What They Are

At alumni career panels, you will have the opportunity to hear from Graduate Center alumni about how they transitioned into their current careers and what you can do to follow in their footsteps.

Panels begin with brief introductions of the panelists and their professional journeys. They then quickly open up to questions from the audience. During these sessions, you will gain a much better sense about the day-to-day work required for particular positions. Also, alumni career panels are great for learning more about how to move from graduate school into a full-time career and what you can do now to better prepare for the job search.

How to Prepare

In order to prepare for an alumni career panel, visit our panelists’ LinkedIn and About pages, as well as their employers’ websites, to conduct some background research. Find out as much as you can about their career paths and workplaces on your own so that you can ask relevant questions during the panel.

What to Ask

Here are some useful questions to ask alumni:

• What positions did you hold prior to your current job?
• What projects are you currently working on?
• What are some of the biggest challenges facing your organization?
• What do you enjoy most about your work?
• What does a typical day look like for you?
• What was your hiring process like?
• What makes a job application in your field/organization stand out?
• What skills are most important to your position or similar jobs in this field?
• How did you find out about your current position? Where are jobs in your field advertised?
• What is the current state of the field? Is it a growing or shrinking industry?
• Is there anything graduate students can do now to help boost their resumes for these positions?
• What advice do you have for current graduate students if they want to pursue a similar career?