Career Planning is a process or journey, not any one decision. The following time line identifies a goal and related tasks to achieve for each year you are enrolled in college. This is based on a developmental model: each new goal and related tasks build on the previous goal(s) and tasks. If you follow this guide, you will be more informed, marketable and focused in your job search.

FIRST YEAR Increase Self-Awareness

• Test your interests through student activities.
• Explore your personal capacity and desire to serve others through the Service Learning program.
• Make a list of your greatest skills and interests.
• Identify majors that relate to your abilities and interests; consider becoming fluent in another language.
• Create a resume.
• Explore various career settings through a Job Shadowing experience.
• Develop a list of individuals who can serve as references for you.
• Target a summer job which develops employability skills.
• Meet with Career Services staff to help identify skill-building activities.

• Utilize career library and computerized guidance systems to obtain information about occupations.
• Identify values and what is important to you in a job.
• Develop critical competencies about "Being A Professional" through the Professional Mentoring Opportunities.
• Target course electives which will enhance your marketability to employers; consult with your academic advisor.
• Discover or confirm a career direction by taking a career assessment inventory.
• Participate in the January Field Experience to explore, in an actual career setting, an occupation or organization.
• Contact professional associations which provide current information about fields that interest you.
• Consider study aboard to develop language skills, international and intercultural competencies through the International Education Program.
• Meet with Career Services staff to identify skill and interest areas for further exploration and experience building.

• Relate your values, interests and abilities to career fields.
• Find people in jobs that interest you and interview them about their work.
• Develop relationships with faculty and professionals in your field.
• Participate in programs and student activities which continue building your skills. Update your resume.
• Explore internships, cooperative education and career-related opportunities.
• Apply for campus leadership positions which develop skills and expand your experience base.
• Attend career fairs to learn about employers’ needs.
• Create a portfolio demonstrating your accomplishments.
• Meet with career counselor to target ways to enhance underdeveloped skills.

• Open a senior file with the Career Services Office and register for upcoming on-campus interviews, job fairs and the resume referral program.
• Meet with Career Services staff to design job search strategy.
• Attend workshops to sharpen job search skills.
• Update resume and have it critiqued.
• Talk with professionals in your field about opportunities and job search techniques.
• Research prospective employers to target needs which match your skills.
• Complete portfolio or open credential file (Education Majors).
• Attend career fairs to make contact with employers.
• Talk to faculty in your major or related field. They can be a great source of job information and contacts.

Self assessment is at the very heart of career development. Your success is entirely up to you. Anyone can find a job. Through self assessment you define your destiny--the opportunity of your dreams. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get somewhere in life when you have no idea where you want to go. It is imperative that you know who you are, envision where you want to be, and define some of the challenges in getting there.

Personality assessment is the first place to start finding out who you are. How can you plan your future if you don’t know who you are? The Myers-Briggs [Personality] Type Indicator can help you begin to understand who you are. If you are interested in taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, contact the Career Services Office.

A skills inventory will help you determine what you are interested in and how to identify your strengths. The Strong Interest Inventory can help you find the occupation(s) you are best suited for based on your interests. If you are interested in taking the Strong Interest Inventory, contact the Career Services Office.

There are also computer programs that allow you to do self-guided career assessments and/or exploration. If you are interested in using a computer assessment program, please contact the Career Services Office.

After establishing who you are and what you want to do, you can begin planning your career path. Most people spend more time planning for a special event than they spend planning their career. Transform your ideas into reality. Open your mind and determine your future. Have a vision and give yourself permission to dream. Have you ever heard of a man named Walt Disney? Walt Disney passed away before the Epcot Center was built. As the last stone was laid, one of the workers said to Walt’s brother, Roy, "It’s too bad Walt isn’t alive to see Epcot completed." Roy replied in a powerful way, "The reason you see Epcot Center today is because Walt saw it before anyone else."

The Career Services Office can assist you with personal assessment and career planning. Don’t react to your career, design it!
 

Job Shadowing is an opportunity for first-year students to explore different career opportunities. The program arranges for you to meet with a professional for eight to 16 hours per experience. The time can be divided in any way that fits the schedule of the professional and your schedule.

You meet the professional in his/her work setting and participate in activities that help you better understand the duties and obligations of professionals in that particular field. The desired outcome of the experience is to introduce you to various career settings, giving you the information you need to plan your own career path.

Once the experience is completed, both you and the professional complete a feedback form which helps the Center to better design and enhance the Job Shadowing Program.
 

Mentoring opportunities are designed to help you in your personal and professional development. In developing students as "True Professionals," individuals are taught to combine the competencies and learnings obtained in an academic major of study with critical thinking, communication skills, development of self confidence, personal integrity, social and civic responsibility along with a commitment to lifelong learning.

The experience is a professional opportunity which follows the academic calendar, starting in September and concluding in May. There are separate orientations for the mentors and protégés at the beginning of the program. The orientation sessions provide opportunities to discuss the purposes of the Mentoring Program as well as the expectations of all participants.

You would meet with the mentor monthly for approximately three hours. The focus of the program is for you to learn how a "True Professional" functions in various parts of his/her life. Upon conclusion of the program, a feedback session is held to discuss the program and its outcomes.