Heading down a successful career path means taking some early steps. The first is to visit our office (just a hop, skip, and a crunch from the Snack Bar in Old Main). The next few are a series of career building steps that begin freshman year and end when you find an outstanding career. Our staff is a great resource to help you successfully complete your career plan, so use the Career Center early and often!
Your career planning activities will fall into four major categories:
- Self Assessment
- Career Awareness
- Career Exploration/Experiential Learning
- Job Search
Freshman Year
Self Assessment
Take an Occupational or Career Interest Test such as the Strong Interest Inventory or Self Directed Search and meet with a career counselor to review it. To learn about self-assessment techniques online try: Career Awareness
- Research career information on the web through the Career Center
- Join a campus club/group
- Learn how to conduct an informational interview through the Career Center
Career Exploration
- Do some volunteer work
- Obtain a summer job or part-time position
- Look at the job postings for possible openings on the Career Center Web site
Self Assessment
Take the Strong Interest Inventory and meet with a career counselor to discuss your results.
Career Awareness
- Seek contacts for additional informational interviews through the Career Center
- Conduct career library research on specific career fields of interest
- Attend Career Fairs on campus
- Connect with a "Mentoring Program" alum through the Career Center to learn about his/her career
- Make an appointment with a career counselor for individual career counseling.
- Continue doing volunteer work
- Obtain part-time/summer career-related work experience
Self Assessment
- Consider doing a semester abroad by discussing your options with a faculty/staff member
- Review some of the sites located on the Career Center Web site International Listings here
- Attend career day programs on & off campus
- Make an appointment in the Career Center to better define your career plan
- Seek additional contacts for informational interviews through your academic department
- Make an appointment to discuss professional/graduate school options with a faculty/staff member
- Continue to do volunteer work when possible
- Seek a career-related summer job
- Obtain a career-related internship. You can view current internship listings at www.collegecentral.com/canisius. Or visit Roslyn Colon, Director of Internships, in Old Main, Room 013 to seek a career-related internship.
- Develop your resume with assistance from a career counselor
- Sign up for a practice interview in the Career Center
Career Awareness
- Make an appointment with a career counselor to refine your career plans
- Utilize the career library & Internet to obtain specific career information
- Meet with a faculty/staff to review and determine professional/graduate school options/plans. For more info on grad schools review some of the links here.
Obtain a full or part-time career-related internship.
Job Search
- Attend workshops/programs on job search skills, such as resume writing, networking, etc.
- Register with the Career Center
- Sign up for another practice interview in the Career Center
- Make an appointment to meet with a career counselor to finalize job search/career plans
- Attend on and off-campus job fairs
- Participate in on-campus recruiting through the Career Center whenever possible
- Continue to expand your network of career-related contacts through the "Mentoring Program" and informational interviews
- Research potential employers via Internet, printed materials, and personal contacts. Several good net sites are Business Research on the Internet at: Hoover's Onlineand High Level Company Information