Doctoral Student Skills

Doctoral Student Skills offers a comprehensive overview of the key skills doctoral students need to succeed in their studies and prepare for academic and non-academic jobs. Revealing the often-hidden rules of graduate school success, it guides students through challenges like selecting a research topic, choosing an advisor, preparing for conferences, publishing their work, and entering the job market. The book begins by explaining how to survey the job market and identify "signifiers" that will signal to future employers the student's suitability for a job. It then guides students to reflect on their own experiences and abilities to identify their areas of comparative advantage. Providing detailed instructions on how to acquire key signifiers - including conference presentations, publications, grants, awards, and teaching experience - the volume prepares students for future professional success, while teaching them how to leverage these activities to enhance their progress in their present studies. The book is designed to be used as a course text or for self-study. Each chapter features reflective exercises that can be used individually or in small groups, along with recommended readings and additional resources to enhance student learning.

Christopher L. Pallas is Associate Professor of Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University, USA. He has been training and mentoring doctoral students in research methods and professional skills for over ten years. He is winner of the European Consortium for Political Research's European Political Science Prize.

1. The Need to Develop Professional Skills, 2. Responding to the Job Market, 3. Developing a Roadmap to Marketability, 4. Finding Your Comparative Advantage, 5. Developing Your Research Agenda, 6. Engaging with Your Advisor, 7. Applying to Your First Conference and Writing an Abstract, 8. Attending Your First Conference, 9. Publishing Your First Article, 10. Winning Funding, 11. Getting Started in Teaching, 12. Managing Your Time and Motivation, 13. Going on the Job Market