Beyond Your Graduate Degree: AI, Storytelling and Career Pathways

Pre-Conference: 

3.30 pm: Check-in begins 

Official Conference:

4 - 4:15 pm: Welcome Address

4 – 5:05 pm: Breakout Session Block 1

5:10 - 5:55 pm: Breakout Session Block 2

6 – 6:45 pm: Alumni Panel

6 – 8 pm: Resource Fair And Networking Session

7:15 – 7:45 pm: Breakout Session 3 (Parallel Session)

7:50 – 8:00 pm: Closing Remarks

Session Blocks 1 & 2 each feature three concurrent sessions; participants can attend two of the three. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) can write a cover letter, but it can’t tell your story. In this interactive workshop, explore how to use generative AI as a thoughtful partner in your career development, from job search and interview preparation to mapping possibilities within and beyond academia. You’ll experiment with AI tools to enhance your career exploration, learn strategies to keep your authentic voice intact, and consider how AI is reshaping the world of work. Leave with prompts, resources, and reflection questions to continue building your ethical and confident use of AI.

Your research holds power, but how you tell its story determines who it reaches and what impact it makes. In this interactive session, you’ll learn practical storytelling strategies to translate complex ideas for diverse audiences within and beyond academia. You will practice adapting your message for academic, professional, and public contexts and build a quick knowledge mobilization map to identify where and how your work can create change. Leave with tools to communicate your expertise clearly, confidently, and compellingly—whether you’re networking, interviewing, or shaping your public scholarship.

Whether you are considering the academic or alternate job markets, this session aims to demystify the job search process for doctoral students. This workshop will identify the different modes of preparing for different career pathways, and the process of creating materials for each of them. Along with an overview of the academic job search, you will learn how to "speak industry" for alternate career pathways, prepare for the job search and showcase your skills in a different light. Attend this workshop to learn more about how to focus your efforts, explore your options, and propel your job search, in academia and beyond. 

International students contribute diverse perspectives and skills to U.S. campuses and workplaces, yet they face significant barriers in their career journeys. Complex immigration regulations, cultural differences in networking and job applications, and employer misunderstandings of visa requirements often create roadblocks. These challenges can make it difficult for international students to fully leverage their education and potential in the U.S. workforce. This program explores both the obstacles and the opportunities within international student career development. Participants will examine the systemic and institutional challenges shaping career pathways, while also reframing these barriers into opportunities for action. Through discussion and reflection, the program emphasizes building resilience, social capital, and advocacy for global talent hiring. Attendees will leave with strategies to navigate today’s job market while elevating global talent as a vital asset to higher education, employers, and communities.

This half-hour session  takes place during the Resource Fair. Participants will rejoin for the closing in the MPR.