Brandi Smith has learned from her experience in career coaching that students often feel anxious and worried as the job market approaches, and she wants to help them feel excited and confident about their future.
That’s one of her goals as director of graduate student career coaching for the campus’s newly established Bloomington Graduate School. Since returning to Indiana University in September 2023, Smith has been cultivating connections across campus to expand graduate student career coaching services, a key initiative of the IU Bloomington 2030 strategic plan.
Smith recently spoke about his challenges and successes, as well as his plans for the coming year and beyond.
Q: How do you reflect on your first year in your role?
A: It was a vibrant space. There was a high demand for graduate career support, and it picked up quickly. We had no trouble finding time to meet with students or fill seats.
There was a lot to understand about the current state of support services: there are several career support services for graduate students on campus, and several people are already providing support, but we noticed that there was variation and differences in the support services offered due to the decentralization of career services across campus.
Q: You said you wanted to listen to students, staff and faculty, gather information and identify gaps in support. What did you learn?
A: Student needs are diverse and nuanced, and while we can group needs into categories or themes, there is still wide variation in the questions students ask to meet their individual needs and goals.
In terms of gaps in support, it was clear that solutions were needed as some programs did not have direct career support service lines, while others had robust services that provided many opportunities for students.
Students also communicated directly to me that they were looking for a safe, neutral space to do the exploration they needed to make more confident decisions about their next steps and identify goals they could feel confident about.
I’ve also noticed a pattern as to where people get stuck: “What should I do?” or “What is right for me?” type questions.
Q: A goal of the IUB 2030 strategic plan is to prepare graduate and professional students for diverse career opportunities. One indicator is to increase the percentage of graduate students who access career services each year. How will this be achieved?
A: To increase student access to career services, it’s important to make it easy for students to reach out and get involved, and to provide an experience that makes them feel like they’re making progress toward achieving their goals and needs. Many students are seeking support from career services, and it’s important to me to guide them in the right direction.
Collaborating with career services offices has been a goal. I have become involved with the Career Services Council, and within that council, we have created a committee with representatives from all the career services offices on campus. We are trying to establish a referral process. Career services offices offer services that are similar but different from what I can offer, so I will refer students there if it is clear that a student’s needs will be met immediately. Similarly, my career services colleagues will refer students to me if they notice that the services I offer support students in a different way than they do.
Partnerships with institutions such as the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning are also important. We offered an intensive academic application workshop to help students who want to pursue a career in academia develop materials for the application process. This was a success.
One of my colleagues at Bloomington Graduate School leads the coordination of the Graduate Career Diversity Symposium and the Three-Minute Thesis. I engage with these efforts through services such as coaching roundtables and opportunities for students to develop and practice their three-minute thesis presentations. These services help expand students’ thinking about careers and professional development and meet other support needs.
Q: What findings or services demonstrate the benefits of Career Resources for graduate students?
A: When students attend an event or workshop, they often come back afterwards for one-on-one support where they may have questions they want to explore further, which increases participation.
Students report that the services they receive give them a greater understanding and help them understand how to address problems. Their professional stories are coming together and their confidence is growing.
Several students report having accepted job offers. The job search is an exciting and challenging time as you work to develop a job strategy, determine your career direction, and get an outcome that feels right for you.
Q: What are your goals for the 2024-25 school year and long term?
A: This year, we are looking at providing more opportunities to support doctoral students who are in inquiry mode. The focus is on providing more one-on-one support opportunities and also looking at how we can provide more group support so that they can explore in a cohort fashion. We expect to start doing that this fall.
Longer term, my overall hope is that graduates will have clear and seamless access to career support that is tailored to their unique, nuanced needs, and this is something we will continue to test in the Graduate School over the coming months and years and in collaboration with campus colleagues, including the Career Services Council Committee.
