Member Roadmap / Quiz Result / The Emerging Professional
Your PHC Persona

You are

The Emerging Professional

Student, recent grad, or in a doctoral program — figuring out your first or next public health move.

14-step roadmap First job · fellowship · next degree
Start here · Step 01

The Public Health Ideal Career Quiz — take it before you apply anywhere.

Before you tailor a resume or pick a fellowship, get a baseline read on which PH direction actually fits your skills, values, and earning goals. Free, tailored, and shareable with peers — a 10-minute gut‑check that decides where the rest of this roadmap points. Then come back to Step 2.

TAKE THE QUIZ Free · ~10 minutes
Before you start · Orientation

First, get oriented.

Every PHC member begins here. These onboarding pieces show you how to navigate the Club and hand you a curated, track-specific roadmap before you take Step 1. Click any button below to open that resource inside the Club — you'll need to be signed in.

Tip: Bookmark each workshop in your Club dashboard as you open it — you'll come back to most of these more than once. Use the bookmark icon in the top-right of every Circle post.

Watch first
New Member Orientation Dr. Des's 26-minute walkthrough of the Club.
Open in Club
Then read
Student & Early Career Roadmap Your track-specific roadmap — a companion to this page. Foundational early-career content for students, recent grads, and doctoral candidates.
Open in Club
Career Coaches
Our team of career coaches PHC's career coaches can help you think through first jobs, fellowships, doctoral life, and choosing between PH paths — with an equity‑centered lens. RSVP to the next mentorship session in the Club.
RSVP in Club
Earn points
Gamification & live leaderboard See how points work and what's currently on the leaderboard.
How it works
Monthly free
This month's free resource PHC drops a new free resource each month — sent via DM and posted in-community. Download before month-end or you'll need to purchase it.
Open the Club
Where you are right now

Starting strong.

  • Currently in or recently completed a public health–adjacent program — BA / BS, MPH, MSW, MHA, DrPH, PhD, or EdD.
  • Limited professional PH experience so far: internships, practicums, research roles, or one early‑career position.
  • Network is mostly cohort and faculty — not yet industry, government, or consulting circles.
  • Trying to figure out which of the many PH paths actually fits your skills, values, and earning goals.
  • If doctoral: balancing dissertation, manuscripts, and the question of academia vs. applied work.
Your full vision · the broader picture

Where you'll be.

  • Decide on a specific PH career direction — consulting, industry, government, nonprofit, academia, or fellowship.
  • Land your first (or next) job, internship, fellowship, or contract.
  • Translate academic work into professional achievements on a resume that actually gets interviews.
  • Build a network of 10+ professional contacts outside your cohort.
  • If doctoral: defend on schedule and position the degree as a career asset — not just a credential.
⚡Your first 90 days · If you're on an urgent timeline

A quarter to your first applications out.

For students, recent grads, and doctoral candidates on a tight timeline — here's the focused 90‑day play.

Your goals above are the broader vision. If you picked a 90‑day timeline, here's the focused play:

Week 2: Take the Ideal Career Quiz + watch PH Careers They Didn't Teach You About in School (Steps 1–2). Week 4: Rebuild your resume with the AI workshop + Building the Workforce with Brooke (Steps 3–5). Week 6: Launch your LinkedIn brand (Step 7). The goal by day 90: apply to 2 fellowships or internships — Pathways, ORISE, HRSA — from Career Advancement Opportunities (Step 10).

Wk 2 · Quiz + Non‑linear PH Careers (Steps 1–2) Wk 4 · Workforce + AI resume (Steps 3–5) Wk 6 · LinkedIn brand (Step 7) Day 90 · 2 fellowship / internship applications
Your sequenced PHC roadmap

Fourteen steps,
in order.

Items are sequenced — earlier steps unlock later ones. Click any title to open it inside Circle (you'll need to be logged in as a PHC member). Check each one off as you go.

0 / 14
Begin with Step 01
  1. 01
    Quiz Free

    Public Health Ideal Career Quiz

    Get a baseline read on which PH direction fits your skills and values — before you apply anywhere.

