Poultry science graduate students: challenges and opportunities

"What are you going to do next?" is a common question often asked of a student who has recently graduated with either an MSc or PhD degree. We should not be surprised to hear the answer "I do not know yet." I have talked with many poultry science graduate students who usually start thinking about their future careers a few months before defending their thesis. I personally believe that nothing happens overnight in this world (excluding political-related issues), so we as graduate students need to have a comprehensible and pragmatic strategy when it comes to answering the question "What to do next?" This paper is not about how graduate students can find a job because there are numerous sources of information that are readily available elsewhere. One of the key messages of this paper is that networking is of paramount importance when it comes to moving in the right direction after graduation. Consequences of any decision made at this stage will often have a far-reaching unseen influence on us for many years into the future. I am also fully aware that there are many things over which we do not have any control, but as graduate students, are we doing our best to prepare ourselves for the real world?