Essentials of graduate learning
Life as a graduate learner can be the best years of a person’s life. It can also be the worst period of your life depending on how you plan and embrace graduate learning. If you come in prepared, graduate learning can be full of fun, freedom and an extremely meaningful way of getting the career that you have always dreamt of.
It therefore very essential to self-aware and take advantage of your personality trait and blend your strengths and weaknesses and self-manage to optimize the opportunities in graduate learning to achieve your full potential.
However, suddenly leaving the comfort zone of a university and being thrust in to the big wide world can often be a daunting and scary time for a new graduate. Though they may be equipped for certain niche careers, they also need to have learnt and know how to apply a number of important practical life skills in order to be able to fully embrace and adjust to this new, fully-adult life. There some skills that a graduate need to garnish to him/her move along with little stress and well prepared for the world out there. Some of these skills include among other the following:
Time Management: While at the graduate school, if you happened to oversleep and miss a class, the worst that can happen is that you have to make up for the missed learning another time. This is not the case in the working world, and if you are late to your job then the likelihood is that you will lose your job. In your last year graduate school experience, make sure you manage your time to ensure that you do not miss out any event or activity or appointment. This will help you to graduate on time with little stress.
Critical Thinking: Gaining a grasp of critical thinking allows you to be more creative in both the way that you learn and the way that you tackle different problems in life. You never know what your life after graduation is going to throw at you, so consider taking a few philosophy classes to help open up your mind and be able to use more logic, more reason and see from more than one perspective.
Communication skills: The number-one most important skill for anyone in any field is communication. As a social species, humans will inevitably interact with one another, and strong communication skills ensure that those interactions are successful for all parties involved. Graduate students will need to communicate with instructors, fellow students, school administrators and perhaps research participants. The most important component of communication is the ability to actively listen to others, and graduate students can practice this skill in their personal and professional lives before enrolling in their graduate program. Public speaking is one of the communication skills needed by a graduate student.
Public Speaking: The idea of public speaking can be a seriously daunting one for the shy students among us, but the more you work on your ‘voice’ while in the comfort zone of college, the more confident and successful you will be when it comes to applying this skill in the real world. Perhaps you have a go at a few debate classes before you graduate. It will give you heaps of experience and momentum for occasions like important job interviews.
Research: No matter what major you are studying, there will always be an element of research in your learning process. Fine tuning these research skills is a really important and distinguishing feature to be able to boast after you graduate, as a good research mind will always have a plan B for a situation and will know how to begin tackling almost any problem.
Software Skills: It is a sign of the times that computer and software skills are more important to have than ever before. Almost all good graduate jobs these days will involve a considerable amount of computer and online work, so the more proficient you are in these areas from the get go, the more successful and fast moving your career will probably be. Software skills blended with communication skills and presentation skills will come in handy for graduate student as this will be needed in any career.
Presentation Skills: Graduates need to effectively present their work to peers, faculty, and at conferences. This includes oral presentations, poster presentations, and multimedia presentations. This skill is very vital in communicating and disseminating information and learning to peers, the society and the world at large.
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Adaptability: Change is the only constant through a graduate degree program. Often, graduate students begin their programs intending to focus on a specific field of study only to pivot several times to new fields and topics. This can occur because a student develops new academic interests or because their target field shifts due to a new trend or discovery. Sometimes, guiding faculty will leave, compelling students to find new connections to their field of choice. Regardless, graduate students need to be able to adapt to new situations with relative ease, or else they will be continuously frustrated in their advanced program. Being able to learn by oneself is part of the skills of adaptability that is needed by graduate students.
Self-Directed Learning: Taking initiative to pursue additional learning outside of coursework, staying updated on developments in the field, and seeking out resources independently is very essential as a graduate student. This enables the student to gain more and related knowledge that helps him/her prepare well for the world outside.
Business Writing: Business writing or formal writing, is essential in the post-graduation phase, as you will probably be spending most of your time composing job applications and personal statements to various companies. The more impressive your writing is, the more chance you will have at being noticed and asked for an interview.
Teamwork: Though you may have been able to get through college keeping yourself to yourself and burying your head in your books, mastering teamwork is going to be an integral part of succeeding in the real world. The majority of careers involve interaction and collaboration with others, and you could be the smartest person in the room, but if your attitude remains somewhat selfish with regards to work, you will struggle to succeed.
Intellectual maturity: To put it bluntly, graduate students need to be smart. Information taught at the graduate level tends to be sophisticated and abstract, and students will need to have methods of learning and retaining an abundance of information in a brief period of time. Students should strive to develop skills that will drive intellectual maturity, like curiosity, before enrolling in their program, so they can push their intellectual abilities to the maximum during their graduate studies.
In conclusion, by using these essential skills, graduate students can navigate the transition from academia to the professional world with confidence and resilience. Each skill serves as a pillar of success, empowering graduates to realize their full potential and make meaningful contributions to their chosen field.
References
2.????? Linda Craig, accessed 1/4/2024, https://skillmeter.com/blog/essential-skills-every-graduate-needs