EXPLORE CAREERS
Exploring careers is an important element of career planning since this will help guide your career path depending on which academic major you select. Career Exploration involves knowing yourself and what you hope to achieve in pursuing your chosen career path. Techniques can include job shadowing (Take Flight), speaking with professionals already in the field (informational interviews), locating UNT alumni working in industry, attending a student organization meeting, completing an internship and attending career fairs that will help refine your career path and develop job search skills.
JOB SHADOW PROGRAM – TAKE FLIGHT
“Take Flight” is a job shadowing program spanning the course of one to five days. It provides students with the opportunity to visit companies and organizations, explore career paths, network with professionals and learn about career options related to their major. Take Flight programs are offered during the Fall Semester, Winter Break and Spring Break. Take Flight opportunities can be found in Handshake under Events and on the website under Events-Job Shadowing.
INTERNSHIPS
UNT’s Internship Program exists to assist students in obtaining high-quality internships prior to graduation. Through experiential education, valuable academic learning occurs outside the classroom. Internships are work experiences (typically one semester in length) related to your field of study with an emphasis on “on-the-job” training rather than merely employment. Each year, employers seek applicants in the Fall time frame for internships in the Spring time frame.
Employers prefer to hire graduates with hands-on experience in their majors. You can gain practical experience and enhance your classroom learning through an internship. In addition to providing insight into your future career, working as an intern will give you a competitive advantage in the job market because of the technical and “soft” skills you have developed while in the position.
Internships are beneficial because they:
- Extend your classroom learning into a real-world setting.
- Provide you with opportunities to reinforce your choice of major and career path.
- Allow you to obtain transferable skills by working in a professional environment.
- Help you create a valuable network of contacts within your industry.
International students are eligible to work off campus in an internship or co-op, as long as they have filed the necessary CPT paperwork and received work authorization. Each semester an international student is working off campus, they must fill out all paperwork (CPT and Request for Credit). Failure to do so can result in a loss of work authorization. All CPT-related questions should be directed to International Student and Scholar Services.
If you’d like to learn more about internships and other opportunities, schedule an appointment with your Career Coach. To find available positions, check out the opportunities in Handshake.
INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
An informational interview can serve to build your base of networking contacts and allow you to conduct research on your academic major and identify potential career options. Approach these professional opportunities with the following points in mind:
- Conduct research: Learn what you can about their educational background, areas of specialty, past careers or sources of inspiration.
- Seek a conversation: Let your contact know how you identified them and humbly state you are seeking career information and would like to know more about the career. Ask for a short time limit (“would you have time for a 15 minute conversation?”)
- Ask for referrals: At the end, ask to remain in contact. Ask your contact if there are other colleagues you can connect with to learn more about the field. Be sure to express your gratitude after the meeting and follow up with a thank-you note or email.
Consider asking the following questions to start a conversation:
- Can you tell me about your career path and how you got here?
- What do you do on a typical day?
- Who was your mentor in this field?
- What aspects of this job do you like or dislike?
- Would you recommend specific courses to take?
- Are there any additional certifications or training you would recommend?
CONNECT WITH ALUMNI
UNT Alumni can register to join the Alumni group on LinkedIn. Locating UNT Alumni on LinkedIn is a networking method of seeking career information in your field. Alumni are frequently asked to “give back” by visiting UNT to attend career fairs, employer panels and etiquette dinners to network with future graduates by sharing their career experiences and unique industry insights.
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
While attending UNT, many students find additional career support through membership in a registered UNT Student Organization such as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). These organizations promote hosting and participating in outreach activities designed to enhance the professional awareness of all members involved. Activities can include visiting local schools to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activities to middle and high school students as well as hosting career workshops and presentations led by professionals employed in the engineering field. Students acquire skills such as leadership, team dynamics, networking with other students and professionals and learning about their chosen career field.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR EXPLORING CAREERS
- O*Net OnLine: O*Net OnLine maintains detailed descriptions of each industry for use by job seekers, career services, HR professionals, students, veterans and researchers. Students can browse groups of similar occupations to explore careers and find occupational details such as technology skills, required education, tasks and skills, related occupations, wage & employment trends and related professional organizations.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook: The U.S. Department of Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes an Occupational Outlook Handbook that provides career information on the duties, education and training, pay and career outlook for hundreds of occupations.
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