In cooperation with the Graduate Office of Professional and Career Development, EMPOWER hosted Dr. Josh Henkin for two days of interactive seminars addressing a wide range of relevant professional development topics and skills. Dr. Henkin offered our trainees a uniquely credible perspective as a Ph.D. with direct experience as an industry hiring manager.

We began day one with “Strategic Career Planning” which provided much needed information to our STEM grads about assessing and cataloging their skills and preferences as a tool to plan their future career, use of social media, engaging a mentor along with valuable CV/resume tips.

The afternoon focused on branding. The “Elevator Pitch 2.0” workshop demonstrated how to frame one’s education, skills and experiences in way that best showcases them to potential employers. Students learned how to “tell a story,” with their CV/resume and in person during an interview or networking opportunity (and how to make those networking opportunities happen).

A classic Syracuse lake effect snowstorm on Thursday night/Friday morning did not slow us down! Friday morning’s workshop, “Writing a Cover Letter the Right Way” was a deep dive on searching for and then applying to jobs of interest. Josh explained when a cover letter is appropriate (or not) and how to best develop one that is suited to the job description. Trainees did hands on activities assessing multiple job descriptions – learning to pull pertinent details they could use to custom tailor their CV/resumes and cover letters when applying for a position.

A networking lunch and numerous one-on-one appointments between Josh and individual trainees preceded our final workshop for the day, “The Universe of STEM Careers Available to STEM Grads and the Communication Skills that Will Take You There.”  This workshop addressed a critical knowledge gap regarding what types of careers STEM grads may consider upon graduation and provided tools to help students identify how their values, interests and skills align with potential careers of interest. The workshop also introduced trainees to “mind-mapping,” a technique used to create a list of expanded professional skills (technical and transferable) called “micro” skills. Participants agreed that the exercises made them more aware of their strengths and better able to articulate them to others.