Careers Beyond the Academy

Career Planning

Career Counseling
Online Career Inventories
Info Lab Publications
Narratives

Career Counseling

The Career Center offers career planning and job search workshops for graduate students and PhDs. Career counseling is also available for individual assistance. Make an appointment with a PhD Counselor for help with identifying career options, job search strategies, mock interviews, and resume writing.

You may want to examine your career related interests, values and skills through the use of assessment tools. See details for making an appointment with a Career Counselor.

Online Career Inventories

O*Net - Use this information-rich database of occupational knowledge to explore career areas. The Skills Search feature identifies jobs that match the skills you prefer to use. Browse the Job Family categories, occupational groups with similar skill sets, and educational requirements.
Career Navigator and Quizzes - Take a battery of free career inventories, examining abilities, work values, and Preferences (data, people, things) courtesy of the Canadian government.

Info Lab Publications

The PhD section of the Info Lab contains resources on career change, professional development, job search and career options for PhDs. offers esearch career paths in various fields, see the publications on a wide range of professional fields. The Info Lab is located on the 2nd floor of the Career Center .

Narratives

This section contains the stories of job seekers who have made transitions from an academic career path to other fields. The narratives include individuals who made a leap to a completely different occupation, and those who pursued careers related to their academic field. Read about their experiences insights and advice for those considering a similar path.

From a History PhD to Grantwriting
From History PhD to Software Marketing
Interesting Careers in Psychology
If you’re curious about professional options for scientifically trained psychologists, read this compilation of narratives describing the working lives of psychologists in diverse organizational settings including NASA, Microsoft, a science museum and a design firm.
Testing Hypotheses on the Stock Market

This page contains links to websites not under the control of the University or the Career Center and we are not responsible for their contents. We'd like to hear your comments about these sites; feel free to contact us.

On the recommendation of our counseling staff, the Career Center lists job and career information sites that generally meet the following criteria: are of interest to Cal students, easily navigated, require no fee or registration prior to viewing, and (for job sites) list a significant number of entry-level positions in California. New sites may be submitted for consideration and are typically reviewed on a quarterly basis. Please indicate the page on our site where you think your link would be appropriate.

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