The career landscape for doctoral and postdoctoral trainees has significantly changed in recent decades. There is now an oversupply of PhD graduates in the science and engineering fields relative to the availability of academic positions, and jobs outside of academia have now become the norm. Doctoral training programmes have failed to keep pace with this change, and many trainees who are forced to rethink academic career aspirations feel unprepared for today's job market. Intertwined with this are challenges associated with life stage and school-to-work transition, which make the career development issues facing doctoral and postdoctoral trainees unique and complex. The aim of this article is to shed light on these issues and to examine them through the lens of career development theories. Social cognitive career theory offers insight into the factors that influence career development in doctoral and postdoctoral trainees, and narrative career counselling can serve as a valuable intervention for this population to help shape their future career, whether within or outside of academia.