Professional Skills

At UCSC, we have identified nine categories of Professional Skills to help you gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities to equip you for success in graduate school and beyond. These Professional Skills are interrelated and transferable, no matter your degree, discipline, or career goals. With the exception of the Graduate Student Professional Communication and Graduate Student Leadership Certificate Programs, professional development events are open to both graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

• Career Exploration & Preparation
• Entrepreneurship
• Leadership & Management
• Networking
• Personal Development & Well-Being
• Professional Ethics
• Research & Data Analysis
• Teaching & Mentorship
• Writing & Communication

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Graduate training provides pathways to diverse careers. Learn about possible professional directions and develop skills, experiences, and materials to support you on your professional journey.

From starting an independent research or writing project to launching a nonprofit or commercial venture, it is important to know how to define the scope and timeline of a project, set realistic budgets, promote your goals, and cultivate supporters.

Taking initiative, leading others, organizing and managing projects, and setting goals, are important skills that transfer across many professional, civic, and personal areas.

Taking initiative, leading others, organizing and managing projects, and setting goals, are important skills that transfer across many professional, civic, and personal areas.

Professional development grows out of personal development and well-being. Skills to improve personal growth and well-being include establishing a healthy work-life balance, dealing with imposter phenomenon, resolving conflict with empathy, and taking care of oneself mentally, physically, and financially.

Professional success encompasses not just specialized knowledge and technical skills, but also personal qualities such as ethics, integrity, accountability, and respect.

Mastery of methods and data analysis and the ability to work across multiple fields are fundamental components of research, critical inquiry, and scholarly communication.

Teaching and mentoring are important parts of your graduate training and provide opportunities to develop skills that are applicable to many career paths, such as synthesizing and presenting information clearly and persuasively, providing feedback, advising, and managing groups.

Presenting information effectively and persuasively in written, oral, digital, and other formats is an important skill for every stage of your career.

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