Counseling

Counseling/Coaching | Graduate Students & Postdocs | MDs

BioSci Careers provides comprehensive counseling and coaching services to support the academic, professional and career development of trainees in the Biosciences.

During your first few years, we help you get acclimated to Stanford. There are many professional skills which, obtained early-on, will help you throughout training and beyond. These include: self-awareness about lab choice and mentorship needs, networking, social media strategy, project management, conflict management, leadership development and many more. We help you obtain these skills, apply them during training, and then translate them into your career of choice later.

In the middle of your training, we help you identify which career of choice options may best fit your interests, skills, and values. Then, we help you hone and practice skills for, and make connections to, the sectors of most interest to you. More detail on various career sectors can be found at What Can I Do With My Degree?

Before you leave, let us help you transition into your desired career of choice through deeper connections, application reviews, interview practice, negotiation strategy and important discussions to start off on the right foot in your first position.

 

Schedule an Appointment

You can schedule an in-person career counseling/coaching appointment through Handshake, Biosciences, our online appointment system: https://stanford.joinhandshake.com/login.

Phone or Skype appointments are only available to current Stanford trainees whose labs are not located within 15 miles of campus. To sign up for a remote appointment, use the Handshake link above, and indicate in the notes: 1. The location of your lab, 2. Your phone number, 3. Remote appointment.  

Detailed directions to our office are available here.

 

Counseling/Coaching

Our confidential, individual counseling/coaching appointments:

Address any academic, professional, and/or career development concern trainees may have. Some of the most common questions we encounter include:

  • How do I choose the right career for me?
  • What are my career options?
  • How do I make the most of my IDP?
  • How does my academic training translate into my career of choice?
  • How do I balance external stressors and my training?
  • How do I get the job I want?
  • How can I be successful in my career?
  • What if I’m worried that I will fail or that I won’t live up to expectations?
  • How do I deal with workplace or educational challenges or conflict?

 

Help you understand your career preferences and options:

  • Discover your interests, skills, and values through assessment tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory, the Knowdell Career Values Card Sort, the Knowdell Motivated Skills Card Sort, myIDP, Career Leader (for business careers), and StrengthsQuest.
  • Learn about numerous career options, such as: academia/education, biotechnology, communications/media, consulting, data, finance, government, healthcare, law, policy, and many others.

 

Help you prepare for, and transition to, your career of choice:

  • Learn job-search strategies
  • Understand how to network effectively
  • Review and develop LinkedIn profiles
  • Develop skills for career success.
  • Refine your career documents and presentations, especially:
    • CVs
    • Resumes
    • Cover letters
    • Statements of purpose
    • Teaching, research, and diversity statements
    • Job talk preparation
  • Learn how to interview with confidence:
    • Practice interviewing (mock interview).
    • Learn interview strategies and techniques.
    • Rehearse job talks and chalk talks.
    • Practice negotiating.

 

Graduate Students & Postdocs

We assist graduate students and postdocs define their interests, skills, and values in order to apply these to both their academic training and beyond. In addition to using traditional counseling and coaching, we offer:

  • Career interests assessments
  • Job application review
  • Interview practice
  • Professional presentation/job talk practice
  • Negotiation strategy development
  • Setting academic and careers goals
  • Networking strategy for academic conferences and organizational events
  • Finding postdoctoral and other professional opportunities
  • Anxiety and other wellness concerns effecting student academic and/or career success

 

MDs

Medical students, MDs, residents, fellows, and dual-degree MDs often face their own questions, including:

  • Which clinical practice option is right for me?
  • What are my career options both in the healthcare sector and beyond?
  • What are my career options within academia, biotechnology, government, healthcare, or nonprofit organizations?
  • How can I succeed in my residency and fellowship interviews?
  • How can I ensure a successful match? How do I prepare for and get the job I want?
  • How can I prevent or deal with burnout?

 

Schedule an appointment and we can help answer these questions, and prepare you for your next steps toward your career of choice.

 

Career support for spouses and partners

Stanford offers career support for the spouses and domestic partners of all Stanford students and postdoctoral scholars. We are available to discuss career goals, employment options, and job search documents, like resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles.

Spouses and partners are eligible for one 45-minute appointment with a career coach per year. The student/postdoc makes the appointment on behalf of their spouse/partner.

  • Appointments are made via Handshake.
  • Select the appointment category “Spouses & Domestic Partners.”
  • Click through to the page where you can select an appointment time. In the upper right, select “Staff member” to see your choices.
  • Select the staff member who matches the spouse/partner’s degree level and field of interest.
    • If the spouse has a PhD, then select a member of the PhD+Postdoc team.
    • If the spouse/partner has a graduate degree in the medical and life sciences, then select a coach from BioSci Careers.
    • If the spouse/partner has a bachelor or master’s degree, select one of these coaches based on field of study.
  • Choose the preferred medium for the appointment from the Appointment Medium dropdown menu. Then, indicate the name of the spouse and the questions they have in the “What can we help you with?” box.
  • Initial communication in advance of the appointment from the coach will be made with the student/postdoc who makes the appointment.
     

More Counseling Resources

To see more counseling references, reading and archived presentations, please see the Resources section.

Register for Upcoming Events

Click event titles for details & registration links. Click here for the full calendar.

My coach had a great intuition for what I wanted even without me articulating it clearly at first. She had great ideas that I hadn't thought of, came up with a good plan with me, and had answers to all of my questions.