Career Advising
Career Advising
A thoughtful, strategic approach to STEM career decisions
Advanced STEM training prepares people to solve difficult problems, but rarely teaches them how to navigate a career. As expertise deepens, familiar academic or technical roles can begin to look like the only credible options. Career advising at Academically Speaking is designed to challenge that assumption.
How I work with clients
Together, we examine directions within STEM and beyond, test them against your interests, priorities, and constraints, and develop a practical plan for pursuing the most promising options. I combine experience across academic research, national laboratories, university teaching, and industrial R&D with an MS in Counseling and current professional experience in career counseling. This combination brings both firsthand knowledge of STEM workplaces and formal training in career exploration and decision-making.
This nonclinical service is intended for STEM graduate students, PhDs, postdoctoral researchers, and established professionals considering a new role, sector, or career direction. When a client’s needs extend beyond educational and professional career advising, an appropriate referral will be recommended.
My approach is informed by established theories of vocational choice and career development, including Holland’s work on vocational interests and work environments, Blustein’s Psychology of Working, and Dawis and Lofquist’s Theory of Work Adjustment. These frameworks provide structured ways to examine how interests, capabilities, circumstances, and working environments interact.
When useful, I may draw on the Holland/RIASEC framework, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and inventories of skills, values, and work preferences. Some of these tools connect interest profiles or personality preferences with occupational fields, helping clients uncover possibilities they may not have considered. Many clients find these tools engaging and informative. They can provide language for reflection and suggest occupations worth investigating, but they remain supplementary.
Questions this work can address
- What else can I do with the experience I already have?
- Which capabilities developed through my STEM work are valuable in other roles or sectors?
- What additional knowledge, experience, or credentials would a transition actually require?
- How can I build a credible path from my present work to a new direction?
How the work proceeds
The process is adapted to the client and the decision. Not every engagement requires every stage.
Step 1 – Identify what you carry forward
Examine the knowledge, abilities, accomplishments, working preferences, and professional relationships developed through your STEM experience. Identify capabilities that may be obscured by specialized titles or disciplinary language.
Step 2 – Investigate where those capabilities have value
Research roles, sectors, organizations, and work environments where your experience may be relevant. Use occupational information and professional conversations to move from attractive possibilities to informed alternatives.
Step 3 – Build a credible bridge
Determine what a transition would require. This may include developing new knowledge or experience, earning a relevant credential, cultivating professional relationships, or testing a direction through a limited commitment before making a larger move.
Step 4 – Prepare to make the move
Develop or revise the materials needed to pursue the chosen direction, including résumés, CVs, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles. Prepare for networking conversations and interviews in which you will need to explain your experience clearly and credibly.
The aim of the process
I seek to improve the correspondence between your capabilities, needs, and priorities and the demands and conditions of your working environment. This may involve identifying more suitable settings, changing how you present your experience, or developing the preparation needed for a desired transition.
The aim is a well-informed decision and a practical strategy for pursuing it. Career advising cannot guarantee placement or a particular outcome.
Let’s start with a conversation
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to briefly discuss your situation, what you hope to accomplish, and whether Academically Speaking is a good match for your needs.