Career Events

GRADFair

GRADFair is the annual fall career fair exclusively for University of Chicago graduate students, postdocs, and recent graduate alumni. Attendees can network with employers, learn more about various career paths, and find internships and full-time jobs. A list of past employer participants is available here.

GRADFair 2021 took place virtually, in combination with Career Advancement’s 2021 Fall Career & Internship Fair, on September 30, 2021 from 12:00-4:00 pm Central.

If you are an EMPLOYER interested in participating in this year’s fair, please visit the GRADFair for Employers page for more information.

The 2021 Fall Career & Internship Fair will be open to both graduate and undergraduate-level candidates. While not all employers who attend will be recruiting at the graduate level, information about which employers will be recruiting at the graduate level will be made available when student registration opens, allowing graduate students and postdocs the opportunity to connect with employers who are specifically seeking advanced degree talent.

Employers will represent a broad array of fields and industry areas who seek candidates from a variety of disciplines. The fair is a great opportunity to:

• Learn about companies that hire UChicago advanced degree recipients
• Grow your network with alumni and recruiters from a variety of employers
• Strengthen your job and internship applications by making personal connections

Are you planning to attend the Fall 2021 Career & Internship Fair? View a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

GRADUCon is the university’s annual spring career conference for graduate students, postdocs, and recent graduate alumni. The event features a full day of panel discussions, distinguished guest speakers, 1-on-1 chats, and informal networking sessions.

GRADUCon 2021 was held virtually on Thursday and Friday, April 1st and 2nd, 2021. For information on past schedules and speakers, please visit the main GRADUCon page.

Each year GRADUCon brings together hundreds of graduate students, postdocs, and alumni from across UChicago’s divisions and professional schools. The event inspires attendees with alumni stories and empowers them to take steps toward their professional goals. What can you get out of GRADUCon?

• Develop a clearer vision of your ideal career
• Identify the transferable skills that you are developing in the course of your academic work
• Learn concrete next steps that you can take to launch your job search
• Engage in cross-disciplinary and cross-program conversations about job markets and career skills
• Connect with alumni who have been in your shoes

The annual Science and Engineering Industry Expo is an intimate recruitment and career exploration event that connects employers in industry and government to UChicago PhD students and postdocs in biophysics, chemical biology, chemistry, computer science, molecular engineering, physics, and related disciplines. Employers promote their organizations and screen candidates via a variety of one-on-one and group interactions. Past events have included short company presentations, panel discussions, networking, and speed chats or interviews.

The 2021 Science and Engineering Industry Expo will take place entirely online on the afternoons of September 9-10th, 2021! We will facilitate 1-on-1 video chats or interviews between employers and UChicago PhD students and postdocs, as well as short company presentations and networking.

EMPLOYERS:

The 2021 event is free to attend, and will be conducted 100% virtually. Most companies have 1-2 representatives attend though you can certainly have more participate. While not all companies are actively recruiting for specific positions, they utilize the event to create more awareness for their company and to build connections within our trainee population. There is a no cost option for employers to attend, though we also offer a variety of sponsorship options with perks.

Registration for this year’s event is officially closed. If you are interested in learning more about this event or have questions, please contact Briana Konnick at bkonnick@uchicago.edu.

PHD STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS:

The Science and Engineering Industry Expo will be held virtually on the afternoons of September 9-10th, 2021!

Employers in attendance: Amgen*, Argonne National Laboratory, Ecolab, IBM Quantum, Institute of Defense Analyses, Intel, Sony, Super.tech, and Tempus! (*sponsor)

Important Dates:

• Scientific Industry Resume Workshop on August 26, 2021
• Register and have your resume in the GRAD Gargoyle system (under Documents tab) by August 30, 2021 (by midnight CT)
• Prep session for registrants on September 2, 2021
• Signups for 1-on-1 speed chats September 3-8, 2021

Eligibility: The Industry Expo is open to PhD students and postdocs in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Engineering, Computer Science, Enrico Fermi, JFI, KAVLI, Physics, and Geophysical Sciences

1-on-1 Video Chats: Not all attending employers are actively trying to fill a current open position, so these video chats may be more informational.

Registration for the 2021 event is closed.

