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 clarify 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.
Launch Your Career Plan should be completed before the OPTIONS Cohort Program.
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 | Registration |
---|---|---|---|---|
Building a Better Relationship with Your Writing | Wednesday September 27 | 12:00 - 1:30 pm | GB202 | |
Resume and Cover Letter for Industry | Wednesday October 11 | 12:00 - 1:30 pm | GB202 | Registration is Open. |
Tailoring your Job Application: Using Networking, ATS, and AI to Your Advantage | Wednesday November 15 | 12:00 - 1:30 pm | GB202 |
Building a Better Relationship with Your Writing
Wednesday September 27 | 12:00 – 1:30 pm | GB202
Written communication is a core skill at any career stage, and graduate-level writing can be a place for you to strengthen that skill.
Are you struggling with the challenges of graduate-level writing? Does writing advice often feel hard to put into practice? Does the sight of a blank page or email communication turn your mind blank, too?! If so, know that you’re far from alone. Join us for a workshop that will:
- Demystify graduate-level writing challenges.
- Demonstrate how small changes to your current writing habits can generate big improvements in your writing experience.
- Share strategies for building a writing practice you can trust.
During this session, you’ll work through a reflective writing audit that will help you to recognize existing areas of writing strength, identify next steps in your writing development, and embrace writing approaches that work for you now and in your future career!
Facilitator: Dr. Fiona Coll, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream (CLTA), ISTEP
Resume and Cover Letter for Industry
Wednesday October 11 l 12:00 - 1:30 pm l GB202
Looking to tune up your résumé and cover letter for industry roles? Join us for a session with Career Exploration & Education to learn strategies and tips to build and refresh your industry job application material.
We will discuss:
- Creating application materials targeted to industry roles
- How to analyze industry job descriptions so you can successfully tailor your résumé
- Strategies to create a more effective and captivating résumé including writing strong accomplishment statements and organizing résumé sections effectively
- Approaches to drafting tailored cover letters in an efficient and compelling manner
Bonus Activity: Participate in a résumé review for personalized feedback! You will need to bring a digital copy of your working résumé (does not need to be finalized) and be ready to share it with your peers.
Facilitator: Dr. Jessica Wurster, Career Exploration & Education, Graduate Career Educator
Tailoring Your Job Application: Using Networking, ATS, and AI to Your Advantage
Wednesday November 15 | 12:00 – 1:30 pm | GB202
Attendees of this session will learn about the importance of customizing their job applications for a variety of sectors. Specifically, you will learn:
- Why employers in different sectors care about tailored resumes, CVs, and cover letters
- What an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is and how to use AI to find keywords from job postings and incorporate them in your job applications
- How to use networking to position yourself as a strong candidate for a role
Before the session, it is recommended that you review articles by Dr. Ketan Marballi from Inside HigherEd and University Affairs.
Facilitator: Dr. Ketan Marballi, Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Professional Development Specialist, TMU