Discover hands-on opportunities to explore industries you’ve always been curious about with the Life Design Lab’s Career Treks and Explore Tours.
These trips cover a wide range of industries and vary from 1-day Explore Tours to week-long immersive experiences in a city. These experiences will provide students with key life design and career development skills coupled with visits to top employers to gain an insider’s perspective on various industries.
Check out the details below for upcoming trips to start planning your professional journey!
Intersession Career Treks and Courses:
Intersession Career Treks and Courses are 2-3 week long opportunities for students to dive deep into an industry they are interested in working in. Participating in Career Treks offers a unique opportunity to pair classroom learning with visits to top employers for the chance to gain an insider’s perspective on various industries. These treks are designed to give students invaluable access to the workplace environment all while tying back to life design and academic curriculum for a comprehensive high-impact program.
There are some costs associated with trips including airfare and some meals. All ground transportation, lodging, and some meals will be covered. Please see individual trek descriptions for an estimate of what the incurred cost will be. We encourage all students regardless of personal financial circumstance to apply for and participate in Intersession Treks. You may express concerns about the finances associated with the trip if you are accepted to attend, and the Life Design Lab will work to provide funding.
Applications open Oct 4 and close on Oct 14 at 12pm EDT.
Open to Sophomore-Senior Standing Students
This virtual course will be an immersive experience that combines JHU’s Life Design Framework, in partnership with employers and alumni in Big Tech and Startups in the Bay Area to help students explore careers and build their network. Students will get curious and imagine possible lives through the lens of different career profiles in tech, (i.e software developers, information security analysts, computer programmers, web developers, and digital designers, etc). Through life design classwork, guest lectures from alumni and industry experts, ranging from fin-tech to med-tech, alumni networking opportunities, and experiential learning (site visits and networking sessions), students will work to develop and reflect on their own career motivations and possible career paths, and find their fit within the broader Bay Area tech ecosystem. Students will return and visit NYC for an interactive day. Employer visits will include Google, Meta, NVIDIA, Hubspot, Palo Alto Networks, Applovin, Komodo Health, and Bloomberg. Estimated costs: $750 (flights and some food)
Open to All Undergraduate Students
Participants will spend the first few days of this course in a virtual boot camp working through Life Design Curriculum to get curious and imagine possible lives related to the Medical Devices and Biotech field. Using the Life Design approach, students will learn how to present themselves and their professional materials, as well as navigate and network within these fields. Students will then spend 4 days in San Diego digging deeper into using these skills on-site visits with Medical Device and Biotech companies. Examples of companies we will visit include Spineart, Trailhead Innovations, Edwards Life Sciences. Estimated costs: $750 (flights and some food)
Open to 1st and 2nd Year Students
The Seminar in Financial Literacy/Wall Street Trek is a 12-day program designed to introduce Hopkins undergraduates to the financial services industry. The goal is to provide an introduction to a variety of topics in finance, with a practical focus on exposing the students to employment options in the industry. The credit-bearing Seminar component will consist of two weeks of lectures (14 sessions), overseen by JHU’s Center for Financial Economics. After several foundational lectures are provided by CFE, the bulk of the sessions will be by distinguished Hopkins alumni. The program culminates in a four-day trip to New York City during which we will visit various firms in the industry. By the end of the seminar, students should have developed an understanding of the structure and jargon of the financial services industry. Employer site visits include Goldman Sachs, BMO, Bloomberg, JP Morgan, TD Securities, and more. Estimated costs: $200 (some food). Course work will be in person.
Open to All Undergraduate Students
In the Inaugural year of the Exploring Healthcare Intersession Course and Career Trek, Hopkins undergraduate students will get a wide-range of exposure and information about careers in the healthcare industry. Students will spend the first week learning Life Design Curriculum to get curious about themselves and the industry while also imagining what future lives will look like. Students will learn critical information about the healthcare industry and how to navigate the different pathways. The second week will be focused on site visits in the Philadelphia and Baltimore regions ranging from hospitals to research labs to consulting firms. This experience will be an opportunity to get a full 360 view of the healthcare industry! Estimated costs: $200 (some food)
Open to Sophomore-Senior International Studies Majors
Join us for a one-credit, four-day career survey in Baltimore and Washington, DC, designed to advance your thinking about how to pursue your own international affairs-related career. Students will learn about different types of international affairs careers, the skills to pursue them, and make site visits to leading international affairs institutions to learn firsthand from accomplished professionals at those institutions. Lodging and breakfast will be provided. Estimated costs: $100 (lunch and dinners)
Open to undergraduate students who will not need work sponsorship in the future.
