Career Development

Throughout the year, the Office of Career Development hosts a multitude of events for postdocs and graduate students to develop the necessary skills for the next steps in their careers.

Resume and CVs Workshop

Come learn about resumes, have the opportunity to take what you learn to apply it to your resume, and have your resume reviewed after the workshop.

Social Media for Career Development

Your social media and professional brand can make or break your next career step. Learn about how to use these tools to promote yourself virtually and how to use social media to develop your professional brand.

Informational Interviews

This workshop covers how to leverage informational interviews during every step of your job search – from career discovery to applying.

Design Theory for Career Development

Concepts from Stanford's "Designing Your Life" course, including adaptability, intention, and curiosity, will be applied to your personal career development journey.

Prep for the Next Step Workshop

Discuss your individual plan for your career path or practice your informational interview skills with a person in academia, government, science policy, or industry positions. Participants will have a scheduled one-on-one time with a person in that particular field.

Transferable Skills Workshop

Grant and paper writing workshops provide an opportunity for postdocs to fine-tune their grant and paper writing skills while receiving feedback from experts.

NRSA and K99/R00 Writing Class for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows

This five-week class was designed for students and postdocs who are planning on submitting or revising/resubmitting an NRSA or a K99/R00. It is not a didactic course, but rather a small, interactive writing class designed to provide feedback on crucial sections of the NRSA. Participants that are actively writing have the opportunity to create small feedback groups on sections that are discussed in the course. The course is led by multiple faculty members, Renee Cockerham, and Jennifer Aumiller.

NRSA Mock Study Sections

Offered approximately one month before an NRSA deadline, students and postdocs have the opportunity to have their grants reviewed by faculty in a mock study section format and receive feedback.

Writing Feedback Small Groups

English is not the native language of over half our postdoc population and many of them appreciate getting feedback on their scientific writing. This small group meets throughout the summer and gives the writers feedback on the current section of their scientific manuscript from other group members and staff.

Writing Accountability Groups

A Writing Accountability Group is an active writing group that meets weekly for an 8-week block and follows an agenda of 5 minutes of updates followed by 50 minutes of individual writing, and then 5 minutes of reporting and wrap-up.

These originated at Johns Hopkins and have recently launched with the Junior Faculty at UMB, and there is evidence for measurable improvements in writing productivity, writing quality, improved goal setting and time management skills, and networking and community-building.

Leadership Skills

This series covers introductory concepts of leadership.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is key in leadership - realizing our strengths and challenges, and recognizing how this impacts our interactions with teams. Based on MBTI dichotomies, learn how you can be a more effective leader!

Dealing with Conflict

Conflict is inevitable - learn about your conflict style and strategies to handle conflict as a leader effectively.

Team Dynamics

This active workshop will help participants understand team dynamics and leadership.

Diversity in a Multicultural Society

This workshop will examine the meaning of diversity in terms of individuals, groups, teams, and the scientific community.

Careers in Science Seminars

This series invites alumni and others to discuss their career paths with our graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Previous speakers included AAAS Fellows, scientists at 10X Genomics, MedPace, and AstraZeneca, medical science liaisons, and biomedical sales agents.

UMB Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars can have opportunities to teach at local institutions through our Collaborative Teaching Fellows Program. The Collaborative Teaching Fellows Program is a collaborative effort between Johns Hopkins, the NIH National Institute of Aging, and the University of Maryland Baltimore along with various regional PUI partners to give all UMB students and postdoctoral fellows the opportunity to have experience in teaching undergraduate STEM students. 

Mentoring Workshops for Postdocs

The GPILS/OPS Office of Career and Professional Development offers a four-part miniseries, for students and postdocs in the biomedical and population health sciences. This series of discussions is part of the "Entering Mentoring Series," developed by Pfund, House, Asquith, Spencer, Silet, & Sorkness at the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Individual workshops include:

• Effective Communication
• Aligning Expectations and Assessing Understanding
• Addressing Equity and Inclusion
• Supporting Independence and Promoting Professional Development