Syracuse University Gradcast

This episode's Grad Views features Yousr Dhaouadi, a Chemical Engineering doctoral candidate and the current president of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO). Yousr and Dan Olson-Bang discuss her experience coming here from Tunisia, what she's enjoyed about Syracuse University, and her perspective on the GSO--and she has a lot to share, having served in several roles leading up to the presidency. 

In a new series in partnership with the Graduate Student Organization, Syracuse University Gradcast is featuring the voices and perspectives of graduate students on campus. Today we hear from Prajakta Mane, a master's student in the iSchool, about life in the US, the differences between the Indian and American educational systems, and her thoughts on life at SU. 

Chris Caterine holds a classics Ph.D., worked in academia for a few years...and then wanted to get out. As with many, life had complicated the once-clear path that he'd expected and wanted, and he found himself casting about for new opportunities. Now, Chris works at Deloitte as a Lead in the Pursuit Center of Excellence and puts the skills he learned during his doctorate to work every day. His recent book, Leaving Academia: A Practical Guide, is essential reading for anyone wondering what their next step might be. Hear Chris's story, his thoughts on the pandemic, and on academia in general right here. 

Ever wondered if you could put your STEM PhD to work in consulting? Kim White, Vice President and Senior Consultant with Numerof & Associates, certainly thinks so. Numerof & Assoc. is a strategy consulting firm that helps businesses across the life sciences sector develop and implement strategies for competitive advantage in dynamic markets. The firm has a number of PhDs on its staff, many from STEM backgrounds. Join us to hear about the work they do, about consulting in general, and advice about how to succeed in such a role. 

What does a recruiter do? What is a hiring manager? These roles at companies are incredibly important to understand as a job seeker and are incredibly different. We’ll go over the differences and give you insight to help you improve your strategies with navigating the hiring process with both a recruiter and hiring manager.

Teaching demos are an often-overlooked part of an academic job interview, and they’re just as mysterious as their cousin, the teaching statement or “philosophy.” Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., breaks down the elements of a good demo, suggesting how to avoid inevitable pitfalls and, equally important, how to succeed at this sometimes-tricky assignment.

Whether you’re at a networking event or going to an interview, you’ll need to figure out the best way to introduce yourself to professionals. Not only that, but “small talk” is important to participate in as a way to warm up to a conversation with someone new. In this episode, we discuss tips for how you can prepare.

Graduate school trains scholars to work at research universities, even though only a small fraction of them will ever gain a permanent position at one of these institutions. For most doctoral students in the humanities and allied fields, the jobs they are being trained for don’t exist. In their recent book, The New PhD, Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch seek to overturn conventional wisdom in a clarion call for student-centered, career-diverse graduate education. I sat down with the authors, one of whom was an influential figure in my own doctoral program, to hear their take on how to fix the problems of a PhD that “turns inward,” rather than one that “looks outside the walls of the university.”

Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer G’15, answer the most frequently asked questions on job offers including: What should I say when I receive a job offer over the phone? How do I research salary? What are some of the aspects of a job offer I can negotiate? And more!

Time to dive into the mindset of the person who may hold your job or internship in their hands! Former recruiter and current career development specialist Tracy Bauer, G’15, offers tips on what recruiters think and how you can think like a recruiter in your job search. 

Join Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15, for their take on how to succeed in a new position once you have accepted an offer. We’ll go over questions to ask, things to remember, and ways to impress from the start!

Sometimes a graduate student's career path really stays with you, and that's the case with Carli Flynn, Ph.D. Carli and I worked together on two career trajectories--first, she was a postdoc at RIT in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, before she shifted gears to become a consultant for McKinsey & Co. Listen as Carli tells us about her work, about adaptability, and about why being a graduate student in the sciences is really about entrepreneurship. 

Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15, tackle some of the most common myths they hear from students and provide alternative ways to approach the job search in a more strategic way.

Listen to some of your frequently asked questions about the job search answered by Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15. We talk about some common anxieties about being employable, how to balance your job search and your academics, and what to do when you’ve been rejected from a job.

