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Career Exploration and Success

Career & Internship Guide

Discover Yourself

We can help you identify potential options using a combination of self-evaluation questions and career assessments. View all Discover Yourself articles here.

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Personal branding helps you identify and communicate your unique strengths to differentiate yourself from your peers and stand out in a competitive job market. Furthermore, creating and managing your brand ensures you stay focused on your individual goals to become the kind of person you want to be and achieve the specific things you want to achieve. Without this vision for yourself, it’s very easy to take classes and engage in work experiences and other activities that aren’t aligned with your goals.

Book, decisions, mindful, library, study

Decision-making is the process of identifying alternatives and making a selection based on your unique, individual preferences. Career decisions are among the most challenging you will ever make throughout your life, especially during college.

 

Student on Bench

How can you possibly choose among all these options at Rutgers to craft your own amazing college experience? More importantly, what do you want out of life after Rutgers? If you’re wondering how to weave together what fits, what is doable, and what will truly be meaningful, design thinking can help.

 

listening, introspection, thoughts, attentive, male, student

Making plans for your future can be challenging. Starting with the self-assessment process can give you more choices and increase your confidence that you are on the right career path.

Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

Finding career satisfaction is more complex than simply identifying a major and an occupation. Have you wondered what is the “right” major for you, or if what you’re studying will lead to a satisfying career? Is the career you have in mind going to be fulfilling?

 

Explore Careers & Majors

We can assist you with exploring your major pathways and help you to select a career that is congruent with who you are and what you value. View all Explore Careers & Majors articles here.

laptop, woman, POC, outside, portrait

Social and career networking sites are critical tools for job/internship seekers and employers. LinkedIn reports that recruiters’ use of social networking increased a phenomenal 57% over the last four years, which means that you cannot afford to ignore this trend. When you consider that 46% of US companies source talent via social networks, it becomes imperative that you boost your social networking skills and the amount of time you spend on networks like LinkedIn. When using social media, think about your goals and how to present a professional image. Remember, many employers check profiles on popular networking sites before making interviewing and hiring decisions. In fact, employers have been Googling job applicants for years to learn more about their online career brand.

Johnson and Johnson

Exploring careers from a professional’s perspective is a valuable way to determine if a particular career is an option for you.

Interview

Networking is building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships to develop career prospects, whether it is in-person, online, or both. It is one of the most important attributes of career success.

 

SACC

Exploring careers from a professional’s first-hand perspective is a valuable way to learn if a particular career is an option for you. Informational interviews are often underutilized opportunities to hear “real talk” about careers and to possibly expand your professional network.

 

White student lady working on laptop

So, you want to make contact with a professional who does what you are thinking of doing for a career but need a connection? We got you!
 

Develop Your Skills

We can assist you in developing the skills you need to have a competitive advantage in your full-time job search. View all Develop Your Skills articles here.

Student at Computer

Identifying and declaring a major is not required prior to building experience and building your resume. Employers seek students with skills, not necessarily a specific major.

Student at Computer

Preparing for the internship and job search is a process that begins early in your college career. Use this section as a resource for building and promoting your experience. Here’s how to get started

Lab woman internship science experiment

Internships provide students the opportunity to gain professional-level experience while testing out career options and building skills experience to be marketable for future employment and graduate school.

 

 

Life and Health Sciences

You’ve prepared your materials and now you’re ready to explore effective strategies for finding an internship or full-time job. Let’s get started with the following six steps to success.

Students Walking

Internships are a type of experiential education that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skill development under direct supervision in a professional setting.

 

Pursue Your Goals

We have events and resources designed to help you to prepare for the job search process and connect you to opportunities. View all Pursue Your Goals articles here.

Blonde young female student holding coffee cup and laptop viewing inside

When writing your resume, use the power verbs below to begin each of your bulleted statements. Use present tense verbs for current positions and past tense verbs for previous positions.

Students looking at computer

Evaluating a job offer is more than just taking the job with the best salary. There are many factors to consider in the process:

One male worker assisting a POC long haired female student, both examining papers on the table

Practice responding to these questions. You may find it helpful to jot down key points. If you can answer each of these questions clearly, concisely, and confidently, you are well on your way to interview success!

Student

Making plans for your future can be challenging. You can begin by gaining insight into your personal attributes, values, skills, and interests through the self-assessment process. Once you have clarity around the values, skills, and interests that are most important to your professional future, you can begin to research regions, employers, and organizations that might create environments where the values identified through your self-assessment process can thrive.

Courses & Experiential Programs

If you are serious about considering graduate school, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want to do with your career, and how earning a graduate degree will help you reach that goal.