The Graduate School’s Fall Career Colloquium is taking place October 20th-24th, 2025, in Alumni Hall.
The Career Colloquium is organized to provide critical career development opportunities as you begin to think about your future aspirations. With several events throughout the week, there will be many opportunities to connect with professionals and hear advice about the job search. You may attend as many sessions as you like throughout the week. This year, we are also offering a virtual session, as indicated below. Registration is required for each event.
Navigating the Job Search: Planning for Possibilities
Monday, October 20th, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Alumni Hall Reading Room (206)
Register HERE. Lunch served at 11:45 a.m.
Prepare for success. Learn strategies for simultaneously exploring multiple career paths and engaging in opportunities that align with your values, interests, and skills. Parallel planning provides a purposeful and adaptable process for tailoring your academic pursuits while developing confidence and agency for navigating the career journey.
How to Develop an Effective Mentor-Mentee Relationship Panel
Tuesday, October 21st, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Alumni Hall Memorial Room (202)
Register HERE. Lunch provided.
Join us for a panel discussion designed to help graduate students build and sustain meaningful mentoring relationships, both during graduate school and throughout their careers. Our panel will feature insights from two faculty members and two postdoctoral scholars who will share practical advice and personal experiences. Lunch will be provided.
The panelists will include:
- Dr. David Lewis, Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor, Department of Political Science and the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations
- Dr. Janet Macdonald, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
- Dr. Corinne Carlton-Smith, F32 Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology and Human Development
- Dr. Jacob Feldman, Research Fellow, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
Professional Headshots
Wednesday, October 22nd, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Alumni Hall Lounge (100)
Register HERE.
Update your professional profile with a high-quality headshot. Available by sign-up in 5-minute intervals. If you can no longer attend the slot that you have signed up for, please log back into this sign-up to remove your name so that others can take advantage of this opportunity.
Please Note: Professional headshots are only offered to Career Colloquium participants who have not gotten a headshot through the Graduate School in the last year. If you sign up for a headshot, you must also register for and attend a session.
Resume Drop-In Hours
Wednesday, October 22nd, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Alumni Hall Lounge (100)
No appointment needed. These 15 to 20-minute sessions are a quick and easy way to get career support and receive feedback on your resume.
Communicating Research: Graduate Lightning Talks + Reception
Thursday, October 23rd, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Alumni Hall Classroom (201) and Lounge (100)
Submit an abstract to be considered for the lightning talks by Oct. 13! More Information.
Register to attend HERE.
This lightning talk* competition provides graduate students across all disciplines with a platform for showcasing research ideas to a broad audience while practicing concise, impactful communication. Participants gain valuable experience in presenting their work under time constraints, while sharpening skills transferable to professional success in both industry and academia. A reception will follow in the Graduate Student Lounge.
*A lightning talk is a three-minute oral presentation, applicable across disciplines, that distills key research ideas into a concise format using minimal slides and is designed to actively engage the audience.
Building Resiliency During Your Job Search (Virtual)
Friday, October 24th, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Virtual
Register HERE.
The Graduate School invites you to Building Resiliency during Your Job Search, a virtual panel featuring Vanderbilt Graduate School alumni from across disciplines. Hear their candid reflections on how they built resilience through the ups and downs of job searching and how those experiences prepared them for long-term success. Join us Friday, October 24, from 12:00–1:00 p.m. CST.
Professionalism Policy for all events:
If you register for an event, please make sure you have cleared your schedule to attend. We require advance notice of at least 48 hours for cancellation. This gives others the opportunity to take your place. Thank you for your adherence to this policy.
Questions? Email graduateschool@vanderbilt.edu.