Career Readiness and Pathways - University Graduate School

Career Readiness and Pathways

The goal of the professional development program at the University Graduate School is to assist graduate students in developing core competencies that can be applied to various career pathways during their graduate and post graduate careers.

Initiatives and Other Information

Accelerate to Industry (A2i)

Learn More

One of our signature programs is Accelerate to Industry (A2i). This program is an approach to workforce readiness that prepares graduate students for careers in various industries. Through A2i students can strengthen the business, leadership, and communication skills. There are three different components to our A2i program:

Job Search Strategies (JSS)
In collaboration with other A2i university partners, JSS offers the opportunity to hear from industry representatives and participate in workshops throughout the summer.

Immersion
A two-to-three-day event for graduate students to attend sessions and interact with various industry representatives and executives.

Virtual Site Visit
Events where graduate students hear directly from company representatives who provide an overview of their company and of recruitment opportunities. UGS Lilly 2021 New2.pdf

FL-AGEP

Learn More

The Florida Alliance for Graduate Education in the Professoriate (FL-AGEP) is a collaborative research model among the University of South Florida, an urban public research university; Florida International University, an urban Hispanic-serving research university (HSI); and Bethune Cookman University, Florida A&M University, and Florida Memorial University, three Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs).

Research Compliance

Learn More

Research compliance is an essential component in a student’s research graduate career. At UGS we are working on developing seminars related to research compliance and methodology. In the meanwhile, as you develop your research proposals for submission, it is essential you understand compliance guidelines for IRB, IAUCUC and IBC review.

Career Training

myIDP Science Careers

A web-based career-planning tool tailored to meet the needs of PhD students and postdocs in the sciences

IMAGINEPHD

A career exploration and planning tool for the humanities and social sciences

Beyond Graduate School and Beyond the Professoriate are online tools that help graduate students explore career options and develop job search skills and strategies. While Beyond Graduate School is geared towards master’s students, Beyond the Professoriate is intended for doctoral students and postdocs.

Beyond Graduate School

Beyond Graduate School is a one-of-a-kind, online platform that helps master’s students make the most of their investment and build their careers. From video lessons on career exploration, to writing application materials, to interviewing and negotiating for that next career step — Beyond Grad School helps master’s students through each stage of their job search.

To log in, visit Beyond Graduate School, select Florida International University, and enter your FIU login credentials.

Beyond the Professoriate

Beyond the Professoriate’s Career Training Platform is an online professional development tool where postdocs and doctoral students can explore career options and learn job search strategies. Through two programs of study (Academic Careers and Professional Careers), students are empowered to make informed decisions about their career path and learn successful job search strategies from other PhDs.

To log in, visit Beyond Prof’s Career Training Platform, select Florida International University, and enter your FIU login credentials.

Alumni Colloquium Series

In this series, UGS invites graduate school alumni to speak. Our past alumni speakers have been from academia, business, and think tanks and come from a variety of professions. They have provided great insight into careers, how to manage the graduate experience, job preparation, and leadership strategies.

Previous Alumni Speakers

Adelaida M. Rosario, Ph.D.

Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
Office of the Surgeon General

Dr. Adi M. Rosario is a Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in the Office of the Surgeon General. She holds a position in the Commissioned Corps Headquarters supporting the administrative function of the service. She deployed in early 2020 to Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan where she was part of a U.S. federal government COVID-19 response team for the Diamond Princess cruise ship to rapidly assess the status of American passengers hospitalized in Japan and obtain compassionate use of Remdesivir as treatment for the critically ill. She is regularly called on by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA) to assist with media for the “We Can Do This” COVID-19 Public Education campaign directed at the Latino and Asian American Pacific Islander communities, and has appeared in a number of nationally broadcast public service announcements representing HHS and Office of the Surgeon General.

Dr. Rosario previously worked as a Program Director at NIH’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and was an editor and contributing author on the Wiley Publication textbook The Science of Health Disparities Research. Her research focuses on health behaviors and cultural, spiritual, and social determinants as factors influencing health disparities for minority communities, specifically Hispanic and Pacific Islander populations. Dr. Rosario has also explored the role of indigenous spiritual systems and how they may complement western healthcare systems.

Dr. Rosario earned her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Florida International University (FIU), M.A. in Pacific Micronesian Studies from the University of Guam, and a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Religious Studies from FIU.

Francis A. Hondal

President, Loyalty & Engagement, Mastercard

Francis A. Hondal is President of Loyalty & Engagement at Mastercard and a member of the company’s management committee. Ms. Hondal oversees Mastercard’s robust rewards and loyalty platforms, travel and lifestyle services, marketing services and rapid product design and innovation services for financial institutions and merchants globally. Before joining Mastercard in 2011, she launched a business development and marketing services firm specializing in new business development through strategic alliances to create unique B2B and B2C marketing programs.

Ms. Hondal holds a Bachelor Degree in Finance and International Business and an MBA from Florida International University (FIU). She serves on the advisory board of FIU College of Business. She has been named amongst Top 50 Most Powerful Latina Women in corporate America for 3 years and was inducted to the FIU College of Business Administration Hall of Fame in 2015; receiving the Global Leadership Award. In 2013, Ms. Hondal received the International Business Woman of the Year Award by the Organization of Women in International Trade.

