The Bastian Family Center for Career Success is not just for Seniors!
By exploring your interests, skills, and values early in your college career, you will be more prepared to choose a career field that fits best with your criteria, making the transition from college to "Life After Knox" easier.
First Year: Self-Assessment
- Begin career exploration to find out more about your aptitudes, interests, personality, and values that match the different kinds of work and graduate school programs.
- Begin to build skills and leadership through co-curricular and volunteer activities.
- Attend information sessions, career planning workshops, career fairs, and/or graduate school fairs hosted by the Bastian Family Center for Career Success to learn about potential ways to jump start your career.
Sophomore: Exploration
- Continue career planning with a greater emphasis toward understanding the profession and the needs of potential employers.
- Plan and develop your classes and your leadership/volunteer/internship experiences to this profile.
- Begin to talk with professors about their career ideas and set some short-term goals.
- Consider a term abroad or think about offering your services as a volunteer or an intern in a career field of your interest.
- Develop a relationship with the Bastian Family Center for Career Success by scheduling appointments to discuss preparation for your career interests and participating in events.
Junior: Evaluation and Decision Making
- Gather information from internship, career, and graduate/professional school fairs.
- Develop relationships with professors in your major.
- Seek leadership roles with extracurricular activities.
- Target internship/volunteer opportunities and ensure application materials (resume/cover letter/references) are in order.
- Complete your Experiential Learning requirement, if you have not yet done so.
- Attend career planning workshops and information sessions to enhance job and graduate school search skills.
- Meet with the Career Center staff to refine your career development plans, if you have not yet done so.
Senior: Implementation
- Prepare to take any graduate/professional school entrance exams (GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc.).
- Start your job search process early by developing final drafts of your resume/cover letter.
- Develop and activate your personal network, to further broaden your opportunities.
- Attend information sessions, workshops, and career development forums to expand your options.
- Think about letters of recommendation needed for graduate school or the workplace.
