Professional Development Resources

Stufenleiter der Größe und des Sturzes Napoléons (Napoleon's Career Ladder) from the Deutsches Historisches Museum

The Office of Postdoctoral Services provides individual career counseling (including resume, CV, cover letter, research, teaching and diversity statement critiques, and mock interviews) for Postdoctoral Associates and Postdoctoral Scholars - email Molly Starback, Director, for an appointment.
If you have a concern about discrimination or harassment, please Report the Incident.
If you have a concern about research misconduct, please Report the Incident.

On This Page

 

Skills Identification and Self-Assessment

[Back to top]

Career Exploration and Job Searching

  • Academic and Non-Academic Job Search Videos from the Duke Postdoc Services YouTube Channel
  • The Academic Job Search Series and Careers Beyond Academia Series, including links to online resources and videos of prior workshops
  • InterSECT Job Simulations: online platform that allows PhD-level scientists and humanists, regardless of professional stage, to explore future career options.
  • Career Exploration, Job Search and "Careers In..." Videos from the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education
  • Online Resources from the Duke Career Center, including online courses, guides covering all aspects of the job search, and guides for exploring careers.
  • myIDP, an interactive web-based tool that lists 20 scientific career paths with a prediction of which ones may best fit a postdoc's skills and interests
  • ImaginePhD, an interactive web-based career exploration and planning tool that explores common job families for PhDs in the humanities and social sciences

  • Duke is an Institutional Member of Beyond the Professoriate, featuring information and strategies you need to confidently apply for faculty/academic jobs, or to build a nonacademic career. This research-driven platform is informed by nearly a decade of experience supporting PhDs to launch new careers. No matter what academic discipline you’re coming from – Humanities, Education, Social Sciences, STEM, or Biological Life Sciences - you’ll find information to help you prepare for your job search. Log in here to set up your Duke account.

[Back to top]

Informational Interviewing and Networking

[Back to top]

Job Listings

  • jobs.ac.uk (international jobs for academic, research, science and related professions)

 
  • USAJobs (official US government jobsite)

[Back to top]

CVs and Resumes

[Back to top]

Cover Letters

[Back to top]

Research Statements

[Back to top]

Teaching Statements, Philosophies, Portfolios, and Demonstrations

Diversity Statements

[Back to top]

Interviewing

General Advice on Interviewing
The Academic Interview
Phone/Virtual Interviews
Behavioral Interviewing
Academic Job Interviews in the Humanities
Community College Interviews
The Industry Job Talk

 [Back to top]

Negotiating

General Advice on Job Offer Negotation
Academic Job Offer Negotiation
Salary Databases and Surveys

[Back to top]

Academic Jobs

Liberal Arts/Community College Academic Job Search
International Academic Job Search

[Back to top]

Non-Academic Jobs

[Back to top]

Mentoring

[Back to top]

Lab, Grant, and People Management

[Back to top]

Work/Life Balance and Dual-Career Couples

[Back to top]

Dealing With Rejection

[Back to top]

 Clinical Research/Regulatory Affairs

  • Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR) offers classroom training programs & lunchtime seminars. CRSO creates and implement classroom training programs for Duke investigators, clinical research coordinators, financial and research study staff. In addition, there are three monthly lunchtime seminars that provide research personnel opportunities to gain insight into Duke clinical research practices, specific regulations and guidelines, and various other facets of clinical research including administration and management strategies.
  • The Duke Office of Postdoctoral Services is approved as a remote site for the Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research course offered by the NIH Clinical Center. This course is open to all Duke postdocs, graduate students, faculty and staff. The course runs from September through March each year.
  • Duke Office of Regulatory Affairs and Quality offers the Regulatory Affairs Training Program, which provides an overview of the regulatory affairs profession and offers an in-depth look at premarket regulatory work related to drugs, biologics, and medical devices. The program is open to all interested individuals and is free of charge. ORAQ also offers educational seminars aimed at bringing together academic researchers, industry, and regulatory experts to discuss ideas, lessons learned and develop strategies for navigating the complex regulatory pathways that accompany translational research.