Darwin Aquino

Conductor and Composer

Darwin Aquino was born and raised in Dominican Republic. Darwin Aquino is internationally recognized as one of the top rising Latin American conductors in both symphonic and opera fields. He studied composition at the Conservatoire National du Strasbourg in France and served as composer in residence for the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic. He received a Master’s in Music in Orchestral Conducting FIU, where he received the Graduate Performer Award. For the 2018-2019 season he is the Music Director for Winter Opera St. Louis, Music Director for the Música Sacra concert series in Santo Domingo and Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Missouri. He is also the Conductor in Residence for the Washington University Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Bryan Dewsbury

Assistant Professor, The University of Rhode Island

Bryan Dewsbury was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. He received a BSc in Environmental Studies from Morehouse College, and a MS and PhD in Biology from FIU (2006, 2014). At FIU, Bryan explored several interesting questions in marine ecology and ecological economics, and developed various teaching approaches and programs related to social belonging and higher education. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Rhode Island where he leads the Science Education and Society Research Program.

Dr. Amanda Bullough

Associate Professor, Management & Global Leadership

Co-Founder & Research Director, Women’s Leadership Initiative

University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business and Economics

Amanda Bullough is an associate professor of management at the University of Delaware. Her research and teaching span the subjects of global leadership, organizational behavior, women and gender, cross-cultural management, international business, entrepreneurship, multicultural teams and professional development. Dr. Bullough publishes in premier journals and serves on the editorial review board for Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice.

Dr. Bullough won the 2020 E. Arthur Trabant Award for Women’s Equity from the University of Delaware and was honored as a 2019 Women in Business Awardee from Delaware Today magazine. She has consulted for organizations such as the World Bank, OECD and the Global Business School Network (GBSN). She has also been the academic director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurship training programs in Afghanistan and Peru. Dr. Bullough is a past president of the Women in the Academy of International Business (WAIB).

Dr. Bullough received a PhD in Management and International Business and an MA in International Studies both from Florida International University.

Dr. Michelle G. Thompson

Office of the Vice Provost for Research Postdoctoral Fellow School of Social Policy & Practice

Dr. Thompson will discuss her research, the transition from graduate school, and her post-doctoral experience. She is a proud FIU Alum (x3!) and identifies as an Afro-Boricua with southern roots by way of Mobile, Alabama. Dr. Thompson earned her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, and her Master’s and Bachelor’s in Psychology from FIU’s School of Integrated Science and Humanity. She is a licensed Mental Health Counselor with more than a decade of experience in clinical practice. Dr. Thompson is currently a 2nd year Vice-Provost Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and is continuing her research exploring the sociopsychological impact of discrimination on the mental health of emerging adult sexual minority people of color.

Gönül Tol

Director of Center for Turkish Studies, Middle East Institute

Gönül Tol is the founding director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey program and a senior fellow for the Frontier Europe Initiative . She ta ught at George Washington University’s Institute for Middle East Studies and was also an adjunct professor at the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University. She has taught courses on Islamist movements in Western Europe, Turkey, world politics, and the Middle East.

She has written extensively on Turkey-U.S. relations, Turkish domestic politics, foreign policy, and the Kurdish issue. She is a frequent media commentator.

Dr. Charles A. Kamhoua

Senior Electronics Engineer, Army Research Laboratory

Dr. Charles A. Kamhoua is a Senior Electronics Engineer at the Network Security Branch of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, MD, where he is responsible for conducting and directing basic research in the area of game theory applied to cyber security. Prior to joining the Army Research Laboratory, Dr. Kamhoua held research positions at AFRL and at the University of Oxford and Harvard University. Dr. Kamhoua has co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and has been recognized for his scholarship and leadership with numerous awards, including the 2021 IEEE-USA Harry Diamond Memorial Award “For contribution and leadership in the area of blockchain and game theory for cybersecurity while in U.S. government service”, the 2020 Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award “for outstanding leadership and contribution to game theory applied to cyber security” and several others. He received a B.S. in electronics from the University of Douala (ENSET), Cameroon, in 1999, an M.S. in Telecommunication and Networking from Florida International University (FIU) in 2008, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from FIU in 2011.

Broader University Resources and Collaborations

Centers and Programs

The university offers various campus resources with whom we partner to assist students in their career development. Students can also directly access these programs and services throughout their time at FIU. Among them are the Center for Excellence in Writing, the Communication Studio, Career and Talent Development, Center for the Advancement of Teaching, and Center for Leadership and Training Academy of Leaders (AOL).

See More Resources

Micro-Credentials and Badges

Increase your competitiveness in the job market with Micro-Credentials. Micro-Credentials can be earned online, in-person, or hybrid formats, and are taught by members of the FIU faculty and staff. Completion of a Micro-Credential earns you a digital badge that can be displayed on your LinkedIn, resume or digital portfolio.

External Funding

Grant writing and seeking research funding can be essential to a graduate and academic career. Here is information on our “Office of Training and Fellowships”.

Start Up FIU

Student entrepreneurship exposes students to the entrepreneurship skills, tools, and mental frameworks required both to adapt and thrive in a fast-changing global landscape.