Career sites like Indeed list many lasting benefits to earning a graduate degree. These include earning a higher salary, providing a competitive advantage over other job seekers, qualifying you for advancement opportunities, enhancing your professional qualifications and credibility, and preparing you to pursue a terminal degree. Over the long term, these benefits can significantly impact your career trajectory and earning power.
The Graduate Student Life (GSL) team in the Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies provides a series of events that will help prepare you for life after graduate school. These include resume workshops, leadership development opportunities, networking and skill-building events, and more.
Career Development Resources
In addition to the career development opportunities provided by the Graduate School, students will find many resources offered by the university's Career Development Center and, for Walker College of Business students, the Business Career Services Center.
Career Development Center
The Career Development Center serves all students, including graduate students, pursuing various future professional endeavors. Their services include individualized career coaching, employer engagement, internship search assistance, preparation for doctoral programs, and more.
Handshake
Handshake is the university's online career services portal where students can schedule career coaching appointments, explore student employment and internship postings, register for career events, connect with employers, and more. Log into Handshake today to get started.
Master’s to PhD or Other Terminal Professional Degree
Appalachian State's master's degree programs can serve as terrific launching pads for students whose goals include completing a PhD, EdD, or other terminal professional degree. Our students have the ability to gain meaningful, first-hand research experience; to present their work in professional forums such as conferences and symposia; and to gain professional connections that will help them locate opportunities for further study.
Terminal degrees vary by discipline. A good beginning overview of terminal degrees and their requirements is provided by Coursera. If you are considering pursuing a terminal graduate degree, talk to your advisors and start doing your homework. Consider factors such as program reputation, timing of the degree in relation to your personal circumstances, financial opportunities offered by the program, and your motivations for pursuing the terminal degree.