College is more than lectures, late-night study sessions, and exams; it’s a launchpad for your future career. Here are 10 ways to make the most of your time in college to lay the groundwork for a fulfilling career after graduation.
1. Research Career Options in Your Major
The path from a college major to a career isn’t always clear cut. Many students, especially those in liberal arts fields, may struggle to see a direct connection between their studies and a job. However, the skills you gain from attending college – such as critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and communication – can be relevant to all kinds of jobs and careers. That’s why it’s important to be open to exploring different career options while you are in school. Even if you are dead set on pursuing one specific career, examining a wider range of potential careers might result in the discovery of a career path you hadn’t considered or didn’t know existed.
Check out career panels or workshops sponsored by your college or department and learn as much as you can about emerging trends in your major. It may also be helpful to peruse the profiles of people who graduated with your major to see where they landed career-wise or watch video interviews with people in career fields that interest you. You may find that your major – and the skills and knowledge you gain pursuing it – may be relevant to many different careers.
Whether your career path is murky or crystal clear, completing career assessments can provide insights into your strengths, interests, and work style, and help you identify jobs or careers that might be a good fit.
Many career assessments, such as the Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator and the Clifton Strengths Assessment, focus on a specific area – such as personality, values or workplace skills. Others, like the free O*NET Interest Profiler, provide suggestions for specific careers based on your answers. These tests are often the first step students take when working with a career counselor.
While career assessments can provide helpful insights, they can also have some limitations. For example, your results may vary if you take the tests multiple times or at different times in your life. Results may also be difficult to interpret without the help of a professional. In her blog, career coach Hallie Crawford advises students to use assessments as a starting point, and then explore job descriptions, industry trends, and networking to supplement what they learn. “While these assessments can be valuable tools in the pursuit of your dream job,” she writes, “they are one of many tools, not the end all be all.”
Many employers search for candidates online before they even consider contacting them for an interview. That’s why it’s critical that employers see only positive things about you when they Google your name. Creating a professional online presence goes beyond cleaning up your social media profiles so that they don’t contain anything negative or inappropriate (which you should do); it also means creating a strong LinkedIn profile, building an online network, and interacting with that network in ways that put you in the best light.
College is a great time to create a LinkedIn profile and to start using it to communicate your skills, interests, and career goals to the professional world. You might not have much professional experience to add to your profile at first, but as you proceed through college, you can use it to list coursework, projects, awards, and other experiences that may be relevant to a future career.
Also consider engaging in online communities relevant to your major or field and share content that may be helpful and informative. You might even create a personal website or portfolio to showcase your work.
The job of a college career center isn’t only to help students find jobs after graduation but also to help students — from first-year freshmen to graduating seniors — explore their career options, identify their skills and interests, find internships, polish their resumes and interviewing skills, and more. Some may also offer one-on-one career counseling or coaching, organize onsite visits with employers, and hold networking workshops and career fairs. Don’t wait until the end of senior year to find out what your career center has to offer – the (usually free) resources it provides are designed to help students at all stages of college make a successful transition from college to work.
5. Attend a Career Fair
Some students might tell you that attending a career or job fair is a waste of time, but you are likely to find just as many who say the experience resulted in an internship, an interview, or even a job. If nothing else, attending a career fair can be a useful first step in meeting recruiters and hiring managers and practicing your networking skills.
It’s important to prepare for a career fair in advance of graduating to make the most of your time while in college. Your goal isn’t just to introduce yourself to company reps and leave your resume but also to learn about different companies and your industry at large and hear from hiring managers about what they are looking for in candidates.
Mentors and coaches are not the same – but both can be invaluable resources throughout college and afterwards. Mentors are typically well established in their careers and provide ongoing guidance, support, and advice, while career coaches usually help improve or develop workplace skills and job performance on a short-term basis.
Fortunately, college offers many opportunities to meet and develop relationships with mentors and coaches. Tap into your college’s alumni network or even upper classmen who are working in fields that interest you. Your career center may publish mentor listings on Handshake or elsewhere and provide career support seminars and workshops led by professional career coaches. There are even online platforms available, such as MentorCam and MentorCruise, that connect students with mentors in a range of fields, although these services generally charge high fees.
According to a survey from the Business Education Forum, the supply of internships in the U.S. isn’t keeping pace with demand. Out of 8.2 million students seeking an internship in 2023, only half were able to secure one. That’s why it’s important to start looking and applying for internships as early as possible in college. Some of the most sought-after internships with leading companies and firms have application deadlines that are a full year or more before the internship starts.
Fortunately, a traditional internship is not the only way to get experience that employers like to see. Working part-time, leading an academic project, designing your own research, job shadowing, and volunteering are all ways to learn through experience, develop skills, and network. Creating your own internship can also demonstrate initiative and passion for your field of study – both of which may impress potential employers.
College can be an ideal place to network. You’re surrounded by peers, professors, administrators, and alumni – any of whom might be able to connect you with internships, research projects, mentors, and jobs.
Networking takes time and effort, and the earlier you start, the larger your network is likely to be by the time you graduate. So, take advantage of any opportunities that college presents. Join clubs, participate in social events, and connect with students and TAs during study sessions and in class. If you work part-time, develop good relationships with coworkers and managers. Reach out to your professors, or consider volunteering on campus or in your community.
Meeting people isn’t enough. You need to stay in touch with your network and build longstanding and genuine friendships and relationships.
Over the past several years, employers have said they are looking not only for candidates with “hard skills” like coding, web design, or statistical analysis, but also for people with “soft skills,” such as active listening, collaboration, and flexibility, among many others. In fact, in a recent survey, 69 percent of U.S. executives predicted that as artificial intelligence absorbs more jobs involving hard skills, there will be a greater need for employees with soft skills.
College provides many experiences that require or help students develop soft skills like relationship-building, teamwork, communication, and flexibility. While you’re in college, seek out these experiences and pay attention to how different projects and assignments help you exercise or improve these skills and don’t hesitate to mention them on your resume and in interviews.
It might be a while before you are interviewing for your first “real” job out of college, but it’s never too early to start developing your interviewing skills. College can provide plenty of opportunities to interview – you might find yourself interviewing for scholarships, internships, research projects, or part-time jobs. While you’re in college, read up on interviewing tips, develop an elevator pitch, and practice answering commonly asked interview questions in front of a mirror or with a friend. Consider attending interviewing workshops that your school offers and embrace opportunities to speak publicly, whether it’s by leading a club meeting or team presentation or just speaking up in class.
It might seem premature to focus on your career when you’re doing all you can to succeed in your college classes, but by taking even some of the steps above, you’ll be laying the foundation for a career – and enriching your college experience as well.