[Back to top]

 Grantwriting and Scientific Writing

 Project Management and Leadership

  • Duke Project Management Community of Practice (PMCoP): a professional network of current and aspiring Duke project managers. The Duke PMCoP is a home for all at Duke and the Durham VA Health Care System who are passionate about helping achieve project goals, whether through the formal or informal use of project management best practices. Our membership is broad – many of our members are certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs), many are not, and we work in a variety of fields — but we are all committed to ensuring that our projects are on track, on budget, and on time and that they meet exceptional quality standards. If you want to learn about project management, contribute your own knowledge, and interact with others who share your interests and professional responsibilities, this is the group for you!
  • Duke PMCoP Developing Project Management Trainees (DEVELPMNT) Program: The purpose of DEVELPMNT is to introduce trainees to project management (PM) as a career and skill set. All participants are welcome, but the target audience will focus on undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Our program is partnered with known project management groups, university programs, and companies in an effort to build upon already well-established programs, network, and launch with a solid foundation. We aim to provide participants with project management training ahead of entrance into the workforce and familiarize them with foundational knowledge to prepare for internships and employment.
  • LinkedIn Learning Project Management Courses: LinkedIn Learning provides over 13,000 courses covering business, technology, and creative topics, free to Duke employees. Project Management courses include Project Management Foundations, Project Management Simplified, Project Leadership and many more. 
  • Project Management full-day course offered by Duke Learning and Organizational Development: Project Management is a universally recognized discipline that encompasses the application of skills, knowledge, tools, and processes required to meet the expectations and needs of key stakeholders. This full-day course is designed to introduce you to the fundamentals of the project management discipline. It will facilitate learning through a healthy combination of lecture, assessment, and hands-on exercises where participants can immediately apply useful lessons learned.
  • Project Management Fundamentals 6-week course offered by Durham Tech: Master the essentials of project management with an experienced Project Management Professional as your guide. This course provides the concepts you need to plan, implement, control and close any type of project. n this course, an experienced Project Management Professional will help you master the essentials of project management. You will become an indispensable member of your project team by discovering and mastering the critical concepts you need to plan, implement, control and close any type of project. You will learn about project politics and ethics, project measurements, and project closure. You will be able to develop all sections of a project plan, you will become comfortable with the project management body of knowledge, and you will develop a variety of powerful techniques to generate project ideas. If you're new to project management, this course will provide you with the essential information you will need to prepare for and complete your first project. This course and its follow-up (Project Management Applications) also include essential information that will help you prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP)® and the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) exams offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI)®. Certification Magazine recently identified PMP certification as "the highest-paying certification" of the year.
  • Dimensions of Management for Successful Leaders 2 day course offered by Duke Learning and Organizational Development: This workshop focuses on the development of leadership and management best practices that will enable you to improve performance of employees and teams.
  • Transformational Leadership course offered by Duke Learning and Organizational Development: As a Transformational Leader you are using an approach that capitalizes on the unique strengths, values, and aspirations that people bring to their workplace by leading in a way that transforms individuals and organizations.
  • Managing Multiple Priorities course offered by Duke Learning and Organizational Development: Improve your ability to manage competing demands for your attention and effort. Discover practical tools for meeting your goals in today’s ever-changing work environment. Gain and enhance skills for mastering expanding workloads and tight timelines and for managing increasing uncertainty.
  • Conflict Resolution course offered by Duke Learning and Organizational Development: Since conflicts are inevitable, learning to deal with them in a healthy, respectful, and positive way is crucial. Successfully managing conflict ultimately strengthens the bonds between people, helping maintain and enhance your relationships.
  • Crucial Accountability 2-Day Virtual Course, Duke Learning and Organizational Development: This two-day course teaches a straightforward, step-by-step process for identifying and resolving performance gaps, strengthening accountability, eliminating inconsistency, and reducing resentment. It uses video, group discussions, skill practice, and real-life application to make the course both entertaining and engaging.
  • Crucial Conversations 3-Day Virtual Course, Duke Learning and Organizational Development: We all face tense situations where saying the right thing is crucial. Whether you are approaching a supervisor who is breaking their own policies, critiquing a colleague’s work, or talking to a team member who isn’t keeping commitments, keeping the conversation productive can be very difficult.
  • Managing from the Middle Virtual Course, Duke Learning and Organizational Development: This session focuses on how to communicate effectively with those in higher levels of the organization to ensure the best results for all members of the Duke community. We will explore the many competencies required in the art of persuading others to follow your lead.
  • Navigating Challenging Personalities Virtual Course, Duke Learning and Organizational Development: In every workplace, you’re likely to encounter some challenging personalities. The first step in dealing with a possible conflict situation is to determine if and how you might be contributing to the situation. This course will identify four types of conflict, how to defuse emotionally charged situations, and how to identify and deal with negative behaviors.
  • Personality and Effective Communication Virtual Course, Duke Learning and Organizational Development: Using social capital as a focusing concept, the class highlights the importance of communication for building positive and productive working relationships. At the end of the course participants will be able to recognize patterns of communication, identify strengths and weaknesses of current communication practices, and develop new or improved communication strategies with coworkers and those in other departments.

[Back to top]