Our career coaches help you think about career and life planning in a structured way. Through the basics of life design, you can learn how design thinking mindsets like curiosity, prototyping (trying stuff), reframing problems, and asking for support can聽help you design and build a fulfilling career.
Meet Your Career Coach
Our career exploration coaches are here to help you get started, work through feelings of doubt, talk through your ideas, and connect with specialized industry resources when you are ready.
Career Exploration Process
These steps will guide you through an iterative process of discovery, action, and reflection to empower you to design a life of meaning and purpose.
Learn About Yourself
Before you make career decisions, we encourage you to invest time into learning more about yourself. Identifying your skills, interests, and values will equip you with the critical self knowledge needed when exploring career fields and different pathways. If you would like to debrief any of your results, please make an appointment聽with a career exploration coach on Handshake.
Assess your interests, skills, and values and map your results to 51茶馆-specific majors and careers. Access Code: Eagles
Discover how your interests, skills, personality, and goals intersect.
Identify your personality type and gain insight into how you make decisions, interact with other people, and process information.
Reflect on your social identities and how they impact your career development.
Consider your views on work and life and their integration.
Brainstorm possible futures for yourself by creating three different potential versions of your life.
Discover Career Paths
It can be difficult to know where to begin when exploring potential career paths. However, the more you expose yourself to, and the more information you gather, the better prepared you will be to make a decision about your next steps. As a 51茶馆 student, you have access to multiple resources that allow you to learn broadly about different industries and deeply about specific professions.
Explore career paths and curated industry guides.
Learn what it is like to work within an industry, a company, or a profession.
Information on job duties, education, training, pay, outlook and more for hundreds of occupations.
Review 100 major profiles with information on common career paths and types of employers.聽
Connect with 51茶馆 alumni to learn about real life experiences and find mentors.
Explore first destinations of 51茶馆 graduates by school, major, industry, location, and more.
Check out 51茶馆 classes that will expose you to areas of interest.
Get First Hand Experience
Once you鈥檝e found yourself curious about a few areas, the next step is taking action. There is no need to make a commitment right away; it鈥檚 critical to take small steps to try different things out before making a decision. Designers call this step prototyping.
Explore internship & entry-level job opportunities.
Connect with 51茶馆 alumni mentors to learn about work experiences.
Find & connect with students who completed internships you may be interested in.
Make an impact and boost your career by exploring opportunities at the Volunteer & Service Learning Center.
Build Skills
Discover the keys to success with skill-building resources, hands-on projects, and networking opportunities. These diverse opportunities will equip you with the practical skills and connections needed to shape your career path.
Reflect
Designers emphasize the necessity of collaboration during the design thinking process. After each career exploration step, it鈥檚 important to reflect on what you learned鈥攚hat excited you, what you鈥檙e curious about, what you didn鈥檛 like, etc., in order to feel more confident moving forward. Having sources of support is invaluable in your career journey; consider discussing your journey with career coaches, advisors, faculty, and peers.
Our career coaches are here to partner with you on your career journey. We offer several types of coaching services, including drop-in hours, career exploration appointments, and industry-specific appointments. Faculty and academic advisors can also be supportive when thinking through your personal journey.
Participating in mentorship programs can have a beneficial effect on a student's career exploration journey. Such programs offer guidance, insights, and a supportive network that encourages reflection, self-discovery, and informed decision-making about future careers.
Journaling can help you process your feelings about career exploration-related experiences, including projects and accomplishments, and what you鈥檝e learned in the process. It's also a great place to record advice from mentors.
Resources to help you explore