3 pages essay

The Industrial Organizational Psychologist 115

The Top Ten Things We Wished We Knew Before Graduate School

The University of Akron TIP-TOPics Team When we began this column 2 years ago, we were first, second, and third year students, un-

certain about how our futures would unfold as we marched onwards through graduate school and into the “real world.” Now, here we are writing our final column! We have learned much in the past 2 years. During that time, many of us gained valuable experience working as interns at local and national corporations. Others experienced the rewards that come from teaching others about the wonders of psychology. And for all of us there have been momentous experiences that occurred both in our academic lives and outside of them. These experiences range from passing compre- hensive exams to defending dissertations, and from engagements to be married to the birth of a child. As we pass on the TIP-TOPics torch, we find ourselves thinking back to the very beginning of our graduate school journey. We pondered what we wished we had known when we started as graduate stu- dents at The University of Akron and decided for this last TIP-TOPics column to each leave the reader with a piece of our best advice, as well as to provide a glimpse of what lies in store for each of us in the years ahead.

1. Begin preparing for comprehensive exams very early. “Although comprehensive exams vary from school to school in structure and content, my understanding is that

they are something of a harrowing experience everywhere. The other thing they have in common is that the earlier you start preparing, the better. I didn’t find out why ‘comps’ was a scary word until about halfway through my first year; it would’ve been nice to avoid going back and reorganizing all my class materials to fit into the study system I subsequently designed.” Alison Carr (Alison is wrapping up her PhD and an internship with a Fortune 500 com- pany; she is hopeful her next adventure will be launching a career in external consulting.)

2. Preserve your experiences. “I wish I knew that time zips by in graduate school. You are a prospective student in one moment, and in the

next, you are nearing the end of the road to graduating. Finding ways to preserve these cherished moments is well worth the effort.” Jessica Dinh (Jessica is entering her fifth year in the PhD program and hopes to enter academia and conduct research in areas that include ethical leadership, decision making, and moral information processing.)

3. Stay well rounded. “I wish I knew to keep my interests and involvements more broad throughout graduate school to stay well

rounded, develop a deeper knowledge of the field, and to keep options open for various research or applied oppor- tunities. It is important to try your hand at multiple aspects of the field during graduate school. You may be surprised at all that interests you.” Noelle Frantz (Noelle is entering her fourth year of the PhD program and plans to be an internal I-O specialist when she graduates.)

4. Saying “no” can be a good thing. “In the excitement of wanting to ‘dive right in,’ it can be easy to overextend yourself and say yes to multiple pro-

jects (even if they are far outside your area). I wish I had known it was OK to say no to projects that did not reso- nate with who I was becoming as a researcher. Now, I’m careful to think about how projects fit into my program of work before saying ‘sign me up!’” Allison Gabriel (Allison graduated with her PhD in May 2013 and will be joining the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, as an assistant professor of Man- agement in August 2013.)

5. Sometimes you should take the night off. “There will be times when you feel behind or as if you should be doing something to get ahead. However, when you

are exhausted, it can be healthy to leave everything at school for the evening. Not only will you be spared the guilt of un- touched work, but you will also have more energy to handle tomorrow's challenges.” Mary Margaret Harris (Mary Marga- ret is finishing her dissertation and looking forward to a career in talent assessment and development.)

6. Get involved in research right away. “When you first start graduate school, you may find yourself getting used to the workload and your new respon-

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sibilities, and may postpone your potential research agenda. However during your initial acclimation to graduate school, you can investigate research possibilities and collaborate with more senior students in your program. These opportunities allow you to learn from your peers while participating in meaningful research.” Stephen Hill (Stephen successfully defended his dissertation in May 2013 and plans to pursue a career in academia researching career development, retirement, and issues related to law enforcement officers.)

7. Walk in the footsteps of others. “My single biggest misconception in undergrad was that I had to commit to a future before I even started graduate

school. I wrongly believed that I had to choose a single pair of shoes to walk in (e.g., academic versus applied, a specific research area) and then get the maximum amount of mileage out of them prior to graduating. This does work well for some, but daring to try on novel roles and research areas can be equally fulfilling. In addition to discovering some genu- inely surprising ‘fits,’ I have gained tremendous respect for the various types of shoes people fill in our field.” Ernest Hoff- man (Ernest is entering his fourth year in the PhD program and hopes to pursue a career in academia.)

8. Stay social. “Graduate school is demanding, but it doesn't have to negatively impact your social life. There are lots of great

opportunities to get engaged in your community and interest groups. Join a book club, young professionals organi- zation, gym, volunteer group, or anything where you can interact with individuals outside of graduate school. Doing so can help you de-stress and explore additional opportunities to foster interests and collaborate.” Aimee King (Aimee will be graduating with her PhD in August 2013 and pursuing a career in medical education and training at University of Texas–Southwestern.)

9. Don’t be afraid to learn. “It is important to be oriented towards constantly learning and developing. If you don't know something, don't be

scared: Learn. If you can embrace learning new things, seeking new perspectives, and being adaptable, you will achieve success.” Aaron Kraus (Aaron is entering his fourth year in the PhD program and plans to pursue an applied position at a management consulting firm after finishing his dissertation on generational differences and innovation.)

10. Take the advice that works for you. “There will be many people who will graciously give you advice, tips, and suggestions as you go through grad

school, and these are always great resources to have. But, at the end of the day everyone's experiences are unique. Find out what your own strengths and weaknesses are and use this time to figure out what works best to help you be successful.” Chantale Wilson (Chantale is entering her fourth year in the PhD program and hopes to obtain a research or consulting position with the government or public sector researching cross-cultural topics, per- formance management, and simulation/game-based training.)

Bonus Tip: Be flexible! This column enters a new era as a new set of authors takes over, and TIP is entering a new era as well. With

new leadership and a new online format, TIP will continue to evolve and grow over the years to come. We all agree that being flexible and adapting to change is key to success in graduate school. Assignments will arise when least expected and projects may not always go as planned. But, by keeping a positive attitude and finding the support of your peers and colleagues, we promise that each day will be better than the one before. We are eager to see TIP evolve into a strong online community for scientists and practitioners alike, and we wish the new editorial board and TIP-TOPics team much success with the journal!

With that said, we are signing off from the Midwest. Thank you to everyone for taking this 2-year journey with

our team, and we will see you at the next SIOP in Hawaii!

TIP-TOPics Call for Graduate Student Columnist(s) TIP-TOPics is a graduate student editorial column published in The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist (TIP) on a quarterly basis. The column provides information and advice relevant to SIOP’s student membership and has historically been very popular.