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Career Development Organization for physicists and astronomers (CDO)

Several years ago, physics and astronomy graduate students co-founded an organization to support students looking for jobs outside of academia. They met a growing need to connect graduating Ph.D. students to employers. 鈥淭he reality is that most people don鈥檛 go into a tenure-track position,鈥� says Andrew Laszlo, who was a 2013-14 coordinator of the . 鈥淎 lot of people are going on to do other things. Our goal is to get people thinking about other options and to see what鈥檚 out there.鈥�

Connecting alumni, employers and current students: The CDO鈥檚 primary focus is an annual networking event. Student organizers invite local and international employers, many of whom are also alumni. On the first day, employers present to students. On the second day, students present their own work to employers. 鈥淭he idea is to get people talking,鈥� says Laszlo. The visiting professionals represent the range of opportunities open to graduating scientists. Recent graduate Amit Misra notes, 鈥淚t was interesting to see their career paths. They鈥檙e not your professors; they are people who branched off and did what I鈥檝e been hoping to do鈥攆ind a career outside of academia.鈥�

Creating well-rounded scientists: CDO aims to help science graduate students become better job candidates. Laszlo summarizes the challenge: 鈥淚 think employers are happy to hire candidates who are good at working with other people and have skills beyond just being intelligent.鈥� As a result, CDO鈥檚 programming highlights the value of 鈥榮oft skills.鈥� The organization鈥檚 mission statement contends: 鈥淭o remain competitive in the job market, physicists, mathematicians and astronomers need to augment their analytic and problem-solving skills with flexibility, leadership, and cross-disciplinary aptitude.鈥�

Partnering with the Career Center: To prepare for its fall employer event, CDO holds two workshops with the : one on effective r茅sum茅s and another called . Laszlo says CDO members have found these events and the Career Center overall 鈥渢o be incredibly useful. It鈥檚 not the norm for physics people to be social, actively engaging with other people and selling themselves,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what you do when you鈥檙e networking. So it鈥檚 a bit of social coaching.鈥�

Seminars with guest speakers inform students about career paths: In addition to the annual networking event, CDO organizes a variety of other workshops and seminars, many of which feature guest speakers (often alumni) talking about their fields. Recent presentation topics include working in rocket science and employment opportunities at NASA, and landing a faculty job at a small college. CDO also recently arranged a tour of Boeing linear accelerator labs and a chance to meet the scientists who work there.

For students, by students: For ten years, 鈥渢he CDO has been passed down grad student to grad student,鈥� says Laszlo, the third generation of coordinators from his research lab. Leading CDO was a core part of his 黑料吃瓜网 experience. 鈥淢entoring other students was an important part of feeling like I belonged in the department and was contributing to the community,鈥� says Laszlo. 鈥淎nd, on my r茅sum茅, it demonstrates leadership and organization skills.鈥�

For networking, practice makes perfect: Some CDO participants find jobs directly through the organization, such as Nathan Kurz 鈥�10, who was recruited by the electron microscope firm Nion after a senior engineer saw his presentation at the fall employer event. For students who don鈥檛 get a job offer right away, the event provides 鈥済ood practice for how to present yourself,鈥� says Laszlo. Misra agrees. 鈥淛ust interacting with people, seeing what they were doing and how my skills from graduate school could transfer was really helpful,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥淟earning to talk about my research to a non-astronomy audience was a good experience. At academic conferences you鈥檙e talking to the 10 or 20 people in your field who already pretty much know what you did anyway.鈥�

Student groups complement Graduate School offerings: The has a formal program for introducing graduate students to career options. In collaboration with the Career Center and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, the Graduate School鈥檚 offer workshops, seminars and online content geared toward career fulfillment, whether in academia, nonprofits or private industry.

Lessons Learned

• Tapping recent alumni to participate in professional networking and mentorship opportunities helps students recognize transferable skills and explore a wider range of career options.
• Graduate students are most competitive in the job market when they have both deep disciplinary expertise and practice communicating their knowledge and skills to people outside their field.

Learn More

Read the full Provost report on how to .