Responsive Career Supports

These career offerings were developed in order to meet the unique and evolving needs and experiences of distinct communities of students, specifically graduate students, Queer and Trans students, and Indigenous students. These programs help students build a community of career support and access resources at the intersection of career, identity, hope and well-being.
Flexible Futures: Graduate Student Career Support
A renewed suite of Flexible Futures sessions was offered in 2024-25. The focus of these offerings was two-fold:
- Continue the design and delivery of enhanced career learning experiences for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
- Create opportunities for in-person career learning to foster community and peer learning.
As a result of this curriculum review and renewal, three new central workshops were offered:
- Research Your Career workshops
- Designed to leverage graduate students’ research skills as applied to career exploration and job searching while helping them to identify and articulate transferrable skills.
- Graduate Career Educator AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions
- An opportunity for participants to ask career questions of the Graduate Career Educator and other career education staff and learn from peers.
- Work on Your Career: Co-Working and Accountability Space
- Created to provide students with structured time to work toward their career goals with the support of Career Education staff.
Two new, in-person workshops were developed for as part of Flexible Futures program, with a goal of building communities of career support among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
- Cultivate Your Career Community of Support in Academia & Beyond
- These sessions led to rich dialogue on community building between participants at differing points in their academic careers. Students were observed exchanging contact information at the end of one session to maintain the community forming in the space.
- Discover and Communicate Your Career Skills
- This session was a reactivated collaboration with Teaching Assistants Training Program (TATP) in the fall and offered centrally in winter term. Feedback from attendees praised the opportunity to connect in person and build connections and dialogue with others while also thinking through transferable skills.
Student-led Offerings
Every year, Career Exploration & Education commits to several student-led offerings within its suite of programs, services and resources. This allows student voices, experiences and peer-to-peer learning to be prioritized, giving students the opportunity to build experiences and skills for their own career portfolio and journey.
Queer & Trans @ Work: Navigating the Workplace as 2SLGBTQ+ folks
Student Facilitator – Beck Scholbeck (they/them)
This student-facilitated workshop explored various themes specific to 2SLGBTQ+ experiences around work, including self-advocacy, legal rights, solidarity, allyship and advice on finding an inclusive workplace. The event was open to all students and recent graduates who identify as being members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, but intentionally prioritized the experiences and stories of trans and nonbinary folks.
Track Your Path: Bullet Journaling for Careers
Indigenous student-led, Jamie Kearns
This student-led workshop focused on enhancing personal wellness and career development through designing a customized bullet journal that integrates self-awareness practices, goal setting and career planning.
Bullet journaling supports career development by organizing goals, tasks and relationship-building opportunities while supporting wellness and self-awareness. By integrating career and wellness priorities in one approach, a bullet journal is a practical way to stay productive that is aligned with personal and professional goals.
Objective: 2.5
Draw on student-centered data and feedback to develop and adapt programs, services, and resources, to meet the needs of both specific and broad intersectional student identities, including Indigenous, Black, Asian, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, graduate and professional students, international students, part-time students, mature students, students with disabilities, and students with family responsibilities.
Learn more about this goal and objective in the Student Life Strategic Plan.
