An overview of the PREP model that is utilized at Michigan State University. PREP helps doctoral students achieve success in both academic and nonacademic realms.

1. PREPping Students for Success
Paul Artale
MCEEA Conference 2013

4. $0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
B.A. Masters PhD

7. DON’T
 Assume that graduate students have
career search skills in tact
 Assume graduate students have
researched the possibilities
 Assume they are receiving support from
their departments

8. What Some Research Tells Us:
 Students are not asking important questions at key stages, and
program administrators are not providing essential information as part
of the socialization process.
 Career and professional development guidance is often missing in the
socialization process for students.
 Guidance on how students might develop or adapt their professional
skills for settings outside academe is not part of the preparation of
most doctoral students (Austin, 2002, p.105).

9. Change vs. Transition
•Change and Transition are not the same
•Change is an event or shift in the external situation
•Transition is the psychological reorientation in response to
change.

10. Exploring Outside of Academia Can
Be
 Frightening
 Confusing
 Amazing
 Liberating
 Empowering

11. PhD Abilities
1. intelligence, ability to learn quickly
2. ability to make good decisions quickly
3. analytical, inquiring, logical-mindedness
4. ability to work well under pressure and willingness to work hard
5. competitiveness, enjoyment of challenge
6. ability to apply oneself to a variety of tasks simultaneously
7. thorough, organized and efficient
8. good time management skills
9. resourceful, determined and persistent (and able to live on $2K/month!)
10. imaginative, creative
11. cooperative and helpful
12. objective and flexible
13. good listening skills
14. sensitive to different perspectives
15. ability to make other people "feel interesting"
Employers in all fields are looking for people with these traits

12. 20 successful PhDs in non-
academic careers were
asked ...“Of the many skills you developed while in graduate school, which
ones are the most valuable to you now?”
Finding one’s own path and taking initiative with little assistance
Ability to work in a high-stress environment
Independence
Maturity
Computer skills
Circumventing the rules
Learning to seek out problems and solutions
Ability to persuade
Ability to create
Ability to work productively with difficult people

13. Transferable skills
1. ability to function in a variety of environments and roles
2. teaching skills: conceptualizing, explaining
3. counseling, interview skills
4. public speaking experience
5. ability to support a position or viewpoint with argumentation and logic
17. ability to make the best use of "informed hunches"
16. ability to suspend judgment, to work with ambiguity
15. ability to acknowledge many differing views of reality
14. ability to do advocacy work
13. ability to problem-solve
12. ability to investigate, using many different research methodologies
11. ability to evaluate critically
10. ability to combine, integrate information from disparate sources
9. ability to organize and analyze data, to understand
statistics and to generalize from data
8. knowledge of the scientific method to organize and test ideas
7. ability to implement and manage all phases of complex
research projects and to follow them through to completion
6. ability to conceive and design complex studies and projects

14.  Professional developmentProfessional development
SSocialization and integration into a professionalocialization and integration into a professional
context and the continued process of learning andcontext and the continued process of learning and
growth throughout a career.growth throughout a career.
 Transferable skillsTransferable skills
Practical abilities that are fundamental to success inPractical abilities that are fundamental to success in
professional contexts (academia to industry,professional contexts (academia to industry,
corporations, and agencies)corporations, and agencies)

16. Graduate Student Life &
Wellness
Connecting you with the resources you need for
success & a well-balanced life in graduate
school.

17. Research Says…
Graduate Students who embrace wellness
and get involved are more successful
academically, more likely to complete their
graduate degrees, and more desirable to
employers.

18. http://
grad.msu.edu/prep/docs/planyourwork.pdf

19. Essential Transferable Skills-Essential Transferable Skills-WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT?WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT?

20. Becoming Your Own ManagerBecoming Your Own Manager
5 Strategies for Success5 Strategies for Success
1.1. Take responsibility and ownership for yourTake responsibility and ownership for your
success.success.
2.2. Know available resourcesKnow available resources
3.3. Think aheadThink ahead
4.4. Have a plan!Have a plan!
5.5. Identify (and deal with) obstaclesIdentify (and deal with) obstacles

21.  PLANNINGPLANNING for career and professionalfor career and professional
goals-entry to exitgoals-entry to exit
 Planning during graduate school helps youPlanning during graduate school helps you
identify and achieve your professional andidentify and achieve your professional and
career goals.career goals.

22.  RESILIENCE and tenacity through multiple career and life stages
 Resilience--the ability to adapt effectively to adversity or change.
 To be resilient in graduate school, you must adapt to the expectationsTo be resilient in graduate school, you must adapt to the expectations
placed upon you.placed upon you.
 Wellness: The integration, balance, and harmony of mental, physical,Wellness: The integration, balance, and harmony of mental, physical,
emotional, and spiritual well-being through taking responsibility foremotional, and spiritual well-being through taking responsibility for
one’s own health. Wellness assumes that the whole is greater than itsone’s own health. Wellness assumes that the whole is greater than its
parts.parts.

23.  ENGAGEMENT in decision-making and
skill development
 Engagement in your discipline and in your
personal and professional development is
critical for enhancing transferable skills,
expanding your professional network, and
creating partnerships and collaborations.

24.  PROFESSIONALISM in research,
teaching, and service
 Professionalism-- how you reflect on what youProfessionalism-- how you reflect on what you
do in your discipline and the types of attitudes,do in your discipline and the types of attitudes,
standards, and behaviors you demonstratestandards, and behaviors you demonstrate
throughout your career.throughout your career.

25. Job
Search/
Resumes, interviews,
researching options
(Networking)
Focusing
Which organizations are a good fit?
What do I need to be competitive? Who
can connect me to these organizations?
(Networking)
Action
Plan
Exploration
What’s out there? What options do I have? What jobs fit my
skills? What careers and industries can use them?
(Networking)
Self Assessment
Who am I? What are my interests? What kinds of skills do I have? What
are my work-related values? What is my work style?
Graduate Student Career Developmental
Process
Adapted from Peter Fiske: To Boldly Go: Practical Career Advice for Scientists, Workshop at MIT, April
1998. Modified from Stanford University Career Development Office.
Early
M
ID
Late

45. Electronic Professional NetworkingElectronic Professional Networking

46. Discussion Starters
 What are the needs and challenges of
graduate students on your campus?
 What elements could you incorporate to
enhance graduate student experience?
 General thoughts?

47. Action Steps
 Name 3 things you could do to improve
career services for graduate students on
your campus?

48. CONTACT ME
 ARTALEPA@MSU.EDU
 www.paulartale.com/materials
 LinkedIN: Paul Artale