I’m gonna be honest: thinking of the future is terrifying. A year from now I’ll be graduating from college, and I don’t have a clear picture of what my next step is yet. But guess what? That’s totally okay! I am thinking and planning, and that is a great first step. I might go straight to graduate school and become a certified counselor; I might work for a year first, who knows! I’ve talked in my past posts about my major-deciding journey, but now I’ve moved on to the career-finding journey, which is just as hard. Whenever I tell people my major, their first question is “What do you plan to do with that?” and I just don’t have a straight answer. Some people know exactly what they are destined for, and that’s great! But there’s no shame in taking your time to figure out your purpose. I'm going to give you some tips so you don't look like this:
...And you start looking like this:
If you haven’t decided on a major yet: I totally sympathize. I was never officially undecided, but I changed my major THREE times my freshman year. And for me, that process was necessary to get me where I am now. The Career Center has a Library of Assessments you can take to get a better idea of your skills, and what kinds of careers match up. I have used all of these already, so I can give them the Seal of Approval™. Plus they’re fun! These are still great for people who have their major figured out because you can also look at popular careers for people in your major. Also, the Office of Academic Advising has a bunch of tools to help out! Using these resources can really help ease the anxiety of the major-selection process.
If you have a major but aren’t sure what to do after graduation: I also deeply sympathize. I’m a psychology major, which a) can translate to an infinite number of fields, and b) almost always requires some kind of graduate degree to get a decent career. I’m still honing in on what my ideal job would be, but guess what: some people don’t have one ideal job! Just like some people don’t believe in “the one” in terms of romantic partners, some people are totally happy career-hopping their whole lives! Since kindergarten we’re fed the idea that we’re supposed to go to college, we find one job, and we do that job until we die. But that’s not the only option, and it’s freeing to realize that we can pick a job and later on change our minds, and it’s not the end of the world! Check out this video on how to land your first job after graduation.
The Career Center has a whole page about How to Move from College to the Workforce, which gives you a checklist for getting ready to be an Adult™ in the Real World™. Another great resource is the informational interview, which is simply talking to someone in your desired field about how they got there and what their job is like. Good mentorship goes a long way, and can also be a good networking tool! And as always, you can make an appointment to meet with a career specialist about anything from deciding on a major to exploring graduate programs. The future is scary, but we’re in this together! Please give this a paw and comment on how you chose your major, or how you’re preparing to enter the workforce!