VSPA is pleased to provide UC Berkeley postdocs, visiting researchers, and graduate students with access to a roadmap to all the places a doctorate in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields can take you with a Versatile PhD subscription.
Versatile PhD is a web-based resource that can help demystify non-academic careers and reveal a range of professions that utilize the skills you are developing as a postdoc or while in graduate school. You can use Versatile PhD anytime, from any computer, confidentially. You can find both academia and non-academia jobs as well as online bulletin boards where members can discuss their career paths. Because you are a VSPA affiliate at the University of California, Berkeley, you get access to the Premium Content Area where those high-quality written materials are stored. Please note that this resource requires a UC Berkeley CalNet login to use.
Versatile PhD offers:
- Thriving, supportive web-based communities where you can participate in discussions, network with PhDs and ABDs outside the academy, or just listen and learn by osmosis.
- Examples of successful resumes and cover letters that resulted in humanities and social science PhDs and ABDs getting their first post-academic positions.
- Compelling first-person narratives written by successful humanities and social science PhDs and ABDs who have gone on to non-academic careers, describing how their careers have developed after grad school and where they are today.
- Detail-rich panel discussions in which PhDs working in a given non-academic field describe their jobs and answer questions from grad students like you. Past topics include Freelance Writing and Editing, Higher Education Consulting, Management Consulting, Federal Government and University Administration.
Make the PhD Career Finder your first stop. Choose your category: Humanities/Social Science or STEM? From there, the University’s subscription gives you access to everything marked “How To Break In” in any career. Look for the resources marked "RESUME," "BIO," or "PANEL." With them you can learn things like:
- how a Astronomer was hired as California State Science Policy Fellow
- how a Materials Scientist was hired as Senior Consulting Engineer
- what happens when a Neuroscientist becomes University Public Information Officer
- how a Geneticist was hired as Technology Commercialization Associate
and much more.
Versatile PhD will show you how graduate study sets you up for many kinds of success. You can try it now!
Using CalNet to access Versatile PhD
CalNet Login
What is CalNet?
Please note: If this is your first time to access Versatile PhD, after registering as a member of the site, you need to close down your browser to log out your CAS session. Then opening a new browser to access VersatilePhD site through this page.
