We are pleased to welcome our first-ever Career Development Manager, Stephanie Scholze, M.S., to the Department of Psychology. In this new role, Stephanie will advise undergraduate students on internship and job search strategies that complement their psychology training, help undergraduate students navigate graduate school decision-making, and network with alumni to further student flourishing. Please join us in welcoming Stephanie to the department!
UWPsych: How did you find your way to the Department of Psychology and this role as Career Development Manager?
Scholze: My love for the subject of psychology began my junior year of high school when I took Mr. Baiocchi’s AP Psychology course. From there, I pursued my undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. I was a first-generation college student who wasn’t entirely sure what she could do with “just” a bachelor’s degree (and I didn’t have a Career Development Manager to help me navigate my options), so I took the only familiar path and followed in Mr. Baiocchi’s footsteps to become a high school psychology teacher. I absolutely loved teaching psychology, but after 11 years in the K-12 education system, I made the difficult decision to walk away from the career that I loved and had fully planned to remain in until I retired.
After working through countless job applications and a career-related identity crisis, I found myself back in education…this time at UW-Madison! I spent the next five years working as a graduate advisor for Engineering and then Pharmacy students, supporting them through their entire student life cycle, including career development. When this position opened, I knew it was the right fit for me.
UWPsych: How does your own psychology major help you in this position?
Scholze: There are many ways that I can connect with and relate to undergraduate psychology students simply because I completed the major myself. I have an understanding and appreciation for the subject of psychology, its subfields, and the potential career paths; I have lived the experience of navigating my own career development after earning an undergraduate degree in psychology; and I’ve spent the last 16 years professionally interacting with and building relationships with other psychology majors and I’ve seen the extensive list of careers one can pursue after graduation.
UWPsych: What are your goals for the first year in the department?
Scholze: I am looking forward to creating and delivering relevant, meaningful career development programming and resources for undergraduate students. Essential to that goal will be engaging with psychology alumni to explore all the ways that they can connect with and provide support to the undergraduates who are contemplating their career and graduate school options.
UWPsych: Finally, what do *you* wish someone had told you when you were an undergraduate contemplating career paths?
Scholze: I wish that someone would have told me that it is normal, healthy, and often beneficial to be open and willing to change aspects of your planned career path. I spent so much of my life thinking that I had to have it all figured out from the start, and that only created unnecessary anxiety. Now I see the value in embracing happenstance, trying different paths, and growing with each new experience.
We invite alumni interested in engaging with our undergraduate students regarding career development to connect with Stephanie at careers@psych.wisc.edu.