INDUTRY EXPO 2020 RECAP – September 11, 2020

Employers in attendance: Argonne National Lab, BMS, Cabot Microelectronics, Citrine Informatics, D.E. Shaw Research, Google, Honeywell, IBM Quantum, Institute for Defense Analysis, Nalco Water, PPG Industries, Sinocare

• Event took place entirely online
• Facilitated ~100 1-on-1 speed interviews between employers and PhD students/postdocs
• Over 70 PhD students and postdocs attended the 2020 event

INDUSTRY EXPO 2019 RECAP – September 6, 2019

Employers in attendance: Argonne, Cabot Microelectronics, Citrine, Ecolab/Nalco, IBM Quantum*, Intel, Shimadzu, Solvay, and Tempus (*sponsor)

• Facilitated ~90 1-on-1 speed interviews between employers and PhD students/postdocs
• Employer survey highlights:
  • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they are interested in participating again
  • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that attending was a good use of their time
  • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the people they interviewed were appropriate and a good match
• Over 80 PhD students and postdocs attended the 2019 event. Trainee survey highlights:
  • 75% either agreed or strongly agreed that they felt satisfied with the event overall
  • 81% either agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend this event to a peer/friend

INDUSTRY EXPO 2018 RECAP – September 21, 2018

Employers in attendance: Argonne, BASF, Cabot Microelectronics, Citrine, Civis Analytics, D.E. Shaw Research*, Honeywell, IBM, Nalco/EcoLab, Shimadzu, Solvay*, and Tempus (*sponsor)

• Facilitated ~160 1-on-1 speed interviews between employers and PhD students/postdocs
• Employer survey highlights:
  • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they are interested in participating again
  • 100% agreed or strongly agreed that attending was a good use of their time
  • 80% agreed or strongly agreed that the people they interviewed were appropriate and a good match
• Over 70 PhD students and postdocs attended the 2018 event. Trainee survey highlights:
  • 97% either agreed or strongly agreed that they felt satisfied with the event overall
  • 95% either agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend this event to a peer/friend

BSD Alumni Career Forum

The myCHOICE BSD Alumni Career Forum is an annual event sponsored by UChicagoGRAD, myCHOICE, and the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association. It is a day focused on career exploration for biological sciences PhD students and postdocs. Every year, we bring back 20+ alumni with a range of career paths to share their perspectives and advice through panel discussions and industry round-table chats. This year’s myCHOICE-BSD Alumni Career Forum will take place in-person on Saturday, October 30, 2021, followed by an opportunity for virtual 1:1 conversations from Friday, November 5–Friday, November 21, 2021 over Zoom. More info here.

Data Science and Business Analytics Career Fair

The Data Science and Business Analytics Career Fair is a specialized career fair focused on graduate students and postdocs in quantitative and computational disciplines. The 2022 Data Science and Business Analytics Career Fair will be held on Thursday, February 24 from 3:30 – 7:00 pm Central. Student/postdoc registration will open in GRAD Gargoyle in early 2022. A list of past employer participants is available here.

EMPLOYERS: If you are interested in participating in a future fair or would like more information, please visit the employer information page.

Questions about the event? Please contact Deborah Blumenthal

Nonprofit and Social Impact Career Forum

Launched in February of 2021, the Nonprofit and Social Impact Career Forum is a career exploration event focused on career paths for graduate students and postdocs interested in arts and culture, media, policy, social and community impact, and education.

The forum is an opportunity for graduate students and postdocs interested in doing mission-driven work to learn from professionals about the value of graduate training in their fields and how individuals with graduate training can strategically position themselves on the job market. The event features informational presentations from participating organizations and optional 1:1 informational conversations that can help students and postdocs build their professional networks.

Employer participants in the inaugural Nonprofit and Social Impact Career Forum were:

• Black Metropolis Research Consortium
• Chicago Film Archives
• Chicago Shakespeare Theater
• Grenzebach Glier & Associates
• Liberty Shared, Link2Feed
• The Newberry Library
• Noble Charter Schools
• Oxford University Press
• Peace Corps
• Silk Road Rising
• Territory

The 2022 Nonprofit and Social Impact Career Forum will take place in early February of 2022. If you have questions about the Nonprofit and Social Impact Career Forum, please contact Deborah Blumenthal.

If you are an employer interested in attending, please visit this page for employers.