During this course, students will be able to learn key life design techniques while also learning directly from employees who work at the Applied Physics Lab about the work being completed. Students will then spend 2-3 days touring various areas of the lab that range from climate/environment to space science to biology/bioengineering.
THIS CAREER COURSE/TREK IS STILL IN PLANNING PHASES AND NOT CONFIRMED! If the course is not confirmed for intersession, we will work to plan something for spring break where if you are accepted, you will get first right of refusal!
- Oct 4-14: Applications Open
- Oct 18-24: Students Notified And Attendees Finalized
- Students will be required to fill out a form to provide information needed to book travel and to complete 2 agreements stating their participation in the program/ understanding of consequences if they do not.
- Nov 21: Students Receive Finalized Travel Arrangements
- Dec 3: Students register for courses on SIS
- Dec 9-10: Trek Pre-Sessions Held
All Career Trek Application Questions:
- Which Intersession Career Trek are you interested in?
- Have you taken part in a trek or explore tour?
- Why are you interested in participating in this program that combines both life design curriculum with site visits to employer partners?
- How does participating in this career trek align with your life design, long term career, and/or academic goals?
- What is one growth area you are hoping to learn from this experience?
- Share 1 question you might like to ask an organization if you were able to attend the Career Trek and Intersession Course.
Individual Career Trek Questions:
- International Studies
- What is a career field you are considering that you would like to learn more about?
- Financial Literacy
- Please share in a few paragraphs why you are interested in a career in finance and what your past experience in the finance industry is.
- Please upload your unofficial transcripts.
- Biotech
- What role do you think biotechnology can play in addressing larger societal or global challenges (like climate change, healthcare access, or food security)?
- What role do you think biotechnology can play in addressing larger societal or global challenges (like climate change, healthcare access, or food security)?
- In an ever-evolving industry like biotech, staying updated on innovations is key. What strategies do you use to stay informed about the latest developments in biotechnology?
- Tech
- How do you hope to explore your values, identity, morals, and beliefs in industry?
- Healthcare
- Which area of healthcare are you most interested in?
- Applied Physics Lab
- One of the key values of the Applied Physics Lab is innovation. How do you ensure you stay updated on top innovations?
Frequently Asked Questions
- What questions are on the application?
- See above
- What are the costs associated with the trip?
- The Life Design Lab will cover ground transportation, lodging, one evening cultural event, and some food. Students will be expected to cover some food expense (max $50 per day) plus flights for San Diego and San Francisco. We do not want costs to be a prohibitive factor. If you are accepted to the program, you will be able to express that concern in the acceptance form.
- What does a traditional day look like?
- These will be long days where you will be on the go from 8am-8pm. Traditionally you’ll have 2-3 site visits plus an evening activity. Some evenings will be free for you to explore the city if you would like to.
- Where does each trip depart from?
- For bus travel, all trips will leave from Baltimore. Students will be expected to be in Baltimore to be on the bus. For all flight travel, you will be able to book your flight from your home location. If we are booking your flight, you will be flying from Baltimore and back to Baltimore. We will not be able to fly from your individual locations.
- When will I know if I am accepted?
- You will know by October 24 if you are accepted into the career trek.
- What will be needed from me once I am accepted?
- You will need to fill out a form with some personal information including legal name, birthday, emergency contact info, etc. In the form, you will also be able to express assistance with financial concerns. Additionally, you will need to register on SIS for the course on December 3. Lastly, you will need to attend a pre-course workshop during reading days (Dec 9-10).
Fall Break Masters Treks:
Applications closed on Sept 16 at 12pm EDT.
(Open to Master’s students in the LCSR Robotics Program)
This immersive experience combines JHU’s Life Design Framework with the ecosystem of 5+ robotics companies and employers in Pittsburgh and the regional area, including eegrid, National Robotics Engineering Center, and more. The trek specializes in serving students interested in Robotics career paths and offers points of exploration in the field. Student participants will develop critical skills while building professional networks.
(Open to all Master’s Students)
Join us for the Biotech Explore Tour in NYC, where you’ll visit cutting-edge facilities, including Himed, Estee Lauder, Lima Corporate, and the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). This immersive experience offers a unique glimpse into the latest innovations and technologies driving the biotech and healthcare industries.
(Open to all MSEM Students)
Join us for a two-day journey in the DMV area to explore different opportunities available for engineering management students. Students will be connected with various employers that explore the different types of engineering management, including visits to Microstrategy and AWS.