Coaching PhDs with confidence.
Yet every day, career staff, coaches, and faculty are asked to guide highly trained, deeply invested scholars through complex career decisions, shaped by concerns related to identity, power, uncertainty, and constrained labor markets.This live, two-session, cohort-based training exists to close that gap—by equipping you with practical frameworks, shared language, and real-world practice for working effectively and specifically with PhDs in career exploration. You’ll get two half-days of training time, in a safe and affirming space, with options for continued additional support from your instructors after the training is over.
Many people who coach PhDs were never trained to do it.
Does this resonate?
You’ve noticed that PhDs can experience a range of barriers:
Limiting beliefs that they’ve wasted time, are too late, or aren’t qualified for anything else
Advisors ignorant of the harsh job market or unsupportive of diverse career exploration
Anxiety, perfectionism, over-analysis, challenges with a sense of uncertainty
Pressure to “make the investment worth it”
Real life constraints that can’t just be fixed through traditional career development advice
Without preparation, even skilled professionals end up:
Defaulting to personal anecdotes
Avoiding direct guidance when it’s needed
Over-directing when coaching would be more effective
Under-informing when educating may be necessary
Leaving sessions unsure whether they helped
This program helps you move from guessing to intentional practice.You want frameworks and confidence — not just intuition.
Career development professionals who are new to advising PhDs
Seasoned career advisors ready to adapt your expertise to serve the specific needs, mindsets, and experiences of doctoral students.
PhDs who are new to career advising
Ready to move beyond surface-level advising, lean more into collaborative coaching, and approach complex cases with nuance and confidence.
Anyone seeking greater insight into approaches tailored to PhDs
Comfortable working with a range of clients but wanting fresh approaches to the doctoral student or postdoc facing increasing uncertainty and new technologies
Who this course is for
During the training
Live, interactive sessions
Learn a variety of tools, understand when and why they work, and practice using them with peers during and between sessions
Case-based learning
Get familiar with typical PhD client personas and practice techniques that work best in 1:1 settings.
Resource mastery
Learn when to use tools like ImaginePhD, IDPs, InterSECT, and Meaningful Work Kit to broaden career insights and pathways for your clients.
Optional personalized feedback
Get individual observation, coaching, and feedback from instructors on your sessions
How you’ll grow
By the end of the course, you’ll:
Navigate 1:1 sessions with intention so you can establish credibility, manage timing, clarify goals, and respond thoughtfully to clients.
Know how to recognize different mindsets, hidden needs, and signs of resistance, and which tools work most effectively in response.
Expand clients’ imagination about career pathways through evidence-backed tools.
Support PhD career development holistically by examining someone’s situation and resources through multiple lenses (socioemotional, financial, interpersonal).
Live, interactive sessions with cohort discussions and practice
Community of peers working in similar roles and contexts
Case studies based on real-life PhD career scenarios
Activities and resources you can reuse in your day-to-day practice advising PhDs
Certificate of completion for PhD career exploration
Optional personal observation or session recordings for real case feedback to refine your advising approach [an add-on you can choose later]
what’s included
when it’s happening
Thursdays, April 30 and May 14, 2026
11:00am - 4:00pm Eastern Time
Online (Zoom)
who’s running this show
what’s the investment
$500 for the virtual two-session training, introductory ($750, original pricing)
$300 for optional 1:1 coaching sessions
Want updates?
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!