Pave the way for an exciting and rewarding career with an advanced degree from Boston University.
Pursuing a graduate degree at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the first step on your path to success. At GRS, we strive to provide you with the resources you need to utilize your graduate degree and find the career that is right for you. Boston University and our academic departments offer a variety of career resources to guide you through the career search process. Earning your degree in the city of Boston, a hub for arts, culture, technology, health care, and more, is your gateway to endless career and internship opportunities.
We welcome you on your graduate journey with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences!
Boston University Career Resources
Center for Career Development
The Center for Career Development is a hub for job search resources. The CCD’s online resources, workshops, programs, and experienced career counselors can guide you in all aspects of the job search, including resume writing, networking, interviewing, salary negotiations, and more. The CCD also regularly hosts career fairs and shares job opportunities.
Visit the CCD’s calendar to view and register for all upcoming events.
Handshake
Handshake is BU’s online hub for career resources, including internship and job listings, in the U.S. as well as around the world. These are provided exclusively for undergrads, graduate students, and alumni of Boston University. You’ll have 24/7 access and be able to sign up for on-campus events, schedule a career counseling appointment, and upload multiple resumes, cover letters, and other employment-related documents.
You can also use Handshake to schedule a career counseling appointment with the Center for Career Development.
Career Shift
CareerShift is a digital tool that enhances the job search experience, and is now available to all degree-seeking students at Boston University. With CareerShift, it’s easy to aggregate job databases, keep track of applications, and research prospective employers. You can store custom resumes and cover letters, schedule follow-up reminders, and organize all your correspondence with employers in one place. You can use CareerShift on your mobile device, too! Master’s and professional students can access CareerShift via Handshake.
VMock: Smart Resume Platform
Boston University is partnering with VMock to bring students a new and improved experience of reviewing resumes. VMock is an online tool that will let you upload your resume from wherever you are. Your resume is benchmarked against your peers and evaluated with smart data analytics.
BU Connects
BU Connects is a new platform created exclusively for Boston University alumni, students, faculty, and staff that brings Terriers together for personal and professional networking on a global scale. Members have access to a suite of tools and resources including a networking directory, industry and affinity groups, mentoring opportunities, and a job board.
Alumni Career Resources
Boston University Alumni Services provides a wide range of career resources for alumni across the university. In addition to BU Connects, alumni career resources include career webinars, the Proud to BU podcast where alumni share their career stories, Alumni Association networking and career events, and more.
Business Cards
Business cards can be ordered online through BU-preferred vendor, Artcraft. The turnaround time is generally 7-10 business days. When creating your business card, keep the design simple. 10 point font or larger is usually ideal. Your contact information should match that which appears on your resume including your full name, your phone number and your email address. Include the school name and your degree (concentration or certificates are optional) and year of graduation with the term “Candidate” if you are a current student.
Graduate Women in Science & Engineering (GWISE)
Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) at Boston University strives to create a community to support and promote women in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Through professional development seminars and workshops, social events, mentoring, and outreach, GWISE fosters interaction across disciplines at Boston University and connects graduate students to postdocs, faculty, and broader networks in Boston and beyond.
Graduate Student Organization (GSO)
The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) at Boston University is the official representative body of the graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. GSO regularly hosts professional development events for graduate students, including job hunting workshops, grant writing workshops, resume workshops, and networking events.
Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs
Professional Development & Postdoctoral Affairs (PDPA) offers programs, resources, and services that are tailored to meet the specific needs of doctoral students, postdoctoral scholars, and their faculty mentors. Their Career & Professional Development resources aim to support doctoral students through successfully navigating their doctoral training and building the necessary skills for any career pathway they choose. Some of their resources include:
- Planning & Self Assessment: PDPA can guide doctoral students in creating individual development plans (IDPs) as a way of outlining career plans. IDPs are a customized roadmap for your professional training and goals and will enable you to make the most of your doctoral education. PDPA’s Planning & Self Assessment resources include IDP workshops, IDP tools including ImaginePhD, MyIDP, and ChemIDP, and a range of self-assessment tools including MyNextMove and Cornell Career Management Toolkit.
- Career Exploration: Career Exploration has resources for exploring potential career pathways in both academic and non-academic job fields. The Career Exploration Resources Table is a non-exhaustive list of career resources organized by social identity. It is a good place to start for those looking to find general information on both non-academic and academic career exploration.
- Experiential Learning: PDPA provides Workshops and Events for doctoral students focused on building a variety of skills identified in their Core Capacities. Professional and social events held throughout the semester provide doctoral students with the opportunity to learn from and network with scholars and peers from a variety of disciplines. PDPA also keeps students up to date on Experiential Learning opportunities, including a variety of internships, the VitaminPhD podcast, and other learning opportunities at BU and elsewhere.
PhD Social Science Summer Internships
Together, the Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs and the Associate Dean, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, are pleased to announce this year’s stipend-supported summer internships aimed at introducing Boston University PhD students in Social Sciences fields (including PhD students in Anthropology, History, Political Science and Sociology) to career opportunities at institutions beyond academia.
Interns will bring to their roles the array of skills developed during their PhD training, including research, writing, and area-based expertise. Interns serve in their roles for 20 hours per week and receive a $6,500 stipend for ~10 weeks of service. We expect that the graduate students holding them will not hold any additional BU-supported summer teaching, internships, or fellowships in summer 2021.
