Career Development

Northwestern University offers a multifaceted professional development program that prepares students for a broad-range of post-degree careers. This is accomplished not only through meetings and extramural activities, but also through funding opportunities that will help support a student's research goals.

Please refer to the tab to your left for grant funding information.

 BioProfessionals

The BioProfessionals program is a collaborative effort currently directed by staff from the biology graduate programs (DGP, IBiS, and NUIN) and the Department of Molecular Biosciences. Three separate, yet interconnected programs, open to all students and postdocs, promote learning about potential career paths and developing the skills necessary to succeed in them: BioOpportunites, BioSurvival Skills, and Pathway to the Professoriate.

For further information about this program, please go to their website.

For career services, please go to the Northwestern Career Advancement website. For CV & Resume Building information follow this link.

Upcoming Events

BioProfessionals Meet and Greet with Aubrey Korneta from the Career Advancement Center on Tuesday, Nov 19^th from 12-1:30pm in Pancoe 4103.

Northwestern STEM Career Fairs

**Sponsored by McCormick Engineering Career Development

• Northwestern 2024 Fall Tech Career Fair
  • Monday, October 7, 2024
  • An in-person fair open to undergraduate, masters, and PhD students for internship, co-ops, and full-time opportunities.
• Northwestern 2024 SWE Industry (Engineering) Career Fair
  • Thursday, October 17, 2024
  • SWE Industry Day is an in-person fair open to ALL Northwestern undergraduate, graduate and alumni engineering and technology majors who are seeking full-time, intern and co-op opportunities. 
• Northwestern 2024 Civil and Environmental Engineering (CCE) Career Fair
  • Saturday, October 19, 2024
  • An in-person career fair targeting civil and environmental engineering students, but all STEM majors and classification are welcome who are looking for co-op, internships, or full-time opportunities.

Find upcoming career fairs here.
Also explore Career Development Opportunities through The Graduate School.

Career Tracks

An IDP is a tool that helps individuals explore career options. The IDP form for trainee applications can be found here.

There are many resources students can use while formulating their goals. A great starting place is the myIDP offered for free by Science Careers. This site offers exercises to gauge your skills, interest, and values. It then lists 20 scientific career paths based on your results with relevant goal and article suggestions.

Career paths to consider:

• Principal investigator in a research-intensive institution
• Research in industry
• Research staff in a research-intensive institution
• Combined research and teaching careers
• Teaching-intensive careers in academia
• Science education for K-12 schools
• Science education for non-scientists
• Clinical practice
• Public health related careers
• Scientific/medical testing
• Science writing
• Research administration
• Science policy
• Intellectual property
• Business of science
• Entrepreneurship
• Sales and marketing of science-related products
• Drug/device approval and production
• Clinical research management

There are many helpful resources for career planning at Northwestern:

• BioProfessionals program
• Teaching Certificate Program through the Searle Center (must apply through IBiS)
• Research Communication Training Program
• Biotechnology Certificate
• Fellowship in Leadership through the Center for Leadership
• Technology Transfer Practicum through the Innovation and New Ventures Office
• Management for Scientists and Engineers program through Kellogg