Overview
The Associate Director, Graduate Student Career Development position focuses on advising and programming for all aspects of graduate student career planning and development for careers inside and outside academia. Reporting to the Senior Associate Director for Graduate Student Career Development, the Associate Director serves as a key relationship builder with major stakeholders across campus. The person in this role has direct responsibility for creating and implementing engagement and outreach initiatives to capture and respond to evolving graduate student career interests and needs. This position also involves collaborating broadly within the Career Development team.
The Associate Director advises graduate students according to our student-centered career advising philosophy and our office’s focus on self-exploration and lifelong career management. In addition to providing one-on-one advising for graduate students, the person in this role designs and facilitates career education and skill-building programs for graduate students and contributes to the development and maintenance of our office career resources. This role will be in-person in the Center for Career Development office.
Responsibilities
Graduate Student Career Advising & Programming
- Provide personalized career advising for graduate students via one-on-one in-person and virtual (Zoom) advising appointments on career-related concerns inside and outside academia.
- Meet individually or in groups with graduate students to provide coaching and advising that helps them clarify values, interests, skills, and strengths.
- Educate graduate students on significant employment trends within and beyond academia.
- Assist graduate students with developing action plans and follow-up strategies.
- Collaborate with the Employer Engagement team to develop and implement programs and resources that connect grad students with employers, such as the Undercover Bosses networking program and the Beyond Academia Job Search Series.
- Collaborate with the Alumni Engagement and Experiential Learning team to create programs and resources that connect alumni with graduate students, such as Grad Treks and the Academic Job Search Bootcamp series.
- Create and implement a wide range of engaging, informative, and actionable programs on topics ranging from exploring careers to preparing for the academic job search to interviewing and negotiating job offers.
- Actively collaborate with graduate academic departments and student organizations to identify graduate students’ career needs and design and implement career education and skill-building programs tailored to specific graduate student groups or a requested department.
Campus Outreach & Collaborative Relationship Building
- Serve as a primary liaison to a group of graduate academic departments and student organizations.
- Develop, maintain, and enhance relationships with graduate faculty and departmental staff, primarily graduate program administrators, directors of graduate studies, job placement officers, and student department representatives.
- Build and cultivate relationships across campus with graduate student groups and centers on campus serving graduate students.
- Connect with underserved graduate student populations across campus through outreach initiatives.
- Help develop a prioritized list of campus outreach targets and implement outreach strategies to ensure that all Princeton graduate students have access to meaningful career exploration and opportunities.
Data and Assessment
- Use data to assess outreach/program impact and areas for continuous improvement.
- Participate in assessment projects, such as conducting surveys or hosting focus groups to understand Princeton graduate students’ career development experiences.
Qualifications
Required
- Master’s Degree
- Minimum of three years of professional experience in career counseling/advising and program development in a higher education setting
- Ability to implement a developmental, goal-oriented, and student-centered approach to advising graduate students
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to deliver effective career presentations, and build internal and external relationships
- A proven record of building and sustaining a culture of inclusion, belonging, collaboration, and mutual respect
- Proven track record and experience in cultivating connections, program planning and execution, and group facilitation and engagement with a strategic mindset to create value and impact
- Demonstrated passion or/and experience in creating innovative programming reflecting the changing needs of graduate students and the world of work inside and outside academia
- Experience gathering and analyzing data to inform decisions
- Ability to solve problems and make decisions in a timely and effective manner
Preferred
- Doctoral Degree
- Two or more years of experience in graduate student advising
- Broader familiarity with career assessments (e.g., CliftonStrengths)
Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.
If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.
The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.
Standard Weekly Hours
36.25
Eligible for Overtime
No
Benefits Eligible
Yes
Probationary Period
180 days
Essential Services Personnel (see policy for detail)
No
Physical Capacity Exam Required
No
Valid Driver’s License Required
No
Experience Level
Mid-Senior Level
Salary Range
$83,000 to $96,000