Career Action Planning phases: 

• Discovery
• Exploration
• Experience
• Experiment
• Choice

The College of University Studies is the first stop in the career decision making process.  The Mission of the College of University Studies is to assist deciding students with the resources and personal attention needed to select the most appropriate major and to plot a course of action leading to graduation by the most effective route possible.  The College of University Studies works in collaboration on your career planning with Career Services in the Global Education Office at the Bagley House.  Once you have moved from the Exploration phase,  Career Services would be your next stop for career planning process.

Career planning is a bit like studying for a final exam. If you go to class, read the text, and do a few of the assignments along the way, you won’t have to stay up all night at the last minute cramming for the final exam. In this case, if you start early in your college years, go to a few workshops, follow some simple advice, and complete a few assignments, you won’t be scrambling for help two weeks before graduation.

While your first contact may be through the orientation or in class presentation, it’s up to you to stay in touch with the Career Services in the Global Education Office at the Bagley House and use its resources. Often Career Services may present in one of your classes to talk about what the Career Services can do for you.

Maybe you don’t even know which classes to take next semester, but today’s a good day to start thinking about what you might like to be when you finish school. That doesn’t mean you have to know exactly what you want to be after college—or that you can’t change your mind along the way.

Plymouth State Career Planning

• Discovery
• Exploration
• Experience and Experiment
• Choice

Discovery Phase

In the Discovery phase, you take easy tests (there are no wrong answers) to explore your interests, values, skills, and how they may relate to various jobs. The results will help you pinpoint careers that might suit you. 

• ACTION:  Visit the College of University Studies for individual career planning. Create your career personal plan account in Plymouth States career planning software, CHOICES 2010.

We will encourage you to join campus clubs, talk to faculty and professionals in field you think you may be interested in, and participate in volunteer community service activities. Career Services can also help you with a strategy to find a part-time or summer job that relates to your major or career goals.

• ACTION:  Create your own career account for part-time, seasonal, internship, and full-time opportunities by registering in Plymouth States career management system:  PlymouthCareers.  Employers are able to search for your resume and you are able to search for employers and over 800,000 career opportunities. Register with PlymouthCareers through your myPlymouth account.
• ACTION: The Career Discovery Program is a set of six courses offered at Plymouth State through the Department of Business designed to help all students in all disciplines/majors to develop relevant life, career, and workplace knowledge and skills. The courses do not constitute a logical or required sequence.  Note:  If you haven’t chosen a major, you can do it now or in the next phase.

Exploration Phase

The Exploration phase narrows your career exploration path just a little. After you’ve chosen a major, you will need to ensure your academic courses support your goals. Career Servcies can help you contact people in jobs that interest you so that you can find out more about those jobs. You should also attend short workshops and seminars that teachs you preliminary job-search skills: resume writing, for example—to help you find a part-time or summer job to test your chosen career field.

• ACTION:  Search Career Services website for current drop-in advising and workshops related to resume and cover letter writing, job search skills. 

Experience and Experiment

The Experience and Experiment phase gives you a chance to decide if the career you’ve chosen is right for you or if you should look at other careers. (You can change your mind at any time, of course.) This is the time to consider graduate school or professional school and take the required tests for admission. If the work world is your goal, career counselors will direct you to job fairs and to internships in your field.

You should also participate in more job-search workshops to hone your resume writing skills and help you compose a cover letter to an employer. And, plug into the alumni network for firsthand information on employers and the work environment.

• ACTION:  Search Career Services website for current drop-in advising and workshops related to resume and cover letter writing, job search skills. 

Choice Phase

In the final phase—the Choice Phase—get your resume critiqued and proofread in preparation for real interviews with real employers for real jobs.

• ACTION: Research potential employers and sign up for on-campus interviews with those you choose.
• ACTION: Go to job fairs.   Network with professionals especially alumni who might be supporting your job-search efforts—in the field you have chosen. Then, pursue your first job.

The career planning process really can take four years. However, if you’ve come in a little late, Career Services and you can create a modified version of the timeline which can help students create their own timeline for the job search. If you are late, be prepared for a more intense and time consuming process.

The career counselor will  sit down with students and ask them to tell what they’ve done as a student….What activities have they participated in? Why did they choose their major? What have they done during the summer? Look at the skills developed through your experiences. Many skills are not really taught, but are developed.  Interpersonal skills and communication skills, for instance, are developed through interaction with other students during group activities, sports, clubs, and organizations.

But don’t worry if you are long past your first year in school. Career Services would like you to plan to come in early in your college years since early is best, but it’s never too late. Your first step, though, is to introduce yourself Career Services.

Reprinted from JobWeb (www.jobweb.com) with permission of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, copyright holder.