Interactive Simulation Exercises for Career Transitions - Perform a Real Job Task - Discover Your Career Fit

Sep 18, 2026

Interactive simulation exercises guide students and postdocs through short, real-world job task experiences to discover career fit. The simulations cover vetted daily activities, designed to be completed in about 3–8 hours, and are intended for career exploration rather than performance evaluation. Guidance explains how to use the exercises in career advising appointments, peer-group interactions, in-class activities, and alumni-led workshops, including suggested group processes, informational interview steps, and smart goal planning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Job simulation overview

Ideal use cases: career advising, exploration, and next steps

Peer group interaction examples

In-class activity integration

Alumni-led workshop steps

Four-step simulation experience

INTERACTIVE SIMULATION EXERCISES FOR CAREER TRANSITIONS PERFORM A REAL JOB TASK. DISCOVER YOUR CAREER FIT. GRADCAREERS.WUSTL.EDU/INTERSECT THESE SIMULATIONS ARE REAL LIFE JOB TASKS THE JOB SIMULATIONS ARE VETTED AND APPROVED BY PHD PROFESSIONALS FOR ACCURACY SIMULATE A SUBSET OF DAILY TASKS THAT PHD PROFESSIONALS SAY THEY PERFORM IDEAL FOR CAREER EXPLORATION ARE DESIGNED TOBE COMPLETED IN LESS THAN 8 HRS USE IT IN CAREER ADVISING APPOINTMENTS FORA STUDENT OR SCHOLAR WHO: 1. Has read about journal editing, but still doesn't know what's involved in journal editing... ...a job sim could be a next step to understand what's really involved in a career pathway. Then schedule a followup appointment to discuss their selfreflection sheet. 2. Isn't sure they want to spend a semester taking a course on intellectual property... ...a job sim could help individuals identify tasks of interest and the skills they like to use, so they decide to pursue more time intensive experiential opportunities. 3. Has selected a career field of interest... ...a job sim could be used to build a skillset or prepare for an interview. USE IT TO ENHANCE PEER GROUP INTERACTIONS HERE ARE EXAMPLES FOR PEER GROUP ACTIVITIES USING THE JOB SIMULATIONS. EXAMPLES PROVIDED BY UCSF'S MIND, AN NIH BEST PROGRAM. SUGGESTION: HAVE PARTICIPANTS COMPLETE THE JOB SIMULATION AND SELF-REFLECTION SHEET INDIVIDUALLY. THEN, MEET IN GROUPS BEFORE AND/OR AFTER CONDUCTING INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS. GROUPS COULD MET OVER 2-3 WEEKS, WITH 3-7 PARTICIPANTS PER PEER GROUP. 1. Think-Pair-Share. After completing atask, partner up and share the aspects that were most interesting or challenging about the task. Other prompts: discuss what they learned about the career field that was surprising, or how it impacted their career decision making. Then share out to the bigger group. 2. Prepare with mock informational interviews and sharing strategies for connecting with professionals for informational interviews. 3. Graduate students and postdocs interested in trying a career-specific task could share resources via an email group. This works well for more complicated tasks such as business development or regulatory affairs. USE IT FOR IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW A SIMULATION WAS INCORPORATED INTO A CAREER SKILLS EXPLORATION SERIES RUN BY A FACULTY MEMBER AT DUKE. THIS SERIES WAS COMPRISED OF 6 SESSIONS WITH 12 PARTICIPANTS EACH WEEK. A faculty member incorporated a Medical Writing Job simulation in his career exploration workshop series. Students were given time to read the simulation exercise and start the process in class. Students were encouraged to send in their completed deliverables. USE IT TO ENGAGE ALUMNI THESE ARE THE STEPS THAT SHOW HOW JOB SIMULATIONS CAN BE USED IN AN ALUMNI-LED WORKSHOP. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A "CAREER LAB", CREATED BY EMORY & GEORGIA TECH'S NIH BEST PROGRAM. EACH PROGRAM WAS 2 HRS, AND HAD 20-30 PARTICIPANTS PER PROGRAM. THE INTERSECT JOB SIMS COULD BE UTILIZED IN A SIMILAR WAY, AS A FLIPPED LEARNING OPPORTUNITY. 1. An alum, who is a medical science liaison ( MSL), was invited to give a brief overview on the MSL field, skills needed to succeed, and the types of experiences to get you hired. 2. Participants got into groups and perform atask designed by the MSL. In this case, individuals looked up clinical abstracts and prepare a summary fora clinical or lay audience. 3. Group shared their summaries, and discussed the experiences and challenges of completing the task. 4. After the activity, the alum held a Q&A about the career field. This was the most engaging part of the session. JOBSIM EXPERIENCE IN 4 STEPS A job simulation is a brief exercise that simulates a subset of tasks involved in a career of interest. The sims in this workbook can be completed in approximately 3-8 hours. View simulations at: [https://gradcareers.wustl.edu/intersect/](https://gra

FAQs

What is a job simulation in this workbook?

A job simulation is a brief exercise that simulates a subset of tasks involved in a career of interest, intended to support career exploration and help assess fit.

How long do these simulations take to complete?

The simulations are designed to be completed in approximately 3–8 hours.

How can participants get the most out of a simulation experience?

They should perform informational interviews to confirm assumptions and learn about the work environment, use a smart goals checklist to manage deadlines, and follow the adoption tips and guidelines provided.

Sep 18, 2026

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