The start of a new school year can bring about a lot of change. After several months off we’re getting accustomed to new courses, a shift in the weather, and all-things pumpkin spice. It can take some time to regain one’s footing, but when it comes to career advice at DePaul, we can help right off the bat.

One significant way that the Career Center can help is through our advising model, which offers five industry-specific communities across the following areas:

• Business, Entrepreneurship & Consulting
• Education, Non-Profit & Government
• Health Care & Science
• Media, Communication, Arts & Entertainment
• Technology & Design.
• There’s also a sixth community, Career Exploration, that’s ideal for anyone looking to dive into their unique skills, interests, and values as they pertain to the world of work.

This advising model is flexible and can be tailored to your goals; you can stick with one community or opt in to as many as you are interested in. Each community has a designated career advisor you can meet with to learn more about yourself, explore career options, and explore how to gain experience.

If you think you might want to visit with a career advisor, but are unsure of how we can help, here are a few ideas based on your current student status.

Career Exploration

One of the most common ways that career advisors help students at DePaul is with career exploration. This can be done in a variety of ways, and your first step might be to meet with an advisor in the Career Exploration community. For students who are still exploring their major and career interests, we offer free career assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory, which can serve as a helpful guide in finding career paths based on personality preferences and interests. Some students have a clear idea of what type of job they want after graduation, and so we work backwards to determine which types of internship opportunities, majors, and/or minors would help students reach that particular goal. Whatever your concerns might be regarding career paths and opportunities, we can help bring your options into greater focus. It also helps to meet consistently with your academic advisor to make sure you’re on track to graduate, and to see if you can fit in a double major or minor that might aid in reaching your post-grad career goals.

Gaining Experience

A common thread among returning sophomores, juniors and senior tends to be an interest in internships. This is the perfect time to begin pursuing these opportunities, as you will already have a few classes under your belt and can begin exploring a particular career path in a hands-on way. If you take on an internship and love what you’re doing, we can help you identify similar opportunities down the road; if you have the opposite experience, we can work with you to identify what might be a better fit and help you to pursue those options.

For many students, applying to an internship—whether it’s your first, second, or sixth—can be a daunting task; career community advisors offer insight on how to tackle this process with greater confidence and share employer insights specific to your career community.

Applying to Post-Grad Opportunities

Graduating seniors most often seek out career advising to gain greater clarity around applying to post-grad jobs. Given that each industry has a different hiring season—some industries, like accounting, make their full-time hires much earlier in the year than other fields—it’s a good idea to meet with a career community advisor early in the year to develop a plan of attack for the application process. This plan may include an internship, identifying networking contacts, or diving right into the full-time search.

Keep in mind that the above suggestions are just a few ideas for visiting with us. Some of you may have questions about pursuing graduate school, teaching abroad, and/or volunteer opportunities—we can help with that! Similarly, you might find that you have slightly different needs than those outlined above; maybe you’re a freshman ready to dive into your first internship, or a senior who wants to explore career paths. The good news is that we can help you with every step of the process, and wherever you’re at in the process. Classes and the weather may change, but strong, student-focused support from the Career Center will always be our top priority.