Whether you’re a first-year graduate student or a sixth-year doctoral student, the Walter Center is here to help you explore your options, make meaningful connections, and leverage your invaluable liberal arts skills as you prepare to take them from classroom to career.
We know how challenging it can be to balance the demands of graduate school and career planning. Our graduate career coaches work hard to make career prep manageable for grad students by:
The right time to meet with us is right now. There's no need to feel 'ready' or 'prepared', because it's never too early or too late to get started! No matter where you are in the journey, we’ll be with you every step of the way, from choosing career in industry or academia to marketing yourself to employers.
During the first visit, whether in-person or virtual, you and your coach will simply talk and get to know each other. Your coach will probably ask you a lot of questions as he or she tries to get a better understanding of your interests and aspirations. Together, you'll make a plan, discuss next steps, and decide together when and how often you should meet to reach your career goals.
Both! Whether you'd like to visit the Walter Center for your appointment or work with your coach via Zoom (or a mix of both), you and your coach can discuss the option that's best for you.
To schedule a one-on-one coaching appointment, you'll need to have a Handshake account. Don't have a Handshake profile yet? Be sure to create one as soon as you can—it's the quickest way to connect with the Walter Center team.
Once you log into Handshake, you'll be able to see the availability of our 10+ career coaches (including our dedicated career coaches for graduate students) and can choose a time that fits your schedule best.
Erin Erwin
Director, Career Education
Andrea White
Associate Director, Career Education
Allison Adkins
Career Coach
Rachel Nefertari Boveja
Career Coach (Specialization: Hamilton Lugar School + Political Science)
Luke Chanley
Career Coach (Specialization: The Media School)
Marcia Debnam
Senior Career Coach
Angela Lexmond
Senior Lecturer
Jenna Piva Laramie
Career Coach
Trevor Verrot
Graduate Career Coach (Specialization: Graduate Student Career Coaching)
Emily Cress
Career Coach (Specialization: The Media School)
TyShawna Herron
Career Coach
Katie Strauch
Career Coach (Specialization: Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design)
While meeting with a career coach is the best place to start, below are a few additional resources to help you along the way:
Graduate students are welcome and encouraged to attend any of our events and programs.
Imagine Ph.D. is free online career exploration and planning tool for Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
This is the oldest, largest community dedicated to non-academic and non-faculty careers for Ph.D.s in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM disciplines.
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a research communication competition founded by the University of Queensland in 2008. The competition challenges master’s and doctoral students to present a compelling oration on their thesis or dissertation research and its significance to a general audience in just three minutes. IU Bloomington, which hosts its annual 3MT competition each spring, joins over 900 universities worldwide that host local 3MT events.
So, what are you going to do after Grad School? What a loaded question, right? This career exploration group will help graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences systematically think through an answer. This virtual 4-part event is conducted through Zoom and Canvas. This series is offered on a semesterly basis. Email us for more information.
Have a question for one of our coaches? Submit it below and our coaches will help point you in the right direction. Of course, it's always best to schedule a coaching appointment for more in-depth and thorough guidance—but this is an option when that's not possible.
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