The following low-cost activities help students prepare for BIG careers. It is important to designate a faculty member as the graduate careers point person, and give them service credit for these activities.
Careers email list/Discord/Slack/Teams
- announce career fairs on campus
- post job ads relevant to students
- link to recruiting events, resume feedback sessions, etc.
Panels and round-table discussions
- hold events in-person or virtually
- invite panelists from government labs or industry (alumni with industry or government experience make great panelists)
- take advantage of the SIAM Visiting Lecturer Program
Resume advice
- encourage students to get feedback from the campus career center
Networking on campus
- build a relationship with the career center staff
- develop links with campus corporate relations personnel
- connect students with scientists and engineers on campus for research experiences
Networking with employers
- get to know local employers who are open to hiring a mathematical sciences student
- talk to the technical staff, especially if they have a background in mathematics, physics or engineering
Networking with national labs
- use existing contacts – do faculty members have collaborators at a national lab? do alumni work at national labs? does your university have a special relationship with the national labs?
- ask the vice president for research to provide introductions
More detailed suggestions
- download our BIG Math Network Checklist
- read the NSF-IPAM Workshop report (2015)