You did it! As you plan to graduate, here are some tips to help you as you wrap-up your time at Emerson and launch your career!
Things to remember:
- Complete First Destination Survey and share offers with Career Development Center
- Keep Emerson email? Make sure to notify IT if you plan on keeping your Emerson email and update your Handshake account with any new email address
- You’re an Emersonian for life! Upon graduation you are eligible for 3 advising appointments every calendar year January to December.
Career Development Cycle
Explore: Take time to understand how your skills, interests, and values and how they connect to different industries, companies, and roles through research.
Connect: Engage with peers, family, and industry professionals including alumni to learn about career paths, industries, and insider tips.
Experience: Build your experiences and skills through classes, campus leadership, on-campus employment, internships, and more.
Clarify: Always make time to reflect and clarify your learning and goals. Redirect as needed and remember the career development center is here to help you navigate.
Explore:
- Continue researching career paths, industry experts and trends
- Seek job opportunities through Handshake and industry-specific sites
Connect:
- Increase full-time job applications but do not forget follow up and outreach to promote your applications to people who can help
- Ramp up networking + conducting informational interviews
- Attend career events and programs on and off campus
- Ongoing career advising to practice interviewing/discuss interviews, experiences, and salary negotiations as well as for help to redirect your job search as needed
Experience:
- Continue developing experience through on-campus jobs, internships, freelance gigs, campus leadership
- Continue capturing STAR stories and review your career competencies from these experiences
Clarify:
- Check-in with yourself to see what path makes the most sense to pursue immediately after graduation
- Update resume, LinkedIn and other profiles as needed
- Maintain job search schedule and dashboard with key dates and deadlines
Resource Checklist
- Build your Handshake profile.
- Schedule an Intro to the Career Center appointment.
- Explore internships and job postings.
- Explore employer profiles by industry and location.
- RSVP and attend Career Center events with employers and alumni.
Emerson.edu & Career Center Blog
- Utilize our online resources
- Use a resume guide to draft a resume and submit it to Career Center staff for review.
- Use a cover letter guide to draft cover letters for specific positions and to Career Center staff for review.
- Review industry guides to find job posting sites, professional associations, and more.
- Check out blog posts and other resources.
- Build your Emerge profile
- Begin connecting with at least 5 Emerson
alumni for career advice (Emerge has
over 4,000 alumni across industries on its
platform!) - Find interest groups for networking by
sector - Find job and projects-based work leads
Star Stories
What are STAR stories?
STAR stories are a great way to demonstrate with specific and concise examples how your experiences have prepared you for future opportunities. Not only can they be used when answering a behavioral-based interview question they are also a great way to highlight your experience and skills when networking and promoting yourself in cover letters.
STAR Definition
Situation – Describe where you were working /interning/ volunteering etc.
Task – What were you tasked with, what problem were you trying to solve?
Action – How did you take steps to complete what was asked of you?
Result – What happened because of your actions/outcomes?
STAR stories are strongest when they are specific, concise, and you quantify and qualify your experience.
Example – Tell me about a time when you demonstrated your initiative to take the lead on a project?
Weak Example: I served as outreach chair of the Emerson College Improv Club for 2 years.
Stronger Example: Serving as outreach chair for the Emerson College Improv Club, I was asked by our president to help increase our audience at shows. I developed a targeted social media campaign of weekly posts on TikTok and Instagram that increased our followers by 25% and brought our audience numbers at our Fall Show from 35 to 100 guests.
Now develop STAR stories for your Emerson experience on campus and beyond to tell your story as you begin networking with employers and alumni in search of opportunities:
- On-Campus Job
- Student Organizations
- Athletics
- Academics
- Study Abroad
- Internships
- Off-Campus Jobs
- Volunteering
Career Pathways
Review alumni profiles in Emerge and on LinkedIn. See how they have translated their majors into roles within industries. Research employer profiles in Handshake. Explore job titles and companies that could use the skills you’re developing from your major, which also identify with your values and interests. Click the button on the side to make your copy of the Career Pathways Grid!
If you have any questions, please contact us!
