Communication skills: technical writing, writing memos, oral communication (presenting at workshops and annual conferences)

Relationship building - public/private partnerships

Foundational science and connecting to the public on why this matters (science serving society)

Basic science, operations, applied science

Learn how to write a proposal, 3 pages of content that lays out your scope, team, what you will do and who it will benefit.

3rd or 4th year protege, design your research, write a proposal to design your work

writing an abstract - necessary for a conference, a talk, etc

policy space - write them an email and tell them what is pertinent in 3-4 sentences

soft skill - telling the story, not losing sight of that (don't get too drawn into the science when you're talking about it with others)

How do you create a budget? A timeline? Learn how to fund your work, how to develop the right team to fit that budget and accomplish the work you want to do.

USFS fire weather and atmospheric science - most people need a phd to lead at the lab level, but a software engineer in this group would need a bachelors, support scientists need masters

USA Jobs set requirements for positions

Time is an important variable - how much time have you invested in this one area and is there a skill you can bring to the table that isn't already replicated there. PhD isn't an end all/be all. Value in a PhD, but what you're gaining during that is time to grow certain skills. Masters + years can be plenty.

Some of the govt leadership jobs like policy fellowships require a PhD

People who have PhDs have a certain way of tackling a problem, others have a different/unique way to tackle a problem (hands-on fresh perspective from working in an industry, like hydroelectric power) - need both perspectives.

Proteges need to meet people who work in government, including people in Congress and the Senate.

USA Jobs resume is so different than a CV. This could be a helpful exercise.

You have to max out on all of the requirements - if they ask for 3-5 years you need to have 5 years to get picked up by the algorithm.

Interviewing skills - this is a different animal! Gave a real world problem, if you have this issue and you're talking to a plant engineer, how would you advise them to address this problem? Not asking about applied. Need to think on your feet, which is learned by doing. Having this will never harm them even if they want to go a different route. Aaron and Alisha could do a USA Jobs resume + interview workshop :)

How to ask the right questions. Some of the most intelligent speakers and leaders in meetings don't dominate, but ask the right questions that take the conversations in the direction you need the group to go. Graduate school is a lot of passive learning. Need to learn how to create an atmosphere where people can learn and grow. Critical thinking aspect, how are we honing in, how can we teach to be a critical thinker and look at policy/bill (could be contrary to your personal beliefs), then you have to defend it.

Who will you give $200,000 to, then need to justify it.

Summary: 1) Develop writing and communication skills that are concise and can be understood by a general audience. 2) Meeting people from gov't positions, learn how they got there and what they like about it. 3) What is it like to work in this space (resume, mock interview, proposal, budget)