Beyond the Professoriate

Picture of person standing on top of a rock with arms spread out looking out into the sky.

Beyond the Professoriate's Career Training Platform helps graduate students, postdocs and PhDs successfully transition into academic or nonacademic careers.

Through two programs of study (Academic Careers and Professional Careers), postdocs and graduate students can explore career options and learn job search strategies to secure employment in academia and beyond.

Best of all, its free to UB students, faculty, staff and postdocs.

Choose "University at Buffalo" from the list of institutions and log in using your UB credentials to access UB's Beyond the Professoriate Career Training Platform.

Why use Beyond Prof's Training Platform?

Framework for success.

Whether you're considering a faculty or nonacademic career pathway, you'll be able to access a framework to help you take the guesswork out of your job search. Through the Beyond the Professoriate curriculum for faculty or professional careers, you'll be able to approach your job search with purpose and strategy.

A job search is like a research project: it requires careful planning, gathering information, evaluating the information you have gathered, asking questions and then applying what you've learned.

To help you make informed career decisions, you can take the structured courses in the platform to learn a step-by-step process to a successful job search for faculty or nonacademic careers and avoid the pitfalls that many PhDs make.

Gain skills for landing the job.

The courses in the platform will help you build skills you need for your job search. You can learn how to write your resume, prepare your CV and cover letter, research, teaching and diversity statements, and how to prepare for interviews and communicate your skills to nonacademic employers. Or you can take lessons to help you craft your teaching statement for an academic job. By taking these courses, you'll develop the skills you need to be successful in securing employment.

This is a great place to start building your knowledge and confidence and once you've completed the course, you'll be able to put forward your most competitive application materials for the academic job market.

Build confidence.

There are many pathways to success and success won't look the same for every PhD. What may be the right career for one person in your program, might not be the right career for you. 

This unique training platform will help you learn how to leverage your education into a new career pathway and hear from hundreds of PhDs so that you can get the perspective you need to find a career you enjoy. This will allow you to confidently explore your career options and see the possibilities available to you.

Recognize your worth.

For those of you who will forge careers outside of academia, the PhD training platform will help you recognize your worth to employers. You'll be able to communicate how your PhD has prepared you for career success and you can speak to hiring managers with confidence and clarity, helping them see how you can add value to their organization.

The Graduate School is pleased to provide this resource in collaboration with the Career Design Center, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and University Libraries.