Graduate Career Coaching

Graduate student career coaching

Whether you're in the first year of your program or the last, the Walter Center is here to help you explore your options, make meaningful connections, and leverage your invaluable skills as you prepare to launch the next phase of your career.

We know how challenging it can be to balance the demands of graduate school and career planning. We work to make career prep manageable for graduate students by:

Understanding your unique situation
Helping you develop a personalized plan
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 a career path to marketing yourself to employers.

Your career coach is available to assist with a broad range of topics, including:

Career exploration and decision making
Job and internship search strategy
Resume, CV, cover letter, and professional profile review
Interview preparation and mock interviews
Networking
And more!

During your visit, whether in-person or virtual, your coach's goal is to get to know you and learn how they can best support you. Your coach will ask you questions to gain a deeper understanding of your interests and aspirations. Then, you'll create a plan and discuss the next steps. Depending on your needs and goals, you can continue meeting with your coach as you work through these steps together.

Both! Whether you'd like to visit the Walter Center for your appointment or work with your coach via Zoom (or a combination of both), you can select the option that best suits you.

Use your IU credentials to login to Handshake at iubloomington.joinhandshake.com
Choose Career Center from the menu
Click on the Appointments tile
Click on the blue Schedule a New Appointment button
Click on Walter Center for Career Achievement
Select an appointment type
Select a time and day that works for you, choose virtual or in-person, write the coach a brief note about why you're making the appointment, and choose request.

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 career coaches (including our dedicated career coach 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

Director, Career Courses

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

Emily Cress

Career Educator

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

Coaching Focus: Media, Arts, & Entrepreneurship

Rebecca Butorac

Career Educator

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

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, & Design

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

Nia I'man Smith

Career Educator

Phone:: 812-855-4067
Email:: niaismit@iu.edu

Austin Baker

Career Educator

Email:: austbake@iu.edu

Lindsey Heben

Career Educator

Email:: lheben@iu.edu

Atina Kamasi

Career Coach

Phone:: 812-855-9258
Email:: akamasi@iu.edu

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 topics can coaching appointments cover?

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

Are coaching appointments in-person or virtual?

How do I make an appointment?

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