Posts by Paula D. Wishart

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Posts by Paula D. Wishart

What Is Professional Development at Rackham?

April 19, 2013 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

Rackham supports graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in developing strategies, plans and networks to be successful in their professional development during their U-M experience, and as they transition into their careers. To achieve this, we focus on three key areas: core skill development, career development, and job search skill development. The video below provides more detail. To read more blog posts by Paula, visit http://www.rackham.umich.edu/blog/author/pwishart/ Paula Wishart leads our Professional Development area. You will see her behind the scenes coordinating professional development offerings for graduate students with our campus partners such as Sweetland Center for Writing, The Career Center and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching – and you will see her front and center leading practice sessions such as interviewing, professional communication and negotiation.

Published in: Professional Development

Meaningful Minute (the post you can read in a minute; it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE): Time Management

October 31, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

I’ve been told by a lot of people in the Graduate Student Professional Development community (and most recently the Dean, so now I am on it …) that time management is a huge issue for Professional Development (heretofore referred to as PD – so remember it). Here is one of the best summaries of how I organize myself (with a few extra items), so check it out: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/my-personal-productivity-rules/41766 My three actionable takeaways for you, oh overwhelmed graduate student: Plan your lists for tomorrow today. Give yourself 15 minutes to do this every night. It’s transformative. Then don’t plan tomorrow, DO…

Published in: Professional Development

A Two-Question Survey to Re-Start Your Professional Engine for Fall 2012

August 28, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

Let me make a quick introduction – I am the new Academic Program Officer for Professional Development at Rackham (you can call me Paula). When I am asked what is the most powerful thing you can do to be an effective professional, I hear a voice say (it’s usually mine), “Hey, engage in a professional community.” Dive In Since we all have a lot to do, let’s start this engagement by doing something concrete and social media friendly via LinkedIn. Just take my 2 item questionnaire to gauge your next steps: I would describe my current activity on LinkedIn in…

Published in: Professional Development

The Versatile PhD: A New Resource for Humanities and Social Science Ph.D.s

February 29, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

The Career Center, in partnership with Rackham, is pleased to announce a new resource that demystifies non-academic careers, revealing many interesting professions that can utilize the skills you are developing in graduate school. The Versatile PhD is a web-based resource that you can use anytime, from any computer, confidentially. There you will find: A thriving, supportive web-based community where you can participate in discussions, network with Ph.D.s and A.B.D.s outside the academy, or just listen and learn. Examples of successful resumes and cover letters that resulted in Humanities and Social Science Ph.D.s and A.B.D.s getting their first post-academic positions. Compelling first-person narratives…

Published in: Professional Development

Building Professional Relationships: The Power of Community, Step 5 of 5

January 25, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

This week, I’m going to introduce the fifth step to building your professional community. If you missed the first steps, visit my posts: Step 1: Determine What You Want to Know; Step 2: Identify Contacts; Step 3: Prepare What You Want To Say; and Step 4: Make Contact – Again and Again! Step 5: Maintain the Relationship The basic way to maintain a relationship (and you know this) is to be kind and regular about your contacts. This is often where people drop the ball on effective community building because it takes some thinking on how to maintain a relationship with…

Published in: Professional Development

Building Professional Relationships: The Power of Community, Step 4 of 5

January 17, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

This week, I’m going to introduce the fourth step to building your professional community. If you missed the first steps, visit my posts: Step 1: Determine What You Want to Know and Step 2: Identify Contacts. And Step 3: Prepare What You Want To Say Step 4: Make Contact – Again and Again! So, you find names, you prepare questions, you plan what you want to say—so make contact – and keep making contacts! Here are some things to help with that: Start with easy hits that aren’t your “Dream job” contacts. With less on the line, you can cut…

Published in: Professional Development

Building Professional Relationships: The Power of Community, Step 3 of 5

January 12, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

This week, I’m going to introduce the third step to building your professional community. If you missed the first steps, visit my posts: Step 1: Determine What You Want to Know and Step 2: Identify Contacts. Step 3: Prepare What You Want To Say Once you have decided to make contact, you should identify who you are, how you found his/her name and why you are contacting him/her. Again, you may ultimately want a job, but the first contact is about building a relationship, so start with what you are seeking from the contact in the first communication. Something like the…

Published in: Professional Development

Building Professional Relationships: The Power of Community, Step 2 of 5

January 5, 2012 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

Welcome back and Happy 2012! This week, I’m going to introduce the second step to building your professional community. If you missed the first step, visit my post: Step 1: Determining What You Want to Know. Step 2: Identify Contacts Who do you know? "I don’t know anyone" is not necessarily a helpful phrase to tell yourself—nor is it true. Instead, let’s look at who you do know: your family, friends, advisors, graduate school cohort, and the U-M community at large. These are all people and places that can connect you to other people. So start with who you do know…

Published in: Professional Development

Building Professional Relationships: The Power of Community, Step 1 of 5

December 21, 2011 | By Paula D. Wishart, Professional Development, Rackham Graduate School

Take a moment to think about the words “power” and “community.” I often find graduate students meeting with me saying both of those elements are lacking from their life, and wondering why – often feeling like they can’t get traction in their professional goals. You will gain traction if you put the locus of control back where it should be – in yourself. Instead of saying my advisor doesn’t know anyone in my field of interest, ask who do I know? Building your own professional community gives you the agency and power in this process. You have the ability to…

Published in: Professional Development

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