Whatever your area of concentration, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education you will learn the value of harnessing, managing, and applying knowledge to innovate and push the frontiers of education. As a graduate, you will make an impact in schools, nonprofits, NGOs, technology, media, research, policy, and the arts. As one of the few dedicated career services offices for education students, we offer you programs and tools that look beyond simply securing a job to focus on career management. Current students should sign into The Hub to access our services.
Message from the Director
As you pursue your degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, you will have access to unparalleled career resources. You will find that your professional development will take a central place in your studies, and you will gain skills transferrable well beyond your academic discipline, including research, project management, writing, evaluation, and measurement, just to name a few. Your HGSE education will prepare you for a career, not just a job.
The Career Services Office serves graduate students across all academic programs at HGSE. It is up to you to engage with us based on your own unique needs. With a focus on lifelong professional development and career management, our staff educate you about the sector and its roles; help you navigate the job search process; offer opportunities that allow you to engage with employers; and provide tools and information on licensure requirements.
You need to start early! Through our Career Success Workshop, you may find that you need time to boost your qualifications through experience, networking, or other customized strategies. As you discover your unique needs in your career search, feel free to explore our many offerings. Ultimately, our goal is to have you make prudent career decisions that result in employment or further study after graduation.
Attending HGSE will open doors for you and give you access to a global network. We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Valerie J. Sutton
Director, Career Services Office
Career Decision Making
Like many graduate students, you may come to HGSE with a clear idea of your mission, but may not know how that translates to the job market or building a long-term career. The Career Services Office offers many opportunities to define a career path based on your unique interests.
- Career Success Workshop (CSW): The goal of the CSW is to help you plan for your time at Harvard with your career goals in mind. This course is offered in June, prior to your arrival on campus.
- Career Resource Center (CRC): During the academic year, you have 24/7 access to the CRC. The Center provides e-lectures, tip sheets, and other resources to help you in your confirming your career path.
- Career Panels: During the spring and fall Period of Employer Recruiting on Campus (PERC), panels explore education sectors that employ just-in-time recruiting practices. Alumni and Human Resources representatives discuss roles, hiring practices, and interviewing techniques.
- EdConnect: This series of information sessions offers you an opportunity to converse with industry leaders and form an active search network. Scheduled during spring break, these events take place in New York and Washington, D.C.
- Office Hours: The Career Services staff is available to coach you on your career decisions and job search.
Navigating the Job Search
Navigating the job search is a key component of Career Services’ offerings. Each sector in education follows different recruiting patterns and has different requirements for job application. We educate you on these processes, including resumes, cover letters, interviewing, negotiations, licensure, and internships.
- Career Resource Center (CRC): During the academic year, you have 24/7 access to the CRC. The CRC provides all of our basic job search skill workshops online for you to access anytime. These include information on networking, interviewing, resumes, cover letters, and salary negotiation.
- Program-Specific Workshops: Based on feedback from our Student Advisory Board, the Career Services Office created specialized workshops for specific academic programs. These include industry-specific workshops on sector recruiting, resumes, cover letters, interviewing, and salary negotiations.
- Resumania: This event, offered during the spring and fall Period of Employer Recruiting on Campus (PERC), allows you to have your resume reviewed by alumni.
- Salary Negotiations: During the year, the Career Services Office will see you within 48 business hours to discuss an offer you have received from an employer.
- Office Hours: The Career Services staff is available to coach you on individual questions as they relate to sector recruiting, resumes, cover letters, interviewing, and salary negotiations.
Engagement with Employers
Employer engagement is a strategic initiative in the Career Services Office. We work across the school to gain an understanding of partnerships with outside organizations and seek student input for our outreach efforts.
- Internships and the Internship Expo: Career Services actively reaches out to organizations for local and distance internships for more than 250 postings per semester, which help you fill gaps in your experience, test out a new industry or role, engage in research, empower current work, or simply stay connected to practice while at HGSE. We host the Internship Expo annually during Orientation Week of the fall semester.
- Period of Employers Recruiting on Campus (PERC): PERC events are dedicated weeks in fall (October/November) and spring (February/March) semester when employers conduct on-campus recruiting activities such as information sessions and interviews.
- International Schools Mini Career Fair: We invite international schools from all over the world in late January.
- The Charter School Fair: Charter schools are highly engaged with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and focus on recruiting early. We invite these charter schools to a special night of networking in the fall semester.
- EdConnect: This series of information sessions offers you an opportunity to converse with industry leaders and form an active search network. Scheduled during spring break, these events take place in New York and Washington, D.C.
- PreK–12 Expo: We invite public, independent, and charter schools for the day to engage directly with students and alumni in the early spring semester.
- Social Impact Expo: We invite nonprofit, for-profit, media, international, consulting, and policy firms for the day to engage directly with students and alumni in the late spring semester.
- HirEd: This online tool allows employers to post and advertise jobs to students. The Career Services Office receives an average of 250 jobs a month.
Licensure
The Career Services Licensure unit will support you in pursuing educator certification through their respective licensure programs. The office also addresses licensure-related questions from students not enrolled in one of the HGSE state-approved licensure programs.
- Licensure Program Support: The Career Services Licensure unit processes the paperwork needed to obtain licensure in Massachusetts for the Teacher Education Program, School Leadership Program, Language and Literacy Program, and the Certificate in Advanced Study for the Prevention Science and Practice Program.
- Licensure Resources for Non-Licensure Program Students: The Career Services Licensure unit offers assistance to individual students seeking licensure who are not in an approved program through office hours and the Licensure Resource Center.