Graduate Career Coaching

Graduate student career coaching

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:

Understanding your unique situation
Personalizing a plan that works for you
Breaking it down and working the plan together, step-by-step

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.

Schedule an appointment

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.

Learn more about Handshake

Meet our career coaches

Erin Erwin

Director, Career Education

Phone:: 812-855-0577
Email:: erserwin@iu.edu

Katie Strauch

Associate Director, Graduate Career Services

Phone:: 812-856-2084
Email:: kj139@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Graduate Students + Undergraduates applying to graduate school

Andy Sterneman

Associate Director, Career Studio

Phone:: 812-855-1184
Email:: jsternem@iu.edu

Sarah Schmitt

Associate Director, Career and Academic Integration

Phone:: 812-856-2550
Email:: sjschmit@iu.edu

Marcia Debnam

Senior Career Coach

Phone:: 812-855-1704
Email:: mdebnam@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Life Sciences, Healthcare, & Sustainability; First Generation

Angela Lexmond

Senior Lecturer

Phone:: 812-856-2697
Email:: alexmond@iu.edu

Emily Cress

Career Educator + Coach

Phone:: 812-856-4956
Email:: emcress@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Media, Arts, & Entrepreneurship

Rachel Nefertari Boveja Ph.D.

Career Educator + Coach

Phone:: 812-855-0410
Email:: rboveja@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Government, International, & Public Policy; Neurodiversity

Rebecca Butorac

Career Educator + Coach

Phone:: 812-856-2700
Email:: rbutorac@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Life Sciences, Healthcare, Sustainability and First Generation

Luke Chanley

Career Coach

Phone:: 812-855-8455
Email:: lwchanle@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Media, Arts, & Entrepreneurship; Business, Retail, & Technology

Allison Adkins

Career Coach

Phone:: 812-855-4785
Email:: alladkin@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Education, Non-Profit & Social Good, Government, International & Public Policy, Neurodiverse Students, LGBTQIA+ Students

Jed Junken

Career Educator

Phone:: 812-856-7710
Email:: jjunken@iu.edu

Trenten Rowlett

Career Coach

Phone:: 812-856-7069
Email:: terowlet@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Animal Science; Business, Retail, & Technology; Media, Arts, & Entrepreneurship

Michael Kendall

Career Educator

Phone:: 812-855-6408
Email:: mikendal@iu.edu

Madhuvanti Karyekar

Career Coach

Phone:: 812-856-3522
Email:: mkaryeka@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Government, International, and Public Policy; Education, Non-Profit and Social Good; International students

Abbie Doan

Career Coach

Phone:: 812-855-0785
Email:: doanabb@iu.edu

Coaching Focus: Life Sciences, Healthcare and Sustainability, Business, Retail & Technology

More resources for grad students

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.

View events calendar

Imagine Ph.D. is free online career exploration and planning tool for Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.

View resource

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.

View resource

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.

Learn more

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.

Email us to learn more

Additional resources

Learn about career courses

Career Planning Guide

Connect with employers

Graduate Career Coaching

Graduate student career coaching

When should I meet with a career coach?

What happens during a one-on-one coaching appointment?

Are coaching appointments in-person or virtual?

Schedule an appointment

Meet our career coaches

More resources for grad students

Events + Programs

Imagine Ph.D.

Versatile Ph.D.

Three Minute Thesis

GradEx Series

Additional resources

Walter Center for Career Achievement social media channels