Career Development
At UBC, there are plenty of resources to connect you with a variety of opportunities that speak to your personal interests, inspire your creativity, spark your ingenuity, build your professional network, expand your leadership skills and further your career goals.
Career Development offers a number of services and resources for both students and alumni. Career planning workshops, career fairs, and employer information sessions are offered throughout the year. Students can also make an individual appointment to discuss career planning or employment search options.
Resources
| Individual Development Plan, Sciences | My IDP is a unique, web-based career-planning tool tailored to meet the needs of PhD students and postdocs in the sciences. This website was developed by AAAS/Science, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), and experts from several universities (see authors on their site). Note: This website is not hosted in Canada, and your personal information may be stored or accessed outside of Canada. |
| Individual Development Plan, Humanities and Social Sciences | ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences. The ImaginePhD project is powered by the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC). Note: This website is not hosted in Canada, and your personal information may be stored or accessed outside of Canada. |
| Individual Development Plan, Health | The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has developed an online Individual Development Plan (IDP) and resources. The IDP is a tool that supports graduate students and PDFs in actively preparing for the career(s) of their choice by exploring career paths, establishing career goals, and identifying skill gaps, culminating in an action plan to achieve their career goal(s). |
| Business Concepts for Life Scientists (Online, Self-paced) | The purpose of this online, on-demand course is to enhance PhD scientists’ understanding of foundational business concepts. This business coursework is unique because it is designed to prepare scientists for career transitions into both academic and non-academic settings. The course comprises a series of three modules – Business Strategy, Finance and Business Development. |
| alumni UBC Coaching & Advising | As career paths have expanded from straightforward routes to encompass varied, exploratory, or even unpredictable journeys, professionals are increasingly turning to coaching and advising to help them find their way. Responding to this significant shift, the alumni UBC Career Education team is pleased to present a curated group of International Coaching Federation (ICF) coaches, as well as independent advisors, to support our alumni’s professional development. These diverse consultants will offer virtual sessions — at a discounted rate for UBC alumni. They can support you with coaching and advising in areas such as communication skills, emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationships, job searches, leadership development, self-confidence, team effectiveness, work-life balance, and much more. |
| InterSECT Job Simulations | InterSECT is an online platform that allows PhD-level scientists and humanists, regardless of professional stage, to explore future career options. Our goal is to provide true-to-life job simulation exercises that help individuals consider the following questions: What are my professional interests and skills? How do my interests and skills translate to potential careers? What are my career options? Which careers haven’t I considered? |
Workshops & Events
Career development opportunities are available from both campuses throughout the year. See what’s being offered across UBC.
Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies Workshops
Canadian Career Symposium for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars