Did you know...
Career goals are often established based on erroneous assumptions? By identifying and exploring your interests, you are more likely to make well-informed choices and approach the internship, job, and/or graduate school search process as a legitimate candidate. As you brainstorm and explore career ideas, keep the following in mind:

• You are not choosing for life
•  Your major does not limit or define your career options
• Your career interests will change and develop over time
• There are a number of ways to explore and investigate potential career areas

The Career Services Office houses a Library/Resource area containing many helpful handouts, flyers, books and magazines as well as a computer lab for online career research and resume/cover letter development. Visit our Career Exploration page for a detailed list of online resources to use for your career research.

If you need help determining what you like to do, the Know Yourself section has many resources and self-assessment tools to help you.

Identify Contacts to Network With
When you begin to build your network, there are two primary sources you can use to locate appropriate people to network with: alumni or your own personal contacts.

• FriarLink
  This Alumni-Student Career Network is a resource of over 800 PC alumni willing to share their career expertise with students. To begin using FriarLink, schedule an appointment with the a Career Advisor in The Career Services Office. After a brief meeting about FriarLink and the best practices of networking, your username and password will become activated and you will be able to search the Alumni database.
• Events
  Throughout the academic year The Office of Career Services hosts events that are great occasions to network with faculty, students, alumni, employers and other professionals. Check out the Events section for a full list of opportunities.
• Personal or Professional Contacts
  Networking contacts can also be developed from your own personal network or through contacts developed through your own research. Consider the following as you brainstorm people who can REFER you to contacts:
  • Family, friends, neighbors, former neighbors, parents of classmates
  • Faculty, high school teachers, departmental alumni
  • Past employers, supervisors, clients, or customers
  • Professionals: lawyers, doctors, insurance agents, etc.
  • Community: Chamber of Commerce, clubs, professional associations, librarians,  etc.
  • Networking Groups

Informational Interviews
An informational interview is an appointment, typically 20-30 minutes, which you schedule with an individual in a career field of interest for the purpose of gaining career information from an "insider" point of view. In addition to being helpful for exploring careers, informational interviews can be valuable as you launch your internship, or job search.

Although an informational interview typically takes place in person, you can also correspond with professionals via email or conduct an informational interview via phone. Regardless of the format, an informational interview is your chance to learn more about an area of interest and gain valuable networking contacts.

Informational Interview Tip Sheet

Shadowing opportunities are short-term observational experiences that teams a professional and student in an effort to assist the student with his/her career planning process. They are designed to help you to identify and explore career options and observe the real working environment.

Depending on your field of interest, activities could include: attending meetings, going on sales calls, observing surgery or courtroom trials, listening in on conference calls, participating in some hands-on projects with the alum, etc. Shadowing visits may be arranged between the student and interested alums at various times of the year, including the school year and summer.

• Stop by Career Services between Oct 29 and Nov 5 to review shadowing opportunities
• Choose 1-2 shadowing opportunities to apply for
• Complete an application and submit a resume
• Career Services will match students with an alumni to shadow based on alumni requirements and the student's application
• Students that are matched will attend a mandatory orientation session in order to receive important details and tips for the shadowing day
• Students contact the alumnus directly to set up the date and time of their shadowing day

2009-2010 Winter Break Shadowing Day Program Application Deadline November 6

Alumni career panels and guest presentations, scheduled each semester, are a great way to find out what it's really like to work in a specific career field and get tips on how to prepare and break into the field.

Check our Events section to see what's coming up. Be sure to attend any and all career series and presentations of interest (regardless of whether they're geared towards specific years or majors).

As you research careers, consider how well specific fields will satisfy your interests, skills, aptitude and values. Remember that career decision-making is a complex process that will change and emerge over time.

With the changing nature of the workplace it is likely you will change jobs and career directions multiple times throughout your life. Don't limit your options by thinking you are choosing a career for life at this point. As you begin to fine-tune your career interests, seek out internships and related experiences that can help you develop the required skills and abilities and enhance your future employability.