  7. Attend conferences related to your field and connect with professionals – even if they can’t tell you about potential jobs – who may work for your employer(s) of choice to learn more about the employer itself<
  8. Schedule a Mock Interview through the SCS Career Services office 
  9. Put together an interview suit (include a leather portfolio, professional briefcase/purse, and quality pen in addition to suit, shoes, and accessories) and a business casual outfit for information sessions 
  10. Prepare a condensed version of paper slides of your research (~7 total slides, picture-heavy, text-light…you can also use a lay-flat tablet but no laptops) and other materials you can utilize in an interview (if you are pursuing an academic position, also prepare information about your lab needs, a tentative budget, and classes you are interested in teaching and/or developing). Organize and compose several versions of your research (with colored landscape-layout slides) that you can use for site/campus visits…10-minute, 20-minute, and an in-depth, 60-minute version

Academic Job Search URLs

Another great way to look for positions if you have a specific geographic location in mind, is to search an institution's site directly. If you choose to look for the sites of a specific institution or need to find what schools there are in a specific field or geographic location, you can use the following site links: 

Industry Job Search URLs

Industry Job Search URLs

Download this ten-step plan

For more information or handouts, visit the School of Chemical Sciences Career Services office in Noyes 105.