By: Gracie Covarrubias, DePaul University organizational and multicultural communication major ’18 and Career Center communications assistant
The New Year brings the promise of a fresh start—a new landscape to grow and develop as a person. It’s no secret that every year we all make resolutions that we end up losing track of about a month into the year. Here at the Career Center, we believe that the best resolutions are those related to career development. Don’t want to set unrealistic goals this year? We’ve got you covered.
Check out our top five New Year’s resolutions, and start building a more career-ready you.
Come to the Career Center at least once a quarter
The Career Center is a hub for good vibes, motivation and career support. As a general rule of thumb, you should make the effort to expose yourself to the people, advisors and ideas circulating within this office. This year, we’re challenging you to come in just once a quarter to get your resume reviewed, chat with peer career advisors (PCAPs) or check in with your advisor. A visit to the Career Center usually takes up no more than an hour of your day.
Network with your professors
It’s important that each quarter you take the time to reach out to your professors. Give a basic intro of yourself and ask them if they’d be open to meeting with you to share insights beyond what is discussed in class. Professors are people, too; they’re successful in their field and they’ve got a backpack full of knowledge they’d be happy to share with you if you simply ask. Connecting with professors is important not only for networking purposes, but also for attaining letters of recommendation and—if you’re lucky—you could even gain a mentor.
Connect with an ASK mentor
Since we are on the topic of mentorship, you can never have too many mentors. DePaul’s mentorship program, Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK), is the perfect way to connect with alumni in your field of interest. In a matter of minutes, you can connect with alumni right on Handshake whose work interests you. Once you’ve found an alumnus you’re interested in chatting with, you can send them a message requesting a time to talk, and then you can begin building a relationship with them.
Seek out informational interviews
An informational interview is essentially a meeting in which you chat with someone whose job interests you; it’s a way for you to gather a better understanding of their day-to-day responsibilities, the culture of their place of employment and their professional background. Informational interviews are a great way to get your toes wet and begin exploring different jobs that may be of interest to you. If you aren’t specifically looking for a mentorship relationship, but still want to gain insight from alumni, you can set up informational interviews with alumni through ASK as well. This year, make it your goal to set up at least one informational interview each quarter!
Go to at least one job fair, networking event or workshop each quarter
The Career Center hosts a myriad of career events each quarter that cater to all majors, interests and experience levels. These events exist to help you hone in and further develop your career and personal development skills, and to connect you with employers. You can kick off this resolution by attending our Winter Job and Internship Fair on Friday, February 10th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Can’t make the fair? Check out a complete list of our events on Handshake!
The 2017-year is full of endless possibilities, and these five resolutions are a sure-fire way to help you develop your career journey. If you need any help with accomplishing resolutions, be sure to stop by the Career Center!