Career Preparation

Stanford University provides resources to help graduate students prepare for leadership roles in their chosen career fields, whether within or outside of academia.

Academic Chats

The VPGE office offers a series of monthly lunch-time seminars, called Academic Chats, for graduate students and postdocs considering academic careers. The sessions are led by Rick Reis, the founder and coordinator of the internationally acclaimed Tomorrow’s Professor eNewsletter, Note that special sessions for postdocs are also being offered.

Future Faculty Seminar

Offered through the Center for Teaching & Learning, the Career Development Center, and the Career Center in the School of Medicine, with support from the VPGE, this weekly seminar series addresses the broad spectrum of duties and opportunities presented through faculty positions, beyond the research-related aspects normally covered in graduate/post doc training. This program will be offered in Fall Quarter 2010.

Other Stanford Courses/Resources

Various schools, departments and programs at Stanford offer courses aimed at the professional development of students. Among these are:

• Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIE) is an intensive month-long summer program sponsored by the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the VPGE office. It is a unique opportunity to learn from the experts about building the analytical and practical skills critical to launching a successful business.
• CTL Courses aimed at improving skills related to teaching and communicating, including courses designed particularly for graduate students.
  • Through the Mentors in Teaching (MinT) Program, CTL provides specialized support for department-based graduate student Teaching Mentors through workshops, professional enhancement opportunities, peer interactions, and online resources.
• MICRO/IMMUN 221: Professional & Leadership Development. Open to bioscience graduate students, this course is specifically designed to help those students develop the leadership, communication, team dynamics, conflict resolution and negotiation skills necessary to be successful in almost any arena, including academia, business, development, industry, and government. SPRING quarter.
• GSBGEN 374: Interpersonal Influence and Leadership. Open to graduate students outside of the school of business, this course combines two popular GSB courses, teaching students to build productive, effective and rewarding relationships at work. Students develop self-awareness, learn to raise and work through difficult issues, to give and receive feedback, and to work effectively in groups. WINTER quarter (see the registration page for non-GSB students).
• Especially for women:
  • Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and Women in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (WISSH) provide small discussion support groups for women graduate students and postdocs in these disciplines at Stanford. See the program web page or contact Susan Owicki.
  • Stanford is a member of MentorNet E-Mentoring Program, a program to match undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and untenured faculty in math, science, and engineering with mentors who have work experience. MentorNet provides the training, coaching and support for them to pursue an 8-month mentoring relationship.

Career Development Offices

Several career development centers on campus offer one-on-one consultation and workshops for graduate students.

• Stanford University Career Development Center
• School of Medicine Career Center
• GSB MBA Career Management Center
• Law School Office of Career Services
• Office of Postdoctoral Affairs