    Open in the Club
  2. 02
    NPHW Workshop Included

    PH Careers They Didn't Teach You About in School

    Exposure to non‑linear PH paths — most schools teach you about a tiny fraction of what's possible.

    Open in the Club
  3. 03
    Workshop Included

    Building the Workforce: Inside PH Recruitment

    Brooke (CEO of the Public Health Network) on tailoring applications, LinkedIn optimization, smart AI use in your job search, and intentional networking. Tactical gold for emerging pros.

    Open in the Club
  4. 04
    Workshop Included

    Resume Development Workshop

    Foundation for any PH resume — slides and template available in the comments. Start here even if your professional experience feels thin.

    Open in the Club
  5. 05
    Workshop Included

    Building a Results-Driven Resume with AI

    Use AI to translate coursework, practicums, and research roles into measurable, impact‑driven bullets that pass ATS scans.

    Open in the Club
  6. 06
    Workshop Included

    Digital Portfolio Workshop

    A real differentiator at the start of your career. When you don't yet have years of professional achievements, a polished digital portfolio proves what you can do.

    Open in the Club
  7. 07
    Resource Paid

    Building Your LinkedIn Brand

    Your first real network‑building tool. Students often skip this — and lose years of compounding visibility as a result.

    Open in the Club
  8. 08
    Workshop Included

    Networking in Public Health Workshop

    Early‑career hires are network‑driven. This workshop walks through intentional, low‑cringe networking that actually leads to interviews.

    Open in the Club
  9. 09
    Club Conversation

    Breaking into Federal Government — Dr. Avareena

    PMF, ORISE, HRSA Health Equity Fellowship, Pathways Program — what each is, who's eligible, and how to apply. Pair with the Federal Resume & Hiring Process workshop in Workshops on Demand.

    Open in the Club
  10. 10
    Live Space

    Career Advancement Opportunities

    Check weekly for fellowships, internships, board seats, and entry‑level roles — fellowships often pay better than first jobs.

    Open in the Club
  11. 11
    Workshop · doctoral only Included

    A Practical Dissertation & Thesis Writing Workshop

    If you're in a doctoral program: Dr. Rahmatu Kassimu's framework for moving from draft to defense. Non‑doctoral students can skip to the next step.

    Open in the Club
  12. 12
    Workshop Included

    DrPH vs. PhD

    If you're weighing another degree: the original honest panel on the differences between DrPH and PhD programs and best practices for completing your doctorate without burning out.

    Open in the Club
  13. 13
    Workshop Included

    DrPH vs PhD Part II

    The follow‑up panel — career goals, experience requirements, and life‑fit considerations for choosing DrPH (applied leadership) vs PhD (research).

    Open in the Club
  14. 14
    Course Included

    Public Health Pivot Course

    Explore non‑traditional industry options (tech, biopharma, sports, CSR) from day one — your first PH move doesn't have to be a traditional one.

    Open in the Club
Four PHC members wearing The Public Health Club and Public Health Hustler sweatshirts.
You're not doing this alone

900+ ambitious public health hustlers.

PHC is a working community — not a content library. Other Aspiring Consultants are inside the Club this week, comparing rate cards, swapping RFPs, and trading wins. Find them in the Consulting space.

  • 900+ Public Health Hustlers
  • 110+ Workshops on Demand
  • 88 /mo RFPs posted each month
Even more inside the Club

Keep exploring.

After you've finished these steps, browse the Workshops on Demand space anytime to dig deeper by interest. A few directions worth considering:

Every week

RSVP to Live Workshops & Events.

New workshops, career clinics, and Awareness in 30 sessions drop every week. You may find something that lines up exactly with where you are.

See this week's calendar
Your next move

Public Health Ideal Career Quiz

A 10‑minute gut‑check before you apply anywhere.

Before tailoring a resume or picking a fellowship, get a baseline read on which PH direction actually fits your skills, values, and earning goals. Free, tailored, and shareable with peers. Then come back to Step 2 of your roadmap.

TAKE THE IDEAL CAREER QUIZ
Free · Shareable with peers · Built with Dr. Des and the PHC team