Academic & professional development:
Professional Skills & Supports

Building Professional Skills at Carolina

Professional Skills & Supports

• As you progress at Carolina, your professional interests may shift as you become inspired by a course, engage with faculty and peers in new and different ways, and reflect on your personal and professional values.
• Regardless of what your interests are, many campus offices exist to help you develop the professional skills necessary to explore whatever career path(s) you may ultimately wish to pursue upon graduation.
• Take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. Attend workshops, take courses, and meet with individuals doing what you may potentially want to do in the future. Ask questions of them — and of yourself. Use your time at Carolina to figure out what your life after may look like.

The Graduate School – CareerWell Professional Development

• CareerWell provides a full range of training opportunities and resources to graduate students. Through our programming, we prepare students for career success in any sector.
• Our programs address a critical set of core competencies and key skills that all students should develop before completing their degree: communication, academic development (scholarship, teaching and mentorship), leadership and professionalism, and career development.
• From discipline-neutral professional skills courses (which can be taken a la carte or as a certificate) to teaching and learning programs, from leadership development activities to 1:1 coaching with our expert staff, our programs aim to prepare students for whatever they wish to accomplish post-Carolina.

The Graduate School — CIRTL

• Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a member of a network of research universities committed to preparing outstanding future faculty with the ultimate goal of improving undergraduate education across all disciplines.
• Graduate students and postdocs can take advantage of career development courses and workshops offered locally and online by other network member institutions, build their teaching portfolio, and gain a competitive edge for the academic job market through evidence-based teaching approaches and engagement with teaching-related learning communities.

Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)

• The Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) works with The Graduate School to support graduate students in their roles as teaching assistants (TAs) and future faculty.
• Initiatives like the New TA Institute provide TAs with functional skills central to their success in new/expanded TA roles as well as opportunities to apply what they learn to their initial experiences with undergraduate students.

University Career Services (UCS)

• University Career Services (UCS) works with The Graduate School to support graduate students through any stage of career development, from early career planning to job search skills.
• Specific workshops are geared towards graduate and professional students, particularly to address the differences in processes between job searches in academia and those in other industries. Links to additional articles and resources are available to current students through a graduate and professional student resource site.