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Gear Your Career

Get all the goods you need for your job search! Rackham offers opportunities, funding, and resources that prepare graduate students to access the wide range of career opportunities available to them. Through Gear Your Career, Rackham and the University Career Center partner to support graduate students in developing the resources they need for career exploration and job search. On this Gear Your Career page, you can explore the many virtual career resources available at U-M, download Zoom backgrounds for professional purposes, and chat with U-M career and professional-development experts about their online professional presence and LinkedIn profile.

University Career Center Resources

The University Career Center has developed several career related resource pages for students, including tips for virtual job search needs. You can also make an individual appointment for assistance with exploring your career options, tailored feedback on resumes and cover letters, interview preparation, and negotiating job offers.

Zoom Backgrounds

Rackham created several Zoom backgrounds that can be an asset for virtual conference presentations, interviews, and other professional engagements.

Headshots

Research by LinkedIn suggests that your LinkedIn profile is 14 times more likely to be viewed if you have a headshot in your profile. Below are two resources on taking a professional headshot, including at a time when in-person photographs from a professional photographer may not be accessible to you:

Business Cards

Attending conferences is incredibly important for your professional development and building your network. When you attend virtual conferences, how can you share your professional contact information virtually? The below free resources enable you to create a virtual business card in multiple formats.

Dibiz

Design your business card in 2 minutes - it's easy, elegant and free. DIBIZ is always in your pocket, never tears and never runs out. Your DIBIZ can be easily updated with our user-friendly dashboard, so you won't need to re-print a business card again.

Electronic Business Card Creator

Create your own free vCard by filling out a simple form.

Networking

Looking to expand your professional network and connect virtually with career mentors? We invite you to connect with Rackham alumni through Rackham Connect, which is a digital space developed in partnership with the Career Center’s University Career Alumni Network (UCAN). Not only will students be able to connect with alumni and potential mentors, but Rackham alumni will have a space to connect with one another.

Interviewing

Whether you are applying for jobs in industry or academe, chances are your interviews will be virtual this semester. Check out the below articles and resources to set yourself up for virtual interview success:

Career Exploration Resources

The university offers several online tools you can access any time for exploring your career interests, values, and skills.

Versatile PhD

Designed to empower Ph.D.s and postdocs to explore diverse careers, this resource offers webinars, an online career exploration course, and career exploration tools for the wide range of careers beyond the professoriate.

ImaginePhD

Career exploration and planning for humanities and social-science doctoral students.

MyIDP

Career exploration and Individual Development Plan tool for STEM doctoral students.