Career Coaching
Welcome to Career Coaching!
Coaching at Stanford Career Education is about your whole journey from clarity and confidence to connections and career growth.
Learn More about Career Coaching
Our coaches do more than review resumes - they’re thought partners who help you navigate career decisions, explore new opportunities, and define your direction. Below you’ll find answers to common questions about the coaching experience.
Career coaching at CareerEd is a personalized, one-on-one conversation that helps you explore your goals, make informed career decisions, and take confident next steps. Coaches support undergraduates, master’s students, PhDs, postdocs, and recent alumni in reflecting on values, refining career materials, practicing interviews, and navigating transitions all within a supportive, judgment-free space.
In a career coaching appointment, you can expect a supportive, nonjudgmental space to explore any aspect of your career journey. You might use the time to clarify your goals, discuss values and direction, or work through challenges in your job or internship search. Coaches will ask open-ended questions to help you uncover your own answers and define your goals with them as a thought partner, not a director.
- Learn about and how to use career resources
- Explore industries and career paths
- Identify your interests, skills, and values
- Get support applying for opportunities, including resume/CV reviews, cover letters, and interview preparation
- Learn how to make connections and network
- Discuss how your identity intersects with your career
- Navigate and make career decisions
- Reflect on your experiences
You can come to your appointment however works best for you. If you have the time, it can be helpful to think about questions or topics you’d like to discuss, so you get the most out of your session.
Appointment Instructions
We are currently offering coaching appointments via Zoom, phone, and in-person. Below you’ll find information on our Tuesday drop-ins, how to schedule a coaching appointment, and helpful user tips.
Need a resume or cover letter reviewed? Preparing for an interview and need tips on how to answer the most challenging question? Have a job or internship offer that you would like to negotiate? Come to these weekly drop-ins (no appointment necessary) for a 15-minute in-person or Zoom appointment. See Handshake events for the Zoom link and our office location.
- Login to the appointment page of Handshake.
- Select your “Category” (i.e. "Engineering - Bachelors and Masters").
- Select the “Length of Appointment”.
- Choose the appointment time that works with your schedule.
- Select “Appointment Medium” (Zoom, phone, or in-person) on the far right top corner of the page.
- If you can’t find an appointment, try looking for a different length of time. The most commonly available option is 30 minutes.
- If you are looking for a quick resume/CV review and there is a long wait for an appointment with a full-time coach, consider meeting with a Peer Career Coach by selecting "Resume Reviews by Peer Career Coaches" under "Category".
- If you've already met with a coach to discuss and complete a self-assessment, please select the "Assessments" category to meet with a coach and receive your results. To learn more about our career assessments, please visit our assessments page.
- Alumni who have graduated within the last five years have access to career coaching. If you have trouble making an appointment, please see instructions for updating your alumni email address on our PlusFive page. Please email us at stanfordplusfive@stanford.edu if you have any questions about getting started.
Career Coaching & Education: Our Coaching Teams
A Career Coach can help you understand what you want in a career, support your job/internship search, and work with you on career skills. Career Coaches serve students and recent alumni in teams based on their academic discipline and degree level. If you'd like to learn more about our coaching teams, please read below.
The BACE team works at the intersection of identity and career development. We develop innovative and tailored programs that are relevant and impactful to ensure that students from all backgrounds and experiences, seen and unseen, feel heard and supported as they take the next steps in their career journey.
We are a team of knowledgeable, resourceful, and kind coaches who believe people of all backgrounds and identities have the potential to take the next steps toward meaning and purpose in their career and/or life.
The Career Foundations team helps undeclared students discover career interests, learn fundamental internship search skills, develop meaningful connections, and explore major-to-career pathways. We do this through career coaching appointments and exploratory workshops and events to support you while you’re exploring as an undeclared student.
Our team of career coaches supports students in the Graduate School of Education through career coaching appointments that identify your strengths, explore career interests, discover industry professionals with whom you can connect, and reveal career pathways that align with your goals.
The Humanities & Sciences team offers career coaching and exploratory workshops and events to support humanities & sciences majors. Whether you know what you want to do post-Stanford or are unsure of where to start, we are here to help you wherever you are in your career journey.
The Peer Career Coaches (PCCs) are Stanford students trained by Career Education to support peers with resumes, opportunity exploration, and event outreach. As students themselves, they provide relatable insights from shared experiences. PCCs host events year-round and are also available for one-on-one meetings.
Stanford Career Education and the Stanford Alumni Association offer career development for alumni for five years after graduation, which includes coaching appointments. Coaching conversations might include what you might want to do next in your career, transitioning to other work areas, developing your job search materials, strategizing your career path, or developing professionally. Learn more about PlusFive.
The PhDs & Postdoc team supports all of Stanford’s PhD students and postdocs in their pursuit of meaningful, purposeful work across all industries, both within and beyond academia. We are committed to helping you envision multiple futures, explore the many paths available to you, and help you secure the opportunities you desire, no matter the industry.
Stanford Career Education offers career coaching for the spouses and domestic partners of all Stanford students and postdocs. We provide one 45-minute appointment per year as a courtesy to student spouses and partners. We are available to discuss topics such as career goals, employment options, and job search documents, such as resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles. For more in-depth career support than we can provide, we encourage you to connect with other career professionals. Learn more here
Our Career Development Model: Envisioning Your Career Journey
Our career development framework provides a way to recognize where you are in your career development journey, identify what motivates you, and pursue your next steps with knowledge and confidence.
Meet Our Coaches
Our coaches are here to support you! Click on a profile to see each coach’s team, bio, Zoom link, and email.