Alumnus Akshay Bagde, G’20, (Information Management, iSchool and now Cloud Support Associate at Amazon Web Services) answers questions about how he secured a position in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and what he did prior to graduation to create success. Akshay shares what he focused on in his job search, how he balanced his academics and job search, as well as advice for current students and for those starting a new role remotely.

People talk about "transferable skills" that PhDs possess all the time. But what are they, and do you have them? If you're not in a technical field, what "skills" do you have? And what do we mean by "Beyond?" This episode is here to help you wade through the quagmire and to show you how you already are a match for jobs--regardless of the skills they name. 

Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15, answer questions on references and letters of recommendation, such as, What is the difference between letters of recommendation and references? Who should I ask to be a reference? How many should I have ready? When should I ask them? References and letters of recommendation can be a maze whether you are a master's or PhD student, and we hope this episode will offer some much-needed clarity. 

Joshua Ratel-Khan, G’20, and Mariann Fant, G’20 both graduated with master’s degrees in Communication and Rhetorical Studies in May 2020. As a couple, they navigated a successful job search both securing positions in the same geographic location during a pandemic. Whether you’re searching for a job with a partner, or not, their experience and advice will help with your own job search.

Glenn Wright, Ph.D., and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., provide an overview of our next PhD/postdoc challenge, this time focused on Career Exploration. They outline and provide helpful tips for ways of, well, doing something when you're not sure what to do! 

Make sure to sign up for our challenges (happening each semester) so you can learn a step-by-step guide to career exploration!

Thi Nguyen, Ph.D., a career expert, scientist, and founder of InterSECTjobsims.com, joins us to describe her career path, an in-depth rundown of what InterSECT Job Sims offers, and how you can benefit from it! InterSECTjobsims.com is a website that gives you bite-sized chunks of tasks--job simulations--of a variety of career paths, with the intention of helping PhDs and postdocs to discern what careers would be most interesting to them. 

Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15, provide general tips in writing professional emails; responding to recruiters and how to respond to emailed offers.

If you’re not sure how to conduct a strategic job search, or have never conducted a job search before, take a listen as Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15,  discuss the steps so you can be more proactive in your search.

Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G’15, discuss their top tips and for the semester break in our last episode until January 2021. While we take a break, catch up on previous episodes.

Caitlin Dawson Brown, LMHC, G’14, helps us better understand self-care and how to reframe our thinking on what it is and why it is incredibly important to incorporate it into our daily lives. Caitlin can be found on Instagram at @cdbrowncounseling.

It's not often that you get a chance to talk to an expert in quantum computing about his experience of transitioning from quantum physics into industry, but that's the opportunity we had when we interviewed Hugo Hao, Ph.D., a MEMS development engineer II at SiTime. When Hugo was at Syracuse University, we were privileged to learn about his work and to help him in his job search, and in this podcast, he explains how he got to where he is--as well as what he gleaned along the way. 

We’ve worked really hard on our 30+ episodes so far. While we’ve worked hard, we’ve also messed up and laughed hard. In this short episode, to bring you laughs during midterms, Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G'15, share a few of the times they’ve messed up. We hope it makes you laugh!

Sonali Pandhe, Ph.D., Hematology-Oncology Medical Science Liaison (MSL) at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, gives a sense of "a day in the life" of an MSL.

If you're new to networking, and unsure where to start, this episode is for you! Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., and Tracy Bauer, G'15, will cover the steps to take to get started.

Chilisa Shorten, Ph.D., a postdoc at the US Geological Survey, a coveted role for many grads in Earth Sciences. Chilisa reflects on her time at SU, what she enjoys about her work, and how you can make your own transition. If you are interested in working in government, make sure to give this one a listen!

Tracy Bauer, G'15, interviews Jaime Weisberg of Northbound Coaching and Consulting about our upcoming 3-part workshop series on A Strengths-Based Approach to Resilience. What is the strengths-based approach to resilience about? What can students expect from the sessions? Should students plan to attend all three sessions or can they attend one or two and still get something out of it? What will students walk away from the sessions with?

