NIH Career Symposium

The NIH Career Symposium is a virtual event highlighting the diversity of career choices available to biomedical researchers. This event provides career exploration and networking opportunities for graduate students, postdocs, and fellows in the NIH Intramural Research Program. Graduate students and postdocs from outside the NIH are also welcome to attend.

Whether you’re a graduate student, a postdoc, clinical fellow, or a senior student looking for a job, this event will help you explore your career options. Come to network with professionals and peers and learn strategies for navigating the job search process.

During this multi-day event we’ll host a range of panels, interviews and discussions with speakers from across the biomedical workforce. You’ll have the opportunity to network with your peers and professionals in different career paths. OITE staff will present strategies for navigating the job search and its ups and downs. Each day will focus on a different theme and you’re welcome to attend everything, or just watch the sessions that appeal to you.

Each year graduate students, postdocs, and fellows, in conjunction with OITE staff, organize the symposium. Members of the symposium committee include:

OITE staff members:

• Emily Summerbell, Program Manager, Office of Postdoctoral Services
• Laura Marler, Director of Student Services, Graduate Partnerships Program
• Sharolyn Kawakami-Schulz, Resource Manager, Special Projects Lead

Trainee committee members:

• 2024 trainee committee members will be announced in January 2024.

Reach out to us with question at OITE@nih.gov.

Couldn’t make it to the live event? You can access an archive of Career Symposia information online. Note that some events, including career-path specific break out rooms, were not recorded.

Selected recordings from 2023

• Introduction to Careers in research (all sectors) - watch the recording
• Introduction to careers in industry (non-research), policy, communication, government and education - watch the recording
• Why career choices are so hard: A practical guide for navigating the career process - watch the recording
• Visiting fellows: Navigating careers in the United States and internationally - watch the recording
• Hiring trends and making a career plan - watch the recording
• Navigating career transitions by addressing: Am I/will I get stuck? - watch the recording