Professional Development
While you are a graduate student at Sonoma State University, explore some of the professional development opportunities that are available through the Office of Graduate Students, our campus partners, and the wider CSU System.
The Next Step: CSU Graduate Career Readiness
Build and showcase the competencies employers value most.
The Next Step: CSU Graduate Career Readiness course is a self-paced, eight-module program available to all CSU graduate students. It is designed to help you build the skills most valued by employers across industries. Created by graduate education leaders and faculty from eight CSU campuses — and grounded in NACE’s eight career readiness competencies — the course is your next step toward professional success. Whether you are preparing for academic or non-academic career paths, you will gain practical tools, self-assessments, and activities that support meaningful, long-term career development.
Course Commitment: 8 hours (one hour per module),online, asynchronous.
Microcredential: CSU Graduate Career Readiness Microcredential
Click the button, choose “CSU Employee & Student Login In," select your campus from the dropdown menu, and click the “Enroll in Course” button on the top right.
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Analyze your strengths, values, and interests to determine career alignment and create a focused development plan.
- Communicate effectively in professional settings using clear messages, active listening, persuasive techniques, culturally aware framing, and timely questioning.
- Define critical thinking, assess effective critical thinking behaviors, and apply core reasoning tools to real examples.
- Apply equity-minded skills by seeking diverse perspectives, adapting to varied contexts, reducing barriers to participation, and using inclusive feedback to guide decisions.
- Lead in professional settings confidently by leveraging team strengths, integrating feedback, applying inclusive practices, and guiding work from start to finish.
- Evaluate your personal brand, recognize professional workplace behaviors, and apply professional standards to refine how you show up in professional settings.
- Collaborate effectively in teams by using paraphrase-plus listening, creating inclusive team agreements, and applying structured approaches to resolve conflict.
- Navigate emerging technologies by identifying useful tools, evaluating their relevance, and integrating them into your workflow to improve productivity and decision-making.
