The OPTIONS Program

Opportunities for Professional Careers: Transitions, Industry Options, Networking, and Skills

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"I have a degree - what now?"

The OPTIONS Program supports engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in exploring diverse career options. It consists of the Cohort Program, Launch Your Career Plan and monthly workshops.

Launch Your Career Plan

This event should be completed prior to the OPTIONS Cohort Program or Prospective Professors in Training (PPIT).

Launch Your Career Plan supports graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to launch their career planning early in their studies.

This event guides you to critically reflect on career opportunities including further graduate studies, academia, and industry, and equip you with strategies and tools to explore your unique career aspirations. You will leave this event with tailored resources to dive deeper into the specific career pathways that interest you.

At this event, you will:

Learn about parallel planning for further graduate studies, academia, and industry careers
Use labour market data and networking tools to discover diverse academic and industry opportunities
Apply networking strategies to connect with alumni to learn from their time at U of T Engineering and their work experience
Create a plan to explore your specific career aspirations

This event is open to all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. We welcome participants who have a clear idea of their career trajectory as well as those who are deciding between continuing in academia or finding an industry position. It is highly recommended that all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows attend this event near the beginning of their studies.

We offer a Launch Your Career Plan for: 1) MEng students; and 2) research graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

MASc, PhD, and Postdoctoral Fellows

Friday, January 9, 2026 I 10:00AM – 3:30 PM I In-Person I GB202

Event Schedule

Time	Activity
10:00 – 10:30 AM	Welcome
10:30 – 11:15 AM	Part I: The Labour Market and You
11:15 - 12:00 PM	Part II: Life Sketches
12:00 - 1:00 PM	Lunch
1:00 - 1:40 PM	Part III: Build Your Support Network
2:00 - 3:00 PM	Part IV: Career Pathways Panel
3:00 - 3:30 PM	Part V: After Today

Register in advance!

MEng

Friday, January 16, 2026 I 10:00AM – 3:00 PM I In-Person I GB202

Event Schedule

Time	Activity
10:00 – 10:25 AM	Welcome
10:25 – 11:10 AM	Part I: Design Your Life
11:10 - 12:00 PM	Part II: Labour Market Information
12:00 - 1:00 PM	Lunch
1:00 - 2:00 PM	Part III: Skills Development
2:00 - 2:50 PM	Part IV: Build Your Support Network
2:50 - 3:00 PM	Part V: After Today

Cohort Program

The Cohort Program is an opportunity to take a deep dive into career management with a supportive community of like-minded graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Facilitated by faculty and professional development experts, the program provides an opportunity to clarify your interests and aspirations, develop job application materials, and explore career pathways. We offer three different Cohort Programs to address the specific needs of the U of T Engineering community.

Launch Your Career Plan is recommended prior to applying to the cohort programs. However, applicants are welcome to still apply if they haven't completed Launch Your Career Plan.

2026 Master’s Career Exploration OPTIONS Cohort - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

APPLICATION DEADLINE – Monday, September 21, 2026

Accelerate your career planning for industry options.

This program is designed for Master’s students considering different career opportunities. It equips you with personal and professional skills to navigate your career exploration while complementing your technical expertise.

You will:

Create a Career Exploration Plan to achieve your goals
Reflect and communicate the skills you develop in your graduate studies to move into different career options
Join a dynamic cohort of Master’s students from different departments with diverse career aspirations.

The program provides:

Four, two-hour sessions
Two career management tools to develop an individualized, career exploration plan
A one-on-one, 30-min meeting with a career coach
Activities designed to help you reflect and communicate on your experiences, skills, and strengths
A Peer Success Team to support your career exploration

Apply here

2027 PhD & PDF OPTIONS Cohort

Explore your options to make decisions with confidence and clarity.

This program provides a dedicated time and structured experience to explore careers in industry with a supportive community of peers. You will launch your career plan, develop confidence and clarity in your next steps, and gain tools and resources to facilitate a transition from graduate school to the workforce.

