The OPTIONS Program - Engineering Graduate Studies

The OPTIONS Program supports all engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to explore diverse career options. It consists of a: 1) Cohort Program and 2) Complementary Events.

Cohort Program

The Cohort Program is an opportunity to take a deep dive into career management with a supportive community of like-minded graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Facilitated by faculty and professional development experts, the program provides an opportunity to clarity your interests and aspirations, develop job application materials, and explore career pathways. We offer three different Cohort Programs to address the specific needs of the U of T Engineering community.

Click below to learn more about your cohort.

PhD and Postdoctoral Fellow

Explore your options to make decisions with confidence and clarity.

This program provides a dedicated time and structured experience to explore careers in industry with a supportive community of peers. In this program, you will launch your career plan, develop confidence and clarity in your next steps, and gain tools and resources to facilitate a transition from graduate school to the workforce. You will: create a Career Exploration Plan that is grounded in your skills, strengths, and goals as well as labour market data; develop job application materials; and discover networking tools to advance your career exploration. This program is for PhD students (post qualifying and/or comprehensive exams) and postdoctoral fellows who intend to work in industry or are curious, yet maybe undecided, about pursuing industry opportunities.

If you are interested in an academic position, check out the Prospective Professors in Training (PPIT) Program.

The program provides:

Nine, two-hour, online, live sessions
A short instructional video on resumes and cover letters for viewing on your own time
Two career management tools to develop an individualized, career exploration plan
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with a career coach (optional)
A one-on-one, 20 min resume and cover letter review with an instructor (optional)
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with an engineering professor (optional)
A mock interview, personalized feedback on your interview skills, and access to an interview preparation toolkit
An informational interview with an alumni and a database of informational interview questions
A Peer Success Team to support your career exploration

Next Offering: Fall 2021

Applications Open: Late August 2021

MEng

Accelerate your career planning for industry options.

This program is designed for MEng students getting ready to launch their industry career. It equips you with personal and professional skills to navigate your career exploration while complementing your technical expertise. In this program, you will create a Career Exploration Plan to achieve your goals, develop job application materials, and utilize networking tools to explore your career options. You will also join a dynamic cohort of MEng students from different departments with diverse career aspirations.

The program provides:

Nine, two-hour, online, live sessions
A short instructional video on resumes and cover letters for viewing on your own time
Two career management tools to develop an individualized, career exploration plan
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with a career coach (optional)
A one-on-one, 20 min resume and cover letter review with an instructor (optional)
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with an engineering professor (optional)
A mock interview, personalized feedback on your interview skills, and access to an interview preparation toolkit
An informational interview with an alumni and a database of informational interview questions
A Peer Success Team to support your career exploration

Next Offering: Winter 2022

Applications Open: Early December

*NEW* MASc

Take stock of your options in industry.

This program is an opportunity to make time to reflect and take stock of your options to set you up for success after graduate school. In this program, you will assess where you currently are, where you want to go next, and the steps you need to take to get there. You will create a Career Exploration Plan to achieve your goals, develop job application materials, and use networking tools to explore your goals. This program is for MASc students who have a clear idea of their industry aspirations as well as for those who are exploring a number of industry options.

The program provides:

Four, two-hour, online, live sessions
A short instructional video on resumes and cover letters for viewing on your own time
Two career management tools to develop an individualized, career exploration plan
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with a career coach (optional)
A one-on-one, 20 min resume and cover letter review with an instructor (optional)
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with an engineering professor (optional)
A mock interview, personalized feedback on your interview skills, and access to an interview preparation toolkit
An informational interview with an alumni and a database of informational interview questions

Next Offering: Spring 2022

Applications Open: Late March

Complementary Events

The Complementary Events are open to all engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. These events provide an introduction to the school-to-work transition, tools to develop skills critical to the success of a professional, and a venue to network with engineering alumni.

Event	Day	Time (ET)	Location
Intentional Career Exploration for Engineers in Uncertain Times	Thurs May 6	2:00 - 3:30 pm	Online
Creating a Resume for Industry Jobs	Wed May 19	1:00 - 2:30 pm	Online
Strategic Networking: Make Your Contacts Count	Thurs June 10	12:00 - 1:00 pm	Online
Interviewing for Work	Mon July 19	1:00 - 2:00 pm	Online
ILead Career Talk: Leading Others	Thurs July 22	12:00 - 1:00 pm	Online

Signature Complementary Events

The Signature Complementary Events are open to all engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. These highly popular events are typically offered a couple times a year and require a longer time commitment (i.e., full-day event).

Design Your Life

Design Your Life uses design thinking to address the “wicked problem” of cultivating a meaningful life and career at and beyond U of T. It was developed by two Stanford engineering professors and is now taught at the Stanford Life Design Lab. In this session, you will develop awareness of what is important to you, define three career and life prototypes, and brainstorm ideas to act on those prototypes.

Next Offering: Fall 2021

Search Inside Yourself

Search Inside Yourself is a two-day mindfulness-based emotional intelligence program aimed at supporting you to manage stress, improve communication skills and cultivate greater well-being. It was originally developed at Google to support the leadership of their engineers, and is now offered world-wide in many settings. This hands-on course will give you tools, frameworks and practices that will benefit you for years to come.

Next Offering: TBA

Testimonials

The OPTIONS Program provided a how-to guide on exploring next steps. I am more confident to reach out to individuals in different positions to learn about their career paths. I left the program with a better understanding and ability to market my skills and strengths gained throughout my education. (PhD, BME)
The OPTIONS Program helped me understand my skills from childhood to adulthood by realizing common patterns. It aided me to widen my career possibilities as opposed to the classic ‘industry vs academia’ approach. (PhD, ECE)
I was in the middle of my career exploration when I joined The OPTIONS Program. For me the program highlighted the possibilities outside of the more “well traveled” career paths and I felt empowered to explore these. Through the program I was able to recognize my skills and how they are of great value for my chosen direction in life. (Postdoctoral Fellow, AER)
The OPTIONS program gave me the tools to reflect on my career story from different marketable perspectives. The course helped me to define, schedule, and practice clear and concise actions to create job opportunities aligned with my core values. The introspection was guided by instructors with different fields of expertise. This exposed me to more job possibilities and a better understanding of the path to follow as I transitioned from academia to industry. (Postdoctoral Fellow, CHE)

Questions? Contact

Teresa Didiano
Graduate Professional Development Coordinator, Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering
t.didiano@utoronto.ca