It can be a struggle to have clarity about our career direction and life decisions. This can certainly be the case for graduate school students. Dr. Beka Layton, Director of Professional Development Programs at the University of North Carolina, encourages the individuals she works with to approach career decisions by visualizing a triangle consisting of three related points: career, personal, and professional. Beka delved into this triangle and shared practical examples of how she works with students in an interview with Heidi Scott Giusto on episode 11 of the Informational Interview 2.0 podcast.
Beka also provided insights on:
- broadening student perspectives regarding their career planning
- networking by engaging in authentic conversations of mutual interest
- approaching networking with curiosity, relationship building and authenticity
- creating a structured environment for yourself/your students to explore options
- giving yourself "permission to invest in yourself"
In Beka’s role, she is responsible for career awareness and career development programming for biomedical PhD students. She also meets with trainees for individual career coaching and leads the Career Cohorts and Skills Certificate Series programs.
The Informational Interview 2.0 Podcast is brought to you by the Global Innovators Academy's "Interview an Innovator" course experience and by Career Path Writing Solutions.