Students may apply for a placement at the following locations:
- United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley
- Cultural Survival
- Commonwealth
- Partners in Health
- BU Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs
- BU Center for Antiracist Research
Application deadline: April 14, 2021
Apply
Recipients will be announced around April 29, 2021.
If you have questions, please contact the Office of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at grsgs@bu.edu.
PhD Humanities Summer Internships
Together, the Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs and the Director of the BU Center for the Humanities are pleased to announce the third year of our stipend-supported summer internships aimed at introducing PhD students in Humanities fields to career opportunities at institutions beyond academia.
Interns will bring to their roles the array of skills developed during their PhD training, including research and writing and area-based expertise. Internships run for approximately 10 weeks. Interns serve in their roles for 20 hours per week and receive a $6,500 stipend. These internships require residency* at the internship site, and we expect that the graduate students holding them will not hold any additional BU-supported summer teaching, internships, or fellowships in summer 2021.
*COVID-19 permitting
Students may apply for a ~10-week Summer internship at the following locations:
- the Boston Athenæum
- the Boston Mayor’s Office
- Boston Public Library
- the Massachusetts Historical Society
- the Peabody Essex Museum
Reflections from former interns are available here.
The application deadline for summer 2021 has passed. Additional information about these fellowships and the application requirements can be found on the Center for the Humanities website.
If you have questions, please contact Courtney Mansfield (cmans@bu.edu) in the Office of the Provost.
More PhD Internship Opportunities
In addition to the humanities and social science internship opportunities, additional internship or experiential learning opportunities are available to GRS PhD students through the BU URBAN Program (Urban Biogeoscience & Environmental Health), which is open to students in Biology, Earth & Environment, Environmental Health, and Statistics. The Activist Lab at the School of Public Health and the BU Initiative on Cities both offer experiential learning fellowships that are similar to other internship programs.
MFA Internships, Jobs, Fellowships, and Grant Opportunities
The College of Fine Arts regularly updates its listings of internships, jobs, fellowships, and grant opportunities available to MFA students at Boston University.
Department Career Resources
Department of American Studies
The American Studies Graduate Student Association fosters community networking and represents student interests in an official manner to the university. The GSA hosts programs to support community, scholarship, and professional development. These include a graduate-undergraduate mentorship program, the Americanist Forum, social events that engage both our own AmericanStudies community and our broader worlds, a biennial American Studies student conference, and a series of workshops aimed at professional development, navigating the terrain of graduate school and thinking through our role as scholars within the academy and beyond.
The MA in Preservation Studies in the Department of American Studies requires Master’s students to undertake an internship with a preservation organization. Most do their work in the summer between their last semesters of class work. The Greater Boston area is rich with opportunities for Preservation Studies students, and students have held a variety of impressive internships. Below, find a list of organizations where recent students have held internships, and their internship roles:
- Digitization Intern, Preservation Planning Division, Massachusetts Historical Commission
- US/International Council on Monuments and Sites Summer Internship, ICOMOS Documentation Center in Paris
- Museum Technician, Archaeology Division of the Northeast Museum Services Center, National Park Service
- Research on the Anna Clapp Smith House, Dorchester, for Historic Boston Incorporated
- Cemetery master planning and conservation with Ivan Myjer at Building and Monument Conservation
- Preservation Intern, Planning Department, City of Somerville, MA
- National Register and Historic Architecture Program, National Parks Service
- Heritage Landscape Inventory Program, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Legal Intern, Massachusetts Area Planning Council
Department of Archaeology
The Department of Archaeology maintains information on volunteer opportunities that allow students to work with BU archaeology professors and develop their skills and gain experience. The department also provides information on employment and funding opportunities for students entering the professional field of archaeology.
Department of Biostatistics
The Biostatistics Student Association fosters discussion and debate around current issues in the field of Biostatistics, as well as networking with like-minded individuals within Biostatistics and related fields.
Department of Computer Science
CS Connections
The CS Connections program is designed to facilitate communication between Computer Science students and potential employers. A variety of potential employers have participated in the program, which is intended to provide a central organization of employers contacts within the CS Department for students.
CS Connections Events:
The Department of Computer Science organizes regular events which will bring local and national companies to present opportunities that they have. Each event includes:
- A 20-minute block for the company to describe their internship and career opportunities
- A networking session afterwards to allow students to make direct contact with the company representative
- A resume exchange
CS Day
CS Day is annual career fair, student group showcase, and celebration of all things Computer Science at BU.
Department of Earth & Environment
The Department of Earth & Environment frequently receives opportunities for internships, professional development, and employment, both for graduating students and for positions for current students within department labs. The department’s Opportunities & Internships page is regularly updated with these opportunities.
Department of Economics
The Department of Economics provides specialized career development resources for students in Economics Master’s and PhD programs. Current and incoming students should visit their website to view job postings for economics graduate students, register for career development workshops and events, and submit their resumes for inclusion in the annual job placement brochure.
Department of History of Art & Architecture
Boston University’s Department of History of Art & Architecture has close ties with the American Studies Program and the Historic Preservation Program, both within the University. The Department has developed internships with area museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Photographic Resource Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Historic New England, the Harvard University Art Museums, and the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Department of Mathematics & Statistics
Boston University’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics provides career development resources along with information on internships, jobs, and fellowship opportunities for students in mathematics and statistics programs.
Department of World Languages & Literature
The MFA in Literary Translation program in the Department of World Languages & Literature offers stipend-supported summer internships aimed at introducing Literary Translation MFA graduates into the publishing world. Interns will bring to their roles skills developed during their MFA studies, including translating and editing.