Master's Map for Professional Development

The Master's Map for Professional Development is a guide to support you at every stage of your master's journey. Whether you're just getting started, building momentum or preparing to launch into the next chapter, this resource helps you take intentional steps toward your academic, personal and professional goals. Explore each category to Get Oriented, Get Going, and Get Out in the World.

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Career Management

Get oriented and plan for the future. Get going and learn how to make connections and enhance your online presence. Get out into the world and find job opportunities.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Join a career community with the Career Design Center (CDC). Browse by your career community, the Master's Students Identity Community, or any community that resonates with you. Complete your Bullseye powered by Handshake profile. Create an up-to-date, professional looking resume with the help of the CDC and Center for Excellence in Writing. Update your LinkedIn. Familiarize yourself with the virtual tools available through the CDC. Category: Career Management Seek out people who are doing research that interests you and learn about their trajectories. Create an up-to-date, professional looking curriculum vitae with the help of the Career Design Center and the Center for Excellence in Writing. Update your LinkedIn. Category: Career Management	Practice networking by attending events offered through campus offices, your department or the Graduate Student Association (GSA). Keep your LinkedIn updated and reach out to UB alumni for informational interviews. Find a summer internship, volunteer opportunity or a relevant lab outside of your own department. Connect with alumni through LinkedIn or Connect-A-Bull. Category: Career Management Attend a workshop to learn how to leverage your LinkedIn profile to create opportunities. Make sure your Bullseye powered by Handshake profile is updated and visible. Category: Career Management	Research requirements for careers that interest you and identify opportunities to fill those gaps. Attend career fairs. If an internship is applicable to you, find additional opportunities and companies you can partner with. Check your email! Bullseye powered by Handshake will routinely send you jobs that are relevant to your education. Make sure your profile is public. Be sure to have the Career Design Center and Center for Excellence in Writing look over your job materials. Category: Career Management

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Communication

Get oriented and learn how to communicate effectively. Get going and refine your communications. Get out into the world and use your communication skills in a practical setting.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Talk about your writing and have it reviewed at the Center for Excellence in Writing (CEW). Subscribe to the Graduate Writing Support listserv. Enter the listserv name “CEW-GRAD-WRITING-SUPPORT-LIST” in the box, then enter your UB email to subscribe. Check out the free copyediting services provided by the Graduate Student Association. Familiarize yourself with any field-specific best practices. Category: Communication Lean on your cohort! Practice giving presentations with a friend. Visit the Startup and Innovation Collaboratory (the CoLab) and bounce ideas off of a venture coach to streamline your message and practice sharing it. Category: Communication	Attend networking events or alumni panels to meet UB alums working in industry or academia and practice talking to them about their research, as well as your own. Category: Communication Complete the Three Minute Thesis micro-credential: Communicating Research to Broad Audiences. Category: Communication Attend departmental talks and disciplinary conferences to observe how others in your field communicate. Category: Communication Check out the writing resources offered by the Center for Excellence in Writing (CEW). Category: Communication	The Career Design Center and the CoLab both offer ample opportunities to prepare for job talks, refine your talking points, and discuss what you work on in an easily-digestible way. The Center for Excellence in Writing (CEW) can help you craft a message that tells a story while retaining the most important details. Category: Communication

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Community Engagement

Get oriented and find a community. Get going and expand your community. Get out into the world and connect with communities beyond UB.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
If fieldwork is something you’re interested in, figure out how to do it responsibly and ethically in relation to the community of interest to you. Category: Community Engagement Participate in an event held by the Intercultural and Diversity Center (IDC), such as Tough Topics. Find a NEAR mentor who identifies similarly to you to discuss issues surrounding those identities. Student Life has programming for community and civic engagement. Volunteer for something that matters to you. Join a Graduate Student Association departmental, international or special interest club. There's an Affinity/Identity Community in the Career Design Center with communities specifically for athletes, veterans, LGBTQ+, First Gen and more. Use UBLinked to find events, programs and club activities. Category: Community Engagement	Regardless of what your future holds, you will be working with a variety of people from many different backgrounds. Learn how to communicate professionally while keeping those various identities and how they are impacted in the workplace in mind. Category: Community Engagement Become a Diversity Advocate (DA) with the Intercultural and Diversity Center (IDC). Take part in an International Student Services event or trip. These are open to all students. Veterans can connect with Veteran Services, and enjoy the student lounge. Category: Community Engagement	Talk to those willing to share their experiences and learn from them. Continue to join Affinity/Identity Communities offered through the Career Design Center. Make meaningful connections with alumni around the globe with Connect-A-Bull. Participate in International Education Week to explore the rich cultures of fellow graduate students. Category: Community Engagement Continue attending Intercultural and Diversity Center (IDC) workshops and learn about the various things to consider while transitioning from an academic setting to the workplace. Category: Community Engagement

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Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Get oriented and brainstorm your ideas. Get going and share your ideas with UB. Get out into the world and take what you've learned and share it with the community.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Attend events such as Innovate & Caffeinate and Masterclass to get practice networking with others and talking about your ideas. Participate in an Innovation Sprint. Be an audience member for events like the Panasci competition and get a feel for how other students pitch their ideas. Category: Entrepreneurship and Innovation	Connect with alumni and community leaders at the CoLab events. Participate in one of the CoLab’s many competitions, design challenges or innovation sprints. Apply for the Western New York Prosperity Fellowship. Category: Entrepreneurship and Innovation	Continue to participate in the Startup and Innovation Collaboratory (CoLab) events such as Panasci, 43North and Bulls Launch where you will meet many people from the Western New York region not directly affiliated with UB. Category: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Apply for the Social Impact Fellowship. Category: Entrepreneurship and Innovation

