Career and professional development

Build success skills for diverse career paths

The Graduate School is committed to setting you up for success for your desired career path. In addition to the discipline-specific knowledge and training you receive from your academic program, developing skills in areas such as communication, time management, leadership, critical thinking, and collaboration will increase your competitiveness on the job market.

Through partnerships at K-State and externally, there are many opportunities for you to develop skills that will contribute to your success in graduate school and beyond.

Graduate Student Council Professional Development Seminar Series

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) coordinates a series of professional development seminars each semester that aim to enrich graduate students' education beyond their own disciplines. Seminar topics include networking skills, grant writing, salary and benefits negotiation, pursuing non-academic career paths, and presentation/communication skills. K-State graduate students who attend at least five professional development events hosted by GSC during the academic year will be eligible to receive a GSC Professional Development Certificate.

View the series

Leadership Development

Graduate Student Leadership Development Program

The Graduate Student Leadership Development Program (GSLDP) provides K-State graduate students an opportunity to develop leadership skills to make positive change in your work, studies, and student organizations. In this semester-long experience, you will work with Leadership Studies faculty and your peers to dive into challenges that are most important to you.

Center for the Integration for Research, Teaching, and Learning

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is an NSF Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. CIRTL uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of successful professional careers. The goal of CIRTL is to improve the STEM learning of all students at every college and university, and thereby to increase the diversity in STEM fields and the STEM literacy of the nation.

Visit CIRTL's event series page for a full schedule of sessions and instructions on how to attend a session.

Career Center

K-State's Career Center is available to assist graduate students with their career readiness needs. The Career Center offers extensive career advising which focuses on resume/CV/cover letter development, interview prep, job search training, and networking. Students have the opportunity to connect with potential employers at several career fairs hosted each year. The Career Center also offers free professional clothing to K-State students from its Career Closet.

Visit the Career Center website

Teaching and Learning Center (TLC)

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity

The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) is an independent professional development center that is dedicated to helping faculty make successful transitions throughout their careers by providing on-demand access to mentoring, tools and support.

Since K-State is an institutional member, individual membership is available for all K-State graduate students, faculty and staff at no cost to them. Visit K-State's NCFDD website for information on how to activate your NCFDD membership and access resources.