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Johannes Traa

Certified Life Coach

Empowering engineers and scientists to achieve their full potential


Focal areas

I mainly work with grad students and early-career engineers and scientists on their professional development. Here are a few topic areas that come up in sessions.

Navigating Grad School

Grad school is where you solidify your hard skills and build out a professional identity.

Because there's so much going on, it's easy to feel stuck or lost in one way or another.

Two big questions tend to come up: what vision to adopt for your professional life and how to live and work more effectively.

We work together on all of this so that you can decide where you want to go and how to best get there.

Transitioning to Industry

A career in STEM often comes down to a choice between academia and industry.

Searching for an industry position can feel like a blend of online dating and salesmanship.

Once you land the job, it can be challenging to shift between the cultures of academia and industry.

Working with a coach helps you manage these big changes and weave them into a long-term strategy.

Pursuing Professional Growth

Today's employers expect people to take charge of their own career growth. It's up to you to devise and execute a plan for what technical and soft skills to develop. The wish list is endless and time is limited, so it comes down to strategic planning.

In coaching, we clarify your vision, build a development plan that truly excites you, and solidify your ability to stick with it.

You are your greatest competitive advantage! Our work together develops your best self.

My approach to coaching

I specialize in helping my clients navigate challenges and growth opportunities throughout the early stages of their career. I do that through a blend of rational and intuitive approaches.

A good example of the rational approach is building out a plan to establish new habits. That's mostly a thinking process that comes with its own set of strategies. Meanwhile, a powerful intuitive approach is meditation in which we focus more on actively listening to the narratives that form the tapestry of our minds. I've found both to be sources of transformative insight.

Some development goals call for rational methods while others call for intuitive ones. It's entirely up to you, though! This is something we design together based on your needs and preferences.

Logistics

My standard hourly rates are listed in the table below.


Client Rate per hour
Students $40
Professionals $80

We typically plan for one-hour sessions over video call anywhere from once a week to once a month. If you live in the Boston area and would prefer to meet in-person, that's definitely a possibility. I actually prefer in-person, but video calls are often more convenient. As with everything else in coaching, these are things we can discuss and collaborate on.




Get In Touch

I would love to learn more about what you're looking to accomplish and how I can support you. You can start the conversation by submitting this inquiry form. Hope to connect soon!