School of Medicine

Career Planning & Timelines (MPH Students)

Students at a career fair

Matriculation Year (Discovery and Exploration)

Your first year at Tufts is an exciting time to begin exploring your career interests. Take time to get to know your faculty and academic advisor. Take advantage of opportunities to meet alumni and learn about different career paths that might be of interest to you. Begin the process of shaping your career trajectory by paying attention to subjects and people that inspire you. Then use them as the basis to help you define your career goals and strategize a plan for achieving them.

  • Fall Semester

    • Attend Fall Career Fair to begin to meet employers, learn about types of projects, and practice networking
    • Search for on-campus Research Assistant (RA) jobs through Handshake
    • Join professional organizations in your field to stay abreast of job opportunities and build your professional community
    • Meet with your academic advisor to align your educational planning with your career goals and develop your short and long-term goals based on your career plan
    • Keep current with internship opportunities
    • Update your resume focusing on your career goals

    Spring Semester

    • Research and apply for summer internships
    • Attend Spring Career (meet employers, learn about projects, and practice networking)
    • Participate in Spring Health Sciences Career Fair (meet local public health employers, network, and explore jobs/internships)
    • Attend Salary Negotiation Workshop
    • Participate in National Public Health Week (Tufts Public Health activities)
    • Start to explore your career interests with informational interviews
    • Update your resume focusing on your career goals

    Summer

    • Update your LinkedIn profile and resume by adding RA positions, internships, and coursework
    • Update your resume focusing on your career goals
    • Continue to explore your career interests through networking and informational interviews

Completion Year (Execution and Achievement)

Your completion year at Tufts is a time to execute a full-on job search using all the tools and resources you’ve acquired during your previous year(s) in your program. Focus on achieving your goals by following through on the career plan you developed early on. If something in your plan no longer works, refine it and follow through. From a professional standpoint your goal is to achieve a post-graduate position that is fulfilling, and meaningful. If you’ve done your work to build your networks, conduct informational interviews, establish work values and criteria that are important to you, and create targeted application materials, you are well on the road to achieving your goals.

  • Highly Recommended Fall

    Fall Semester

    • Narrow your job search to your preferred sectors and establish geographical work and living preferences
    • Pursue job leads through Handshake and networks, and set up informational interviews with alumni at your target organizations
    • Develop resumes and cover letters tailored to your preferred industries and jobs (be sure to add your fieldwork experience)
    • Update your LinkedIn profile with your practicum or capstone project and any other related work you have done (internship/RA)
    • If interested in consulting careers, search and apply for full-time opportunities now (most consulting firms do their full-time hiring in the fall)
    • Conduct a mock interview with career services when you have a job interview scheduled
    • Apply for post-graduate fellowships

    Highly Recommended Spring

    Spring Semester

    • Narrow your job search to your preferred sectors and establish geographical work and living preferences
    • Participate in the annual Boston Health Sciences Career Expo
    • Pursue job leads through Handshake and networks, and set up informational interviews with alumni at your target organizations
    • Develop resumes and cover letters tailored to your preferred industries and jobs (be sure to add your fieldwork experience)
    • Update your LinkedIn profile with your practicum or capstone project
    • Attend the Salary Negotiation Workshop
    • Conduct a mock interview with career services when you have a job interview scheduled
    • Apply for post-graduate fellowships

Major Recruitment Timelines