At this point we encourage you to continue to explore the career choices available to you. Investigate academia and the world of work in greater depth, and narrow your academic and occupational directions. This includes choosing a major, evaluating job choices, gaining practical work experience, developing job search strategies, or applying to graduate or professional schools.
Review the steps below that relate to your academic level. Schedule an appointment with a career counselor at Career Services if you are confused over your academic and career plans or if you want more help with implementing your plans.
Identify the areas in which you have done well, including academic and extracurricular activities.
Develop and continuously update a portfolio of your achievements, including graded term papers, writing assignments, special awards, honors, letters of recommendation, grade reports, and work experience.
Set goals and develop an action plan to achieve them.
Visit academic departments that seem interesting to you and talk to people in career interest fields.
Choose and join one or more organizations which particularly interest you, preferably ones that are career-related.
Find relevant summer work or volunteer experiences, such as undergraduate research projects, internships, and work/study positions in departments that interest you.
Familiarize yourself with Career Services.
Explore work through informational interviewing.
First-year Checklist (check each item completed)
Schedule an appointment with a career counselor.
Identify student organizations that are of interest to you. Take on leadership roles in these activities.
Attend Career Services workshops specifically designed for first-year students.
Ask your career counselor about standardized career assessments and whether they are appropriate for you.
Keep records of your experiences and achievements.
Introduce yourself to faculty members and departmental advisors.
Conduct informational interviews (contact professionals known to you or your family or through Career Services and ask them about their jobs).
List your most important career-related skills, drawn from education, work and hobbies.
Explain to yourself and others why you are choosing, or have chosen, a particular major.
Identify the work and non-work activities you enjoy most.
Attend career-related programs.
Identify at least two career interest areas.
Visit Career Services and relevant academic departments. Gather information about internship opportunities.
Meet with two or three faculty members about majors, careers, and internships.
Arrange a "job shadowing" experience or conduct informational interviews with people employed in your field(s) of interest. Identify Rutgers alumni to contact through the Alumni Career Network.
Plan for part-time employment, summer jobs or internships, volunteer experiences, or independent research related to your career interests.
List your responsibilities, what you have learned, and your contributions and accomplishments for each of your most important job-related experiences, and include them in your portfolio.
Become knowledgeable about labor markets and future employment trends.
Take standardized inventories including the Strong Interest Inventory, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Self-Directed Search, Campbell Interest and Skills Survey, Skillscan (speak to your career counselor).
Attend career fairs and career presentations by Career Services, academic departments, employers, and student organizations.
Make career connections through alumni organizations and through the Rutgers University Alumni Career Network.
Consult career resources on future economic trends, including O*Net, DOT, OOH (speak with your counselor).
List at least three people with whom you have met and spoken, whose jobs are in an area that you are considering.
Attend Career Days held at Rutgers.
Seek related professional experience through formal internships and/or part-time employment.
List at least five position titles that might be appropriate for your interests and abilities.
Identify the level of education and additional skills necessary to attain your career goals.
Identify the types of organizations for which you might like to work.
Understand the lifestyle and tradeoffs associated with your career choices.
Understand the personality characteristics and type of work environments which you would enjoy.
Determine if graduate level education is required or preferred for your career plans.
Evaluate the likelihood of your admission to a graduate or professional program.
Request, at the beginning of your junior year, application materials and information about deadlines for graduate or professional school admission.
Maintain satisfactory academic work for entrance requirements.
Talk to faculty members in your area of interest and have at least three strong references among your professors who know your work and your abilities.
Identify the positive and negative features of the graduate program you are considering.
Register with Interfolio to open your credentials file.
Visit Career Services to learn more about the job search process.
Junior Checklist (check each item completed)
Register with our online job posting system, CareerKnight.
Conduct informational interviews.
Contact Career Services about internship opportunities.
Contact Career Services and make arrangements to attend resume writing, job search strategies, interview techniques, business dining etiquette, and dress for success workshops.
Register for on-campus interviewing through CareerKnight.
