How to Balance Your PhD and Prepare for a Career
Date: Wednesday May 10 at 10:00 am
Location: Online (register on shoreline to receive access)
In this workshop, we'll discuss the importance of balance and how to attain it, how to work with your brain's focus tendencies, rather than against it, and strategies to enter the career market beyond academia. Attendees will leave the session with tips, tricks, and best practices to apply to all avenues of their lives.
Facilitator: Megan Pawlak (
HR Consultant,
Benandanti Consulting) [LinkedIn]
Megan Pawlak is an HR Swiss Army knife focused on bringing innovation, diversity of thought and heart to the People space. With over a decade of experience in a variety of industries, she is well-versed in all facets of recruiting and HR, with passion for creating workplaces that allow humans to be authentic, grow and thrive. As a consultant, she partners with early to growth stage start ups to help them discover great talent, built their infrastructure and grow their teams. She is also a professional coach, with a specialty in helping professionals navigate career pivots.
Connecting at Conferences
Wednesday May 10 at 11:30 am
Location: Corwin Pavilion
One of the best parts of being at a conference is that you get to connect and meet new people. This interactive workshop will help you prepare an effective elevator pitch about yourself and your work to share with others. We will also cover tips on how to open conversations, keep ideas flowing, and how to make networking fun.
Facilitator: Bri Mcwhorter (Founder & CEO, Activate to Captivate) [LinkedIn]
Bri McWhorter teaches communication techniques from an actor’s point of view at her company. She specializes in public speaking, scientific communications, interview skills, and interpersonal communications. She has taught workshops at Fortune 500 companies, privately coached CEOs at nonprofits, and led certificate programs at top universities.
Big Tips for Small Talk: Networking Effectively as an International Grad Student
Wednesday May 10, 1:30 pm
Location: Corwin Pavilion
Grad school is a unique time since you’re surrounded by people who are also looking to grow their network and expand their career opportunities. That’s why you want to feel comfortable approaching new groups, talking about your work, and exploring common interests. Join us for a fun and interactive workshop where we will practice big tips for small talk.
Facilitator: Bri Mcwhorter (Founder & CEO, Activate to Captivate) [LinkedIn]
Bri McWhorter teaches communication techniques from an actor’s point of view at her company. She specializes in public speaking, scientific communications, interview skills, and interpersonal communications. She has taught workshops at Fortune 500 companies, privately coached CEOs at nonprofits, and led certificate programs at top universities.
How to Get and Maximize an Internship Experience in Grad School
Date: Wednesday May 10 at 2:45 pm
Location: Corwin Pavilion
Graduate students are starting to realize the value of internships in graduate school, but many don't know how to be competitive or how to maximize the benefits of an internship. Come to the workshop to learn how to find, interview, and work an internship into your busy Graduate education.
Facilitator: Lana Smith-Hale (Assistant Director of Career Services, UCSB) [LinkedIn]
Lana Smith-Hale's (LCSW) 7 years as the graduate career counselor coupled with her background in counseling and in a multitude of industries has given her the foundation to give meaningful insights, helpful tools, and instill an understanding of how to find career satisfaction.
Negotiation 101: How to Get your Dream Job
Thursday May 11 at 2:15 pm
Location: Corwin Pavilion
During this workshop we will discuss some of the strategies on how to navigate the transition from academia into industry, what a good job offer looks like, and what are some of the key components of a successful interview process. There will also be an interactive Q&A, where we will discuss more specific examples.
Facilitator: Marek Buchman (Principal Scientist, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research) [LinkedIn]
Dr. Marek Buchman's work is focused on streamlining the drug discovery process by solving challenging synthetic questions, enabling the synthesis of complex new molecules. Graduating with a MChem degree from the University of Oxford (2015) followed by a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from Rice University working with K.C. Nicolaou (2019), Dr. Buchman's first industry position was with AbbVie, as a post-doctoral research fellow. Dr. Buchman, who has been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2018, is the author of several scientific publications and patents and interestingly also has a minor planet named after him.
Exploring Career Paths Using ImaginePhD
Thursday May 11 at 3:30 pm
Location: Corwin Pavilion
Wondering if you are on a career path that is right for you? In this session you will be introduced to career paths and opportunities through self-assessment of skills, interests, and values. We will identify starting points for career exploration and using these assessments will see how your skills and interests align with particular career paths. This workshop will also help you identify what is most important to you in your future career.
Facilitator: Teresa Dillinger [LinkedIn]
(Director, GradPathways Institute for Professional Development at UC Davis)
(Project Lead, ImaginePhD)
Dr. Teresa Dillinger is the Director of GradPathways Institute for Professional Development at UC Davis, and she is Project Lead for ImaginePhD. She has over 23 years experience as an academic administrator providing career and professional development services to graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. At GradPathways, she contributes to the development of innovative programs and partners with units across campus to provide an enhanced professional development ecosystem at UC Davis. Dr. Dillinger also co-directs the Professors for the Future program, a competitive year-long program for PhD candidates and postdoctoral scholars. As project lead for ImaginePhD, she guides a team to add new content and improvements to the tool for an innovative career exploration and planning for the PhDs in the humanities and social sciences. Dr. Dillinger earned her B.A. in Social Sciences from Cal Poly before going on to achieve an M.A. and PhD in Geography from UC Davis.
Navigating a Career Pivot - without Burning Out
Friday May 12 at 11:00 am
Location: Corwin Pavilion
After making 5 major career pivots in 20+ years of work history, I have befriended burnout more than once. Burnout takes a very real toll physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually - and PhDs are particularly prone to burnout. I'll trace my own history with experiencing and (finally) healing burnout. We'll talk about the signals for burnout, the gifts burnout can offer in making one more honest about right/wrong career choices, and small daily practices that can reverse (or prevent) burnout.
Facilitator: Kara Otto (Founding Researcher & Head of User Research, CareRev) [LinkedIn]
I have always been a researcher and a writer with careers that have spanned journalism, fashion, wellness, academia, and technology. My most recent work focuses on technology companies where I establish the research function, execute research projects, and build research teams.
Immigration Options Beyond Academia
Friday May 12 at 3:30 pm
Location: Corwin Paviliion
What are the immigration options for individuals outside of academia? I'll discuss both temporary work visas and permanent residency categories.
Facilitator: Paul Herzog (Attorney, Law Offices of Paul Herzog) [LinkedIn]
Paul Herzog has practiced immigration law for over 20 years. He is an immigration attorney with a practice focused on business and family immigration, especially work visas for scientists, professionals and investors, as well as green card applications based on employment and family relationships. Fluent in both French and English, Paul received his J.D. degree the Tulane University in 1996 and his BA degree in philosophy from Syracuse University in 1993. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and has authored several articles on immigration law as it applies to scientists.
