Career Value Storytelling with Amy Cheney
September 14 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
How do you respond when someone asks, “Tell me about yourself?”
In this workshop, participants will learn a practical framework for developing a compelling career story “hook” that communicates their unique value. Graduate students and postdocs will practice translating their research and academic experiences into language that resonates with employers, gaining greater confidence in interviews, networking, and professional conversations.
Join Amy Cheney and Careers Beyond Academia for an interactive workshop to improve your skills to network and interview:
Date: Monday, September 14, 2026
Time: noon-2pm, with opportunities for questions until 2:15pm Eastern
Location: online; Zoom link will be sent to registrants prior to the event
Register now:
Target audience: Ph.D., research Master’s, MBA students in any discipline seeing to improve networking and interviewing skills
Open to: graduate students and postdocs from Cornell University and other IVY+ institutions
About the facilitator
Amy Beth Cheney is a Career Storytelling and Leadership Communication Strategist with more than 25 years of sales and leadership experience in companies, including executive roles at Bloomberg and Dataminr. Throughout her career, she has hired, coached, and mentored professionals at every stage, from recent graduates to senior executives, helping them communicate their value and advance their careers.
Amy is a Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management and Cornell Tech, where she teaches Personal Selling and develops workshops on career storytelling, networking, and interview communication. Her work helps graduate students translate their research, experiences, and strengths into stories that resonate with employers.
She holds an MBA from Cornell University, is a Certified Professional Coach (iPEC), and works with individuals and organizations to strengthen communication, build confidence, and navigate pivotal career moments.
About the host
Careers Beyond Academia is in Cornell’s Graduate School Office of Career and Professional Development. Serving over 5000 doctoral and research master’s students in 100 fields of study, we provide resources, skill-building workshops and 1:1 consultations to empower you, and help you explore and try on different career options so you can set yourself apart from other candidates to succeed in the role of your dreams.
Susi Sturzenegger Varvayanis is Executive Director of the Careers Beyond Academia initiative at Cornell University, where she dedicates her work to empowering graduate students to confidently navigate and thrive in diverse careers across employment sectors. With a deeply interdisciplinary approach, her cross-sector career balances early-stage startup, academic and National Institutes of Health (NIH) research with extensive business and workforce development experience in the U.S. and abroad. She leverages her expertise across science, business, and academia to design innovative experiential learning that equips the next generation of scientists and scholars with the tools, confidence, and career agency to thrive across academia, industry, government and non-profits.