We are pleased to bring you "Careers In," a series that profiles the paths that PhDs from Syracuse have taken and the advice they have for current students and postdocs. In our first episode, we hear from Ryan Curl, Associate Researcher at The NeuroLeadership Institute and a PhD candidate in Cognition Brain & Behavior at Syracuse University. Ryan tells us about his transition, lessons he learned in grad school, and shares what it's like to work in a competitive field like his. 

Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., are back to offer some guidance in the all important informational interview where they answer questions such as: What is an informational interview? What can I expect from an informational interview? How do I find people to interview? How should I reach out to someone? What do I do during the call to start and finish it? What kinds of questions should I ask? How should I follow up with the person I spoke with after the informational interview?

This helpful interview with Rob Pusch, Ph.D., discusses strategies for students balancing multiple priorities and advice for unstructured time (such as conducting a job search or completing a dissertation). Rob Pusch, Ph.D. is Senior Associate Director of Syracuse University Project Advance and an Adjunct Assistant Professor, in the Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation program in the School of Education.

Dr. Melissa Welshans from the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising is back with our final installment on the NSF GRFP: tips from two grant recipients. Melissa speaks with Jane Pascar, a PhD candidate in her third year of the Biology PhD Program, and Katie Piston, a PhD candidate in her fourth year of the Bioengineering PhD program.

Tracy Bauer, G'15, Graduate Career Development Specialist, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., Director of Career and Professional Development at the Graduate School want to help you know how to work with us! We briefly discuss how we help students, when you should start working with us, how to make appointments and more. 

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, as she interviews Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., to learn about applying to Ph.D. programs. This episode answers your questions on when you should get started, how to find schools that are a good fit for you, what to include in a successful statement of purpose essay, and more!

The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) is one of the most prestigious (and lucrative!) awards one can get as a grad student. It will pay for 3 years of both tuition and a generous stipend for students in STEM or Social Science. Melissa Welshans, PhD, Assistant Director of the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising (CFSA) sat down with me to share what students need to know and how to prepare for the fellowship. Melissa tells us that there is no better time to get started on your application, and this podcast is a great way to start. 

* Applicants must be US Citizens, nationals, or permanent residents, be pursuing a research-based master’s or PhD degree in STEM or social sciences, enrolled in an accredited U.S. institution by the fall after they receive the award, and either applying to or recently enrolled in graduate school.

Carlos Castaneda, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology and Chemistry at Syracuse University, shares his experience and thoughts on the on-campus interview--including whether there will be such things this year! Carlos and I discuss all the crucial bits: the meals, the meeting with the dean, even shoes. If you are wondering how to make a good impression during the second round, this podcast is for you.

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., as they discuss digital, video, and phone interviews as more and more companies recruit virtually. What is a digital interview like? What is a video call/zoom interview like? What is a phone interview like? How should I prepare for a digital or video conference call interview? How should I prepare for a phone interview? How and when should I follow up after an interview?

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Rebecca Schewe, Assistant Professor of Sociology and O'Hanley Faculty Scholar. Dr. Schewe takes us through the first-round or "screening interview" that colleges and universities use to determine whom they should invite for on-campus interviews. These meetings are short, to the point, and most often happen over Zoom or the phone. What are they looking for, and how do you make the cut--and get the invitation for the campus interview? Find out here. 

In this episode, Dr. Romita Ray, Associate Professor of Art and Music Histories, discusses the thorny issue of the reference letter, and encourages us to get started asking for them now! But before you ask, there's plenty to know: whom to ask, what information your referees need, how to "pop the question," and more. 

Join Syracuse University alum Laura Spenceley, PhD, who is assistant professor of School Psychology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at SUNY OSWEGO to explore the ins and outs of effective teaching statements. A good teaching statement, Dr. Spenceley says, are "teasers for what faculty and students can expect from you when you're on campus." Yet so many statements let the reader down, so how do you write one that makes faculty want to see what you're like as a teacher?

