Industry- and Identity-Focused Advising for Alums
Your first individual advising session will likely be scheduled with Donna Miller, Assistant Dean & Executive Director of Career Communities. It is also possible that following your first appointment as an alum you may be guided to an industry-specific adviser to help you, building on an existing connection with one of our advisers if you have one, or connecting with someone new to you. Either way, we encourage you to explore our industry-specific resources through our career community pages, as well as through other advising opportunities in the CLS that are pertinent to alumni. You will find information about our advising areas below.
Career Communities
Arts, Media & Communications helps students design meaningful careers in the performing, written, and visual arts, journalism, marketing and advertising, and more.
Business & Finance prepares Grinnellians for careers in investment banking, entrepreneurship, logistics, investment management, consulting, private equity, retail, marketing, advertising, human resources, sales and trading, and more.
Education Professions + prepares Grinnellians for careers in teaching and higher education, DEI, school administration, education policy, mental health and counseling, social work, training and development, and more. If you are involved in a “helping field” role, or have interest in similar work, this is the place for you to explore opportunities.
Government, Law & Policy prepares Grinnellians for careers in public policy, law, local and federal government, urban and regional planning, research, politics, human services, community organizing, advocacy, nonprofit management, international relations, international development, and more.
Health Professions prepares Grinnellians for careers in medicine, public health, dentistry, veterinary medicine, physical and occupational therapy, nursing, and more. You will find a variety of resources on this page which will help prepare you for professional school beyond your degree from Grinnell, podcast episodes from Going Forth that are related to health professions, and many more useful resources.
Science, Engineering & Sustainability prepares Grinnellians for careers in scientific research, ecology and conservation, biomedical engineering, clean energy development, cognitive science, and more.
Technology & Data prepares Grinnellians for careers in software and hardware development, technical problem solving, digital infrastructure, applied math and statistics, data science, bioinformatics, and more.
While most of the work of the exploratory career community is targeted towards current students, some alumni do end up working with these advisers. The exploratory career community is design to help explore your interests, values, and strengths; develop the tools to focus and deepen your exploration process; make connections with others, including CLS and campus resources as well as alumni, recruiters, and other helpful stakeholders; identify relevant experiential learning activities, including shadowing, campus employment, students groups, among others; and learn about and ultimately transition to one of the CLS’s pre-professional Career Communities.
Additional CLS Resources
Grinnell College students and alumni apply for and receive national, merit-based fellowships and awards at exceptionally high rates. This success speaks to the power of the individually advised curriculum combined with strategic co-curricular and extracurricular involvement in service-learning, internships, independent study and research, and more.
Civic activity is a priority on Grinnell’s campus, and while much of the focus here is on students and the Grinnell community, there may be resources pertinent to alum engagement. CEI’s goal is to engage and equip the next generation of equity-minded, civic agents.