Career Planning

We support Stanford graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in pursuing their career of choice, both within and beyond academia. 

Stanford offers graduate students and postdoctoral scholars many opportunities to gain professional experiences and explore varied career paths. The skills and experiences you acquire during your graduate or postdoctoral training are transferrable to rewarding careers in academia and in the private, public, or non-profit sectors. Stanford faculty and staff are here to help you!

General Career Resources

Here are general career development actions you can take, no matter what your degree program or career aspirations:

• Visit a career center (Stanford has five career centers serving different student populations)
• Participate in VPGE’S Professional Development Programs
• Explore the interactive Grad Grow tool
• Take the d.schools' Designing the Professional course (offered as a quarter-long course or in an intensive week during VPGE's Stanford Graduate Summer Institute)
• Browse Stanford's Career Development courses to gain insights into various career paths

Academic Career Resources

Love working at a university? These resources complement the general resources above to help you prepare for faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities.

Faculty Careers

Typically, preparing for a faculty career includes these overlapping phases:

1. understanding yourself and the higher education landscape
2. building faculty skills 
3. conducting a successful job search

It's never too early — or too late — to begin!

The faculty hiring process differs by discipline, so we encourage you to access the knowledge and experience of the faculty, staff, advanced students, and alumni in your degree program.

Central resources and learning opportunities available to all students interested in faculty positions include:

• Summary of these phases and resources
• Teaching resources and opportunities
• Preparing for Faculty Careers Course (EDUC 343C, SPRING)
• Jumpstart Your Academic Job Search Course (intensive, one-week course offered as part of VPGE's Stanford Graduate Summer Institute)
• Preparing Future Professors Faculty Shadowing Program
• Teaching Commons (simple, flexible, and research-based teaching tools curated by the Center for Teaching and Learning)
• Stanford course about Teaching and Education
• National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (Stanford membership provides free access)

Academic Administration Careers

Working at a college or university allows you to continue to engage in education and research, work with students and faculty, and apply the skills and knowledge you acquired in grad school.

Resources to help you learn more about and prepare for these types of higher education positions include: 

• List of Stanford staff who have doctoral degrees (This is a Stanford-only Google doc; to access it, log out of gmail and log back in with your @stanford.edu email or get help here.)
• Different career paths in high education (PDF) (a taxonomy based on the list of Stanford staff above)
• Sample informational interview questions (PDF) (use these for informational interviews with Stanford staff!)
• Stanford Careers Jobs Page
• Inside Higher Ed's Careers Page
• Chronicle of Higher Education's Jobs Page

Related Links

Stanford Career Education (CareerEd)
Graduate School of Education EdCareers
BioSci Careers
Graduate School of Business Career Management Center
School of Law Office of Career Services
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Alumni Career Services
Center for Teaching and Learning