Christa Kelleher, an assistant professor of (this is a mouthful!) Comparative Hydrology, Urban Hydrology, & Hydrologic Modeling in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, joins us this week to give us her take on the research statement. Given her preference for "shiny things," as she calls them, what makes a research statement shine? Listen to find out. 

In this podcast we welcome alumnus Meriton (Tony) Gollopeni, a December 2019 grad from the College of Engineering and Computer Science with a Master of Science in Structural Engineering. He now works as a Bridge Engineer at STV Incorporated in Baltimore, Maryland.

Tony answers questions on how he secured a summer internship and full-time job. He gives advice for students conducting jobs/internship searches and mentions what he wishes he knew as a student.

This edition of the Academic Job Market Series tackles the crucial and sometimes under-appreciated role of the cover letter in an effective academic job search. We answer so many questions: How long should your cover letter be? What is its purpose among so many other documents? How do you organize it,  and most of all, how do you save time when you have lots of applications to complete?

Glenn Wright, Ph.D., and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., discuss creating a great CV for academic jobs, maybe the most important part of your application packet. This discussion includes: what are the key differences between a resume and a CV? What information goes on the CV and how should you organize the information? For research jobs, is there a way to organize your categories and information? What publications should be listed on the CV and are they important? For teaching-intensive institutions, how should you communicate your teaching experience and how do you include related teaching information? How important is university service and how can you build a record of university service as a graduate student? How many different versions of your CV do you need to have?

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., as we answer your frequently asked questions on LinkedIn, such as: What is LinkedIn and why do I need an account? What should I include on my profile? How do I write a headline? How do I write a good “About” section? How do I find people to connect with? How do I network on LinkedIn? What should I post about in the news feed? What other features are helpful?

Glenn Wright, Ph.D., and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., discuss the fundamental steps to get started (and when!) with the daunting process of applying for academic jobs. When do you get started? What kinds of materials are needed to apply to most jobs? And, of course, what is the process of interviewing for these jobs like? 

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., as we answer your frequently asked questions on interviewing.
- How do I prepare for the interview?
- How do I start the interview? What’s small talk? (not asked but sometimes implied: Can’t we just get to the point?)
- How do I know what the interviewer will ask me?
- What questions do I ask in the interview?
- What tips do you have for digital, video chat, and phone interviews?
- How do I follow up after an interview?

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., as we answer your frequently asked questions on cover letters.
- I found some jobs that ask for cover letters. What are they and how do I write one?
- Do I use the same cover letter for every job?
- How is a cover letter different from a resume?
- How do I speed up the process of writing cover letters?

Join Tracy Bauer, G'15, and Dan Olson-Bang, Ph.D., in answering your frequently asked questions on resumes.
- What are some basics to know about resume writing?
- Do you use a different resume for all positions?
- As a joke: “Is this good? How about this? How about this?
- I get a lot of conflicting advice about my resume. Who’s right?
- How much information is enough for my resume? I want to include every course or project I’ve ever taken, can I?
- I updated my resume and have had it reviewed 10x so what is wrong with it, why am I not getting interview calls?

Join Tracy Bauer and Dan Olson-Bang as we answer your frequently asked questions on networking.
- What are the benefits of networking? What is the point?
- How do I network as an introvert?
- Who should I reach out to?
- I asked someone for a referral but they refused.  
- If I network won’t it really be like someone else got me the job?  
- Networking isn’t working. No one is getting back to me. What do I do? 

Join Tracy Bauer and Dan Olson-Bang as we answer your frequently asked questions on the job search:
- When do companies hire?
- I heard from a senior/my friend/roommate that….
- I reached out to recruiters but they aren’t getting back to me (or under networking)
- I’ve applied to 200 jobs but no response. What’s wrong with my resume?
- I’m panicked, or know I’ve been lazy, and have trouble staying focused with my job search. What can I do?
- Do I have to customize all of my applications?

Learn more about Syracuse University Graduate School's podcast, GradCast. Our episodes will offer a wide range of information for graduate students from career and professional development to speakers and event information. Subscribe today!