Career Center

Location: 110 Page Building
Phone: 660-1050

Perspective

All Duke Career Center services are open to graduate students in the Graduate School and the Pratt School of Engineering. The goal of our services is to assist you to plan your graduate experience in line with your long-term career goals and to explore career options and locate employment opportunities that match your special interests and expertise. Career-related information and advice are available whether you plan faculty or other professional employment or do not yet have a firm plan for how you will use your Duke master’s or Ph.D. credential.

Career Counselor for Graduate Students

Virginia Steinmetz, Ph.D.
Assistant Director for Graduate Students
Dr. Steinmetz counsels master’s and Ph.D. candidates in Humanities, Social Sciences, Biological and Physical Sciences, and Engineering programs as well as master’s candidates in
the MALS and MAT programs.

Angie Smith
Assistant Director
Angie Smith counsels students in the Master’s In Engineering Management program and hold office hours for them and undergraduate engineering students in Pratt’s  Fitzpatrick Center. Look on the Pratt school plasma screens for details.

Appointments and Drop-ins

If you are visiting the Career Center for the first time, you should make a one-hour appointment with Virginia Steinmetz. Call Career Center reception at 660-1050 at least one day in advance. Drop-ins are brief (ten minutes max) opportunities to have a draft of a resume/CV or cover letter reviewed or get a quick answer to a question. Virginia Steinmetz is available for drop-ins Wednesdays from 2 – 6:00 p.m. in September and October and Wednesdays from 2 – 3:30 p.m. afterwards. Other Career Center staff are available for daily drop-ins from 2 – 6:00 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 2 - 5:00 p.m. on Friday.

Confidential Advising

Clarifying your career goals and shaping your pre- professional activities early in your Duke graduate education will increase its value to you. Throughout your Duke years you will want to integrate your needs and interests with the external realities of membership in your professional community and subfield. The counselor for graduate students recommends resources to research specific career subfields and suggests self-assessment and decision making strategies so that you can navigate your degree program successfully and find work appropriate to your academic preparation.

Resource Room in 106 Page

Look for the shelves labeled for graduate students. The print resources on faculty employment cover issues in higher education, resources for pre-professional development in research, teaching, and publishing, the job search process, postdoctoral employment, and junior faculty development. Check our print subscription to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

For those who will consider employment in business, non-profit organizations, or government agencies, the Resource Room collection includes guides and directories to organizations/contacts and periodicals covering developments in many sub-sectors, including information on employment trends.

DukeConnect

From http://career.studentaffairs.duke.edu/graduate/networkwithalumni/you may access DukeConnect, a directory of Duke alumni/ae, parents, and friends who welcome the opportunity to answer Duke students’ career-related questions. Our volunteer career advisors provide detailed online information about their career histories and current responsibilities as well as their contact information. Many of our DukeConnectadvisors are alumni/ae of the Graduate School.

Training Workshops

Workshops for graduate students on self-assessment, locating employers, CV/resume and cover letter writing, interview techniques, and general job hunting strategies are available throughout the year. Watch for our spring and fall program flyers in your department mailbox, announcements on our Web site, e-mail messages from your department administrator, and advertisements in the Duke Chronicle. Some of our workshops for graduate students require advance online registration because space is limited.

Special Events

Special events for advanced students include: The North Carolina PhD Career Fair, Alumni-in-Residence conversations and appointments, the two annual Ph.D. Career Symposia, co-sponsored with the Graduate School, and other co-sponsored opportunities in your departments to advance your career development.

E-Mail Lists

The Career Center’s three e-mail lists for graduate students may help you stay on top of the latest career news and information for students in your disciplinary division. You may subscribe to one or more of the mailing lists we manage. Career Center counselors post information about job opportunities, workshops, and other events on career-specific topics and fields. Subscribe through the graduate student section of our Web site.

Ph.D. Hiring

With the exception of organizations that participate in the Ph.D. Career Fair, most of the employers that conduct information sessions, attend our general Career Fair, or interview on campus do not come to Duke to recruit Ph.D.s. Doctoral candidates should be prepared to contact employers directly for information about Ph.D. hiring. For academic positions link to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Career Network” or check on faculty job openings listed by your academic professional association, such as the MLA (English and foreign language), AEA (Economics), ACS (Chemistry), AMS (Mathematics), IEEE (Electrical Engineering and Electronics) or postdoctoral and job listings in the journals Science or Nature. Virginia Steinmetz will assist master’s and Ph.D. candidates to locate potential employers, review application documents, and advise about job search strategies.

BlueDevilTrak Job Listings

You may access job listings requiring graduate-level training through BlueDevilTrak, our online job clearinghouse operated by MonsterTrak for member colleges and universities. Registering in BlueDevilTrak gives you access to professional job openings announced by employers looking for Duke graduates.

On Campus Interviewing

Each year as many as 200 employer representatives visit Duke to interview candidates for positions. Graduate students with appropriate qualifications are encouraged to register in BlueDevilTrak and apply online to employers interviewing on campus. Through your BlueDevilTrak account, you can also find a list of Employer Information Sessions held on campus throughout the academic year. Call LaRhonda Woodard,our Recruitment  Coordinator at 660-1060 to answer questions about our on-campus interviews and employer information sessions.

Interview Coaching and Mock Interviews

We strongly recommend that you attend one of the interview training sessions sponsored by the Career Center before you schedule an appointment for coaching or a mock interview. Watch our homepage for upcoming interview training sessions. Interview coaching for academic employment or positions in business, non-profit organizations, or government agencies are offered by Virginia Steinmetz and Angie Smith (for MEM students). This service is an excellent opportunity to research your potential employer, articulate your graduate research interests and skills, practice fielding questions, and build confidence. Videotaping is available.

Credential Services

The Career Center partners with Interfolio.com, an online depository and distribution point for the confidential letters of recommendation written by Duke faculty on behalf of students seeking positions in secondary and post secondary education. Access our Web site for information about credential services. Questions about this service should be directed to June Santa.


Last updated: 08/04/2005