Launching a successful career is not a task for one day. In fact, JHU Professional Development and Careers Office (PDCO) believes that starting a career can take as long as four years, and there’s no time to take a slow approach as during a PhD program at JHU. OPTIONS Career at Hopkins can help line up your journey. 
The OPTIONS Career Curriculum, managed by the Professional Development and Career Office (PDCO), provides PhD candidates protected time to develop their career goals and prepare for the future in a manageable way. Through interactive workshops, students discover careers of interest, develop career-specific skills, and build a professional network all while connecting with fellow trainees with similar interests. Program is designed and mandatory for the School of Medicine students but available to all Hopkins PhD students and postdoctoral trainees. Year 1-2: Career Awareness
- Attend 4 Investigating Careers and Networking (iCAN)
- Events to learn about the various career opportunities available to PhDs. (6 hours total)
Year 3: Career Exploration
- Join an OPTIONS Community and begin building career-specific skills while diving deeper into a field of interest.
- Join one of the career communities: Academic Research, Science Policy & Communications, Business Side of Science, Biotech & Pharma, Academic Teaching. Interested in more than one? No problem, you can use a Create-your-own Path option! Each workshop is 2 hours. (12 hours total)
Year 4+: Career Experiences Work with the PDCO to identify experience (ie. an internship) to maximize your time at Hopkins and prepare for your future career. For more information, visit https://pdco.med.jhmi.edu/career-exploration/options-career-communities/.
