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ENG311B:
Designing The Professional
WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?

Now that I have a degree, how do I get a life? What do you want out of life after
Stanford?  Wondering how to weave together what fits, is doable, and will be truly
meaningful?  Join us for Designing the Professional. This course applies the innovation
principles of design thinking to the "wicked problem" of designing your life and
vocation in and beyond Stanford.  We'll approach these lifelong questions with a
structured framework set in a seminar where you can work out your ideas in
conversation with your peers.

Topics include the integration of work and worldview, the realities of engaging the
workplace, and practices that support vocation formation throughout your life. This is
an experiential class that includes seminar-style discussions, personal written
reflections, guest speakers, and individual mentoring/coaching. The capstone
assignment is the creation of an “Odyssey Plan” focusing on taking action in the 3-5
years following your Stanford graduation.

WHEN IS THIS COURSE OFFERED?

This course is offered twice a year. In 2021, in the Winter

(https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search;jsessionid=bsu8b43hznosjoa95ie3a2gq?
academicYear=20202021&filter-coursestatus-
Active=on&q=ENGR%20311B%3A%20Designing%20the%20Professional&view=catalog) 
term, it's offered as a 10-week, 1-unit class that meets once a week and is graded on
credit/no credit basis. In September, it's offered as part of the Stanford Graduate
Summer Intensive (SGSI) (https://vpge.stanford.edu/interdisciplinary-learning/sgsi) as
a 5-day intensive. Class is open to all current and incoming graduate students.
WHAT’S “DESIGN THINKING ” AND HOW DOES IT APPLY
TO MY LIFE AND CAREER?

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem solving and innovation

through prototype iteration. Design takes a highly collaborative and hands-on
approach to conceiving a new solution and expects to learn by doing and through
feedback iterating real ideas in the real world. This approach lends itself especially
well to the challenge of designing your vocation, which is a large and vaguely defined
task — just the sort of thing design is good at. While some people really do know
what they want to do with their lives, the large majority of people have to try a few
things out and learn as they go. The steps along the way are prototypes to enjoy and
learn from, not failures or practice rounds.

Designing Your Life - Bill Burnett

WHAT ARE THE COURSE OBJECTIVES?

By participating fully in this course, you will learn:

• A framework for orienting your plans and philosophy regarding career and
professional life, and for locating career within life overall
• An approach to plotting a pathway to meaning-making and success as a
professional
• Ideas for evaluating different career paths and multiple careers
• Practical skills and exercises for investigating alternatives and career
"prototypes"
• A basic introduction to design thinking which you can apply in other areas
• A community of your peers in which to share your ideas and hear how others are
thinking about these important issues and questions
• A draft plan for the first season of your professional life following Stanford.

HOW MUCH WORK IS THIS CLASS?

For the spring quarter, the class meets for two hours each week. Outside of class
expect 30 or sometimes 60 minutes of reading and usually a reflection exercise. The
two major homework efforts are making a number of information interviews and writing
them up and at the end of the course developing a draft “Odyssey Plan” for your post
graduation season.

WHERE CAN I SIGN UP?

 Sign up for ENGR311B: Designing The Professional on Axess
(https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search?view=catalog&filter-coursestatus-
Active=on&page=0&catalog=&academicYear=&q=ENGR311B&collapse=) or through
Stanford Graduate Summer Intensive (SGSI)
(https://vpge.stanford.edu/interdisciplinary-learning/sgsi). 

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