Navigating the current job market is not straightforward.

Right now, your students or early-career professionals in your school or department are doing what they were told would work:

They’re working hard. Collecting credentials. And chasing the “right” steps.

Yet, that hard work doesn’t always translate into the kind of work opportunities they thought their education should help them achieve.

And so, you end up with highly qualified individuals who:

• Are not sure what they’re qualified for outside the obvious paths

• Struggle to explain their experience in a way that employers understand

• Are overwhelmed by contradictory job search advice

• Are anxious about stability, identity, and “what if I made the wrong choice?”

When these individuals don’t have a strategy, they default to panic-applying, shrinking their goals, and losing confidence in a system that promised that their hard work in school would automatically pay off in the work world.

More than ever, what PhD students and postdocs need is:

1. A clear strategy that makes them feel in control of their careers
2. A message that makes employers and decision-makers listen and
3. A path forward that doesn’t depend on luck. 

Why I get it

I know what it’s like to do everything “right” and still watch the plan fall apart.

After getting laid off from my post-doctoral researcher position in 2018, it took me 18 months to find another job.

Months of silence and uncertainty led to deep fears that perhaps I wasn’t “good enough.”

But this was also when I learned to build a system to help me thrive despite what the job market threw at me.

I’ve now shared those insights on job searching, career planning, personal branding, and career reinvention with audiences at 30+ universities and professional organizations, including Johns Hopkins, Columbia University, Brown University, University of Southern California, and the Genetics Society of America, to name a few.

I have also contributed career insights to Science and Bite-Size Bio. 

What to expect after I speak with your audience

When I work with audiences, I give them a clear path – not vague motivation. After I speak with your audience, my goal is that they leave with one or more of the following takeaways: 

1. See their skills as valuable career capital (and stop underestimating what they bring).
2. Translate their experience into employer language (so they sound like a fit on paper and in interviews).
3. Build visibility and credibility through networking + professional branding (so opportunities come to them, too).
4. Realize that they can be in the driver’s seat of their career journey (no matter how the market changes).

Best-fit audiences for my talks

My talks are ideal for:

1. Graduate student career development programs
2. Graduate/professional schools
3. Postdoctoral career development offices
4. STEM/biomedical training programs
5. Professional associations that serve graduate students, post-doctoral or early-career researchers

Signature talk topics

1. Taking Charge of Your Career: Communicate Your Value, Build Your Brand, and Grow With Confidence
2. Designing Your Career With Intention: How to Craft Your Next Career Step in the Biosciences (Without Starting Over)
3. Turn Your Setbacks into Opportunities: How to Build Career Resilience When the Plan Changes
4. Networking for People Who Hate Networking: How to Build Relationships that Lead to Real Opportunities
5. Thought Leadership and Personal Branding for Academics: How to Build Credibility, Visibility, and Options Before You Need Them

(Want a version customized to your institution’s outcomes, e.g., internship placement, career outcomes reporting, alumni engagement, retention, etc.? I can tailor the session.)

Ready to invite me to speak? Email me at hello@theboldphd.com

Feedback From Past Speaking Engagements:

Ready to invite me to speak? Email me at hello@theboldphd.com

Where I’ve Spoken In The Past:

• University of Michigan-Flint
• Columbia University School of Nursing
• Brown University – Building Your Career Brand and Designing Your Career with Intention
• University of Oxford – Careers Beyond Academia: Scientific and Medical Communications Panel
• Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine – Career and Leadership Opportunities in Scientific Communications 
• University of California, Berkeley – Beyond Academia Conference
• University of California, Davis (Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing) – All-day workshop on personal branding, writing productivity, and career design for early-career faculty.
• University of California, Irvine –Personal Branding for PhDs
• Boston University (Emerging Women Leaders) – Using Social Media To Establish Your Academic Profession and Thought Leadership
• Johns Hopkins University – Rethinking Networking: Shining a Spotlight on Relationship Building
• Brandeis University – Preparing for STEM Careers Outside Academia
• University of Illinois, Chicago – Breaking Into Medical Communications As A Career
• Genetics Society of America – Career Panel on Medical Communications
• StemNoire – Building A Personal Brand That Prepares You for Non-Academic Careers
• Cohort Sistas – Branding Your Academic Self: Turning Expertise Into Opportunity 
• Empowering Female Minds in STEM (University of Ghana) – Building Your Professional Brand as A STEM Professional
• University of Michigan (MILEAD) – Personal Branding For Careers Outside Academia
• Society of Women Engineers (University of South Florida Graduate Student Branch) – Building and Leveraging A Powerful Personal Brand As A Student 
• University of Southern California/Biotech Connection LA – Personal Branding for PhDs Workshop
• American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting – Public Scholarship and Practical Impacts Workshop: Media Training and Work Outside the Academy
• San Diego Biotechnology Networks Virtual Career Fair – Building your Personal Brand As a PhD
• Temple University – Branding Your Academic Self: Turning Your Expertise into Opportunity
• Charles Drew University – Crafting Your Ideal Career in the Biosciences
• University of Florida (Plant Science Council) – Recent Grads in Alt-Academic Careers Panel
• Nova Southeastern University 
• Black in Immunology

Invite me to speak. Send an email to hello@theboldphd.com

Meet Dr. Nonterah

Send an email to hello@theboldphd.com to invite me to speak. 

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