Research center partner skills for your resume and career

We recommend they stay entrenched in the field of study. Whether that is volunteering with medical or environmental agencies, taking additional coursework to increase their knowledge and skills base, interning with the government or other in-field entity, or finding a 'gap year' job in a medical laboratory, a research laboratory, as a medical scribe, as a field technician, or some other field-related position depends on the student's ultimate goal and, based on their academic and experience record, where they might benefit from 'beefing up' their future applications.

The ability to understand technical or complex scientific processes and communicate that information with the public is one of the most attractive skills for an entry-level worker to possess. Many employers may not have staff skilled in the latest GIS technologies or social media trends. While the ability to use last year's software or network via Instagram might not seem particularly novel to recent graduates, these are skills less likely to be found in the workforce of even 10 years ago. Geographers are particularly well prepared for today's workforce because they've often had coursework across the "hard" and social sciences, along with training in technical skills (usually GIS or quantitative analysis) and written and oral communication skills. Another skill in high demand today is data collection and analysis. I often talk with potential employers who want to hire people who can develop and administer a public survey, and then analyze and write up the results. That requires understanding human behavior, public communication, and different forms of data analysis. But, these are skills that can be developed in perhaps only a few classes as part of a major or minor in Geography and other cognate fields.

It's critical to be able to work as a team. Empathy, understanding, a bit of diplomacy, and integrity - aside from the obvious need of technical competency - are highly valued. As always, motivation is terribly important and this can be conjoined with flexibility. If energy and attitude remain positive this will rub off on others and create an attractive dynamic that draws people in. Finally, the ability to make a decision and follow through with it is perhaps too little appreciated.