Career Steps: 10 Action Steps to Take:
Don’t wait until you graduate to take the necessary steps to define and reach your career goals. Entering the job market or making a career transition is much easier if the wheels are set in motion while still in school. This no fee, no credit online workshop provides you with a career development to-do list of specific, action-oriented steps to point you in the right direction and help you move efficiently down your post-college career path. Career Steps takes a rather daunting process (finding a career niche or a better job) and breaks it down into manageable pieces.
Signing up is easy:
Students: go to D2L. Select “Discover.” Select the “Career Steps” picture. If it is not visible, enter “Career Steps” in the search field. Select the “Enroll in Course” button then select “OK.” The course will now appear on your “My Courses” list on your D2L home page.
Alumni: You can access Career Steps too. Check it out here.
- Log into your Handshake account and use it. Handshake is our new online career management tool just for Metropolitan State University students and alumni. When employers contact our office to inquire about hiring a Metro student, we steer them toward Handshake to post their position. Since 2015, nearly 12,000 employers have shared their job opportunities with Metro students and alumni via Handshake.
- Take a career assessment. Career assessments are tools designed to help you understand how your personal attributes (i.e., interests, values, preferences, talents and skills), impact your happiness and success with career options and work environments. Learning about yourself can offer insight to make more informed career decisions and to know how to build on your strengths. Being able to articulate what kind of work you want to do will make it far easier to enlist the help of others. Not sure? Welcome to the club!
- Build an online presence through LinkedIn. Think of LinkedIn as a Facebook for your professional life. Today it is essential to have a LinkedIn account and use it. This section introduces you to the tool and helps you get started.
- Join a Professional Association or Group. Professional associations or groups are outstanding sources of new networking contacts. These are groups of people in your field who come together regularly for professional development activities, networking and sharing information.
- Conduct at least 4 Informational Interviews. An informational interview is a structured conversation to collect information about an occupation, career field, industry or company. In this module you can learn about informational interview benefits, how to arrange one, and how to conduct one.
- Develop a Target List. A Target List is simply a list of the top 30 places where you’d like to work. This can be both a great way to organize your search and get more specific regarding your ideal work environment and employer.
- Make a point to participate in some university workshops, seminars and special events. An important element in most careers is serendipity -- chance happenings that pop up and lead to something unexpected. This module is designed to help you think through what might be some of those “right places.” We think this is one of the real advantages to being in college: exposure to a wide range of people, ideas and happenings . . . right on campus!
- Find a fresh opportunity in your field. Finding a fresh opportunity in your field: internship, part-time job, volunteer, serving on a board or a committee is all about testing fields of interest and being in the right place at the right time. Even if it’s short-term, you want to have some kind of experience to add to your resume and talk about in interviews.
- Get in the habit of connecting with and talking to other human beings -- aka networking. Networking is one of the most important steps to take to ensure career success. Around 80% of jobs are found this way. This module is designed to help you think of some ways to get started.
- Have beautifully crafted, rock solid, dazzling resume and line up your references. Your resume is one of your most important marketing tools. Its purpose is to get you an interview. Most people focus on the resume format, but this module emphasizes the importance of content (i.e. resume building experiences). Also, it is important to stay in touch with the 3-4 people in your inner circle who will serve as your references. Cultivate and nurture these important relationships. Have your reference list ready should an employer ask for it.
The Career Center is here to help you accomplish these important tasks. We are interested in your career and a successful transition to the next chapter in your work life. If you would like to meet with a career counselor to talk about your ideas and plans, please reach out to schedule an appointment.