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Leadership

Get oriented and learn how to lead. Get going and develop your leadership skills. Get out into the world and put your leadership skills into practice.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Participate in your departmental club as a member of your department. Find an international or special interest club. Category: Leadership Sign up for Developmental Experiences and the Leadership & Development Foundations micro-credentials. Attend the Virtual Leadership Academy. Join Student Engagement on UBLinked for workshops and events. Category: Leadership	Run for a Graduate Student Association (GSA) leadership position, either within a club or within the overarching GSA. Category: Leadership Participate in Student Engagement’s Organizational Developmental Digital Badge and Leadership & Development Foundations micro-credentials. Category: Leadership	There may still be an opportunity to run for a leadership position in a club or the Graduate Student Association (GSA). But you can also volunteer to be on various GSA committees, such as the Services Committee, which discusses the various offerings available to students and how to improve them. Category: Leadership Participate in the Next Level Leadership Mentoring Conference and Advanced Leadership Training Camp. Category: Leadership

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Research and Research Impacts

Get oriented and find opportunities available to you. Get going and talk about your research. Get out into the world and share your research with wide audiences.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Connect with faculty members in your discipline to find experiential learning opportunities. Category: Research and Research Impacts Connect with the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships (OFS) to explore available funding opportunities. Category: Research and Research Impacts Go to research talks and hear about the work other people in your field are doing. Category: Research and Research Impacts Plan class projects strategically. University Libraries has resources and librarians who can help you with research. Category: Research and Research Impacts	Participate in a Startup and Innovation Collaboratory (CoLab) event and learn to pitch your research in a way that’s understandable to a broad audience. Participate in the Art of Research competition or complete the Three Minute Thesis micro-credential. Serve on the Graduate Student Association (GSA) Mark Diamond Research Fund (MDRF) review panel so you can get a feel for the grant writing and approval process. Category: Research and Research Impacts Attend the Three Minute Thesis competition in spring to hear how advanced PhD students share their research. Attend the Celebration of Academic Excellence in spring. Category: Research and Research Impacts	Apply for an MDRF grant at the beginning of your second fall semester. Work with faculty to explore publishing opportunities. Ask your advisor about how to participate in the Celebration of Academic Excellence in spring. Submit a cool image you’ve made for any type of research to the Art of Research competition. Renderings, plots, photographs, any type of visualization is welcome! If you’re applying for a PhD, explore funding with the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships. Category: Research and Research Impacts

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Teaching and Mentoring

Get oriented and find where you can go for support. Get going and improve your teaching and mentoring skills. Get out into the world and practice teaching and mentorship.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Mentors from across all campuses have made themselves available to discuss situations that arise throughout the grad school experience. Find your NEAR mentor. Category: Teaching and Mentoring Figure out what societies you can join that are applicable to your field of study and find out what mentoring support is available in your specialization. Category: Teaching and Mentoring CATT can help you create syllabi and learn the ropes in order to reach your potential as a Teaching Assistant. Category: Teaching and Mentoring	Engage in communication and mentoring workshops such as those offered through the CoLab, the Center for Excellence in Writing or the Graduate School. Category: Teaching and Mentoring Complete the Effective Teaching micro-credential offered by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Category: Teaching and Mentoring Attend the TA Orientation hosted by the Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation (CATT). Join the CATT TA Discovery Community. Category: Teaching and Mentoring	Engage with incoming cohorts and share the knowledge you’ve gained while here. Category: Teaching and Mentoring In some departments, master’s students have opportunities to oversee undergraduates in some capacity, such as research or teaching assistants. Ask what kinds of opportunities are available in your department. Category: Teaching and Mentoring

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Wellness and Life Balance

Get oriented and learn where you can go to get the support you need. Get going and use those resources to avoid burnout. Get out into the world and embrace the wellness and life balance skills you learned.

Get Oriented	Get Going	Get Out into the World
Attend productivity and time management workshops. Category: Wellness and Life Balance Identify individual or group support opportunities offered by Counseling Services. Find an opportunity to move your body that works with your schedule. Attend fitness classes or partake in free yoga. Meet with a registered dietitian to help with nutrition and meal planning. Category: Wellness and Life Balance	Meet with a Health Promotion financial wellness coach. Attend a financial wellness workshop offered by the Graduate School. Category: Wellness and Life Balance Continue attending counseling groups, free yoga classes and workshops. If something is missing from your wellness routine, figure out what small, actionable steps you can take to be happier and healthier. A wellness coach can help. Category: Wellness and Life Balance	Prioritize sleep! It can be hard to think about closing your eyes when there’s so much you need to do, but it will be helpful in the long run to step away for a few hours and close your eyes. Don’t forget about NEAR! Faculty and staff volunteers are available to you, and have been through what you’ve been through. They have priceless tips about how to make it to the other side. Wellness Coaches offered through Health Promotion can help you reach your goals. Category: Wellness and Life Balance