Graduate students earning master's degrees go about the job search
in a very similar manner to a student graduating with a bachelor's
degree. The candidate must prepare a professional resume and
cover letter, practice interviewing skills and do a
thorough job search.
Resume vs. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
For master candidates going into areas other than teaching, health
care or social work, a one or two page resume works best.
Graduate candidates may want to prepare a
resume with a “Profile” section
(PDF) instead of an “Objective” depending on their background
and present career path. Depending on the amount of experience
a graduate candidate has, he or she may still want to prepare
a one-page resume as many recruiters in the business world prefer
one page. However, two pages is quite acceptable as long as there
is ample information to fill most of two pages and none of the
information is redundant.
For master or PhD candidates going into teaching, health care
or social work and possibly other areas such as research, a CV
(curriculum vitae) should be prepared instead of a resume. A CV
(PDF) is a longer version
of a resume that include much more information such as teaching
competencies, publications, seminars or workshops presented at,
conferences attended, pro bono activities etc.
Interviewing
Even if a candidate has had some experience with interviewing,
it is still recommended that preparation be done by going over
typical interview
questions (PDF) and doing
a mock interview based on behavioral interviewing-type questions.
You can review interviewing
tips and make an appointment with a counselor.
Potential Employers
If a candidate is trying to identify a certain type of company
or organization—or get that “list” that so many students want,
Reference USA
is a effective program to use. If the program is being accessed
from off campus, the password and id, goldeneagle must be used.
It is suggested that you do a quick search with a company that
you know you would like to work for (ex: Aurora Health Care) and
then get the SIC (industry code) when you get into their info.
Then return to the main page and do a “Custom Search” using the
SIC code. This will bring up all companies in the designated geographic
area that are part of the same industry.
A checklist for GRADUATE STUDENTS:
View other checklists by year in college:
You may also view resources by your stage in the process:
FAQs | Overview | Handouts | Resources | Post-Grad Survey