You will:

Create a Career Exploration Plan that is grounded in your skills, strengths, and goals as well as labour market data
Develop job application materials
Discover networking tools to advance your career exploration.

This program is for PhD students (post qualifying and/or comprehensive exams) and postdoctoral fellows who intend to work in industry or are curious, yet maybe undecided, about pursuing industry opportunities.

If you are interested in an academic position, check out the Prospective Professors in Training (PPIT) Program.

The program provides:

Eight, two-hour, online, live sessions
A short instructional video on resumes and cover letters for viewing on your own time
Two career management tools to develop an individualized, career exploration plan
A one-on-one, 30 min meeting with a career coach (optional)
Personalized feedback on your resume and cover letter
A mock interview, personalized feedback on your interview skills, and access to an interview preparation toolkit
An informational interview with an alumni and a database of informational interview questions
A Peer Success Team to support your career exploration

Applications for the Winter 2027 PhD & PDF OPTIONS cohort will open in late November

2027 Master’s Job Search Strategies OPTIONS Cohort

Take stock of your options in industry.

This program is designed for Master’s students preparing to launch their careers in industry. It equips you with personal and professional skills to prepare for applications, interviews, and networking, while complementing your technical expertise.

You will:

Develop job application materials
Utilize networking tools to explore your career options
Join a dynamic cohort of Master’s students from different departments with diverse career aspirations.

The program provides:

Four, two-hour sessions
A short instructional video on resumes and cover letters for viewing on your own time
Personalized feedback on your resume and cover letter
A mock interview, personalized feedback on your interview skills, and access to an interview preparation toolkit
An informational interview with an alumni and a database of informational interview questions
A Peer Success Team to support your career exploration

Applications for the Winter 2027 Master’s Job Search Strategies OPTIONS cohort will open in late November

Monthly Workshops

Monthly Workshops are open to all U of T engineering graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. These events provide an introduction to the school-to-work transition, tools to develop skills critical to the success of a professional, and a venue to network with engineering alumni and peers.

Please view the event calendar for additional details and registration for all OPTIONS events shown below.

Event Calendar

Event	Date	Time (EDT)	Location	Registration
Best Practices for a Successful Supervisory Relationship	Thurs, Sept 17	12:00 - 2:00 PM	GB202 (Galbraith Building)	uofteng.ca/cgms
Grad Games Afternoon	Tues, Sept 22	12:00 – 1:30 PM	GB202 (Galbraith Building)	uofteng.ca/gg
National Postdoc Appreciation Week: Postdoc Coffee Hour	Thurs, Sept 24	1:30 - 2:30 PM	8th Floor Myhal Terrace	uofteng.ca/npaw-coffee (postdoc only)
Résumé and Cover Letter for Industry	Weds, Oct 21	12:00 - 2:00 PM	GB 202 (Galbraith Building)	https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/DnYiCsriUv

Recordings of some past events can be found here

"The OPTIONS Program provided a how-to guide on exploring next steps. I am more confident to reach out to individuals in different positions to learn about their career paths. I left the program with a better understanding and ability to market my skills and strengths gained throughout my education."

(PhD, BME)

"The OPTIONS Program helped me understand my skills from childhood to adulthood by realizing common patterns. It aided me to widen my career possibilities as opposed to the classic ‘industry vs academia’ approach."

(PhD, ECE)

"The OPTIONS program gave me the tools to reflect on my career story from different marketable perspectives. The course helped me to define, schedule, and practice clear and concise actions to create job opportunities aligned with my core values. The introspection was guided by instructors with different fields of expertise. This exposed me to more job possibilities and a better understanding of the path to follow as I transitioned from academia to industry."

(Postdoctoral Fellow, CHE)

"I was in the middle of my career exploration when I joined The OPTIONS Program. For me the program highlighted the possibilities outside of the more “well traveled” career paths and I felt empowered to explore these. Through the program I was able to recognize my skills and how they are of great value for my chosen direction in life."

(Postdoctoral Fellow, AER)

Program Contact

istep.grad@utoronto.ca