Presented by: Meredith Curry Preparing and Planning after Your Junior Year of College May 18, 2012

How to participate on a webinar 1) Chat & Questions. If you do NOT have access to a mic and do not call in with a phone, you can use the Questions feature to type a question that you want to ask to the presenters. At the end of the presentation, the facilitator will read out loud any questions that come through this feature. 2) Raise Hand. When the presenter opens the floor for questions, people will not be unmuted unless they use the Raise Hand function. 3) Polls. You may be asked some poll questions. We encourage your participation! 4) Surveys. After the webinar ends, a link will be ed to you to participate in a survey. Please give us your feedback by answering it!

AGENDA A look behind you – personal assessment A look ahead of you – needs assessment Accessing the right resources Your involvement with SCS Q&A

AGENDA A look behind you – personal assessment A look ahead of you – needs assessment Accessing the right resources Your involvement with SCS Q&A

A look behind you Freshman Year ◦Exploring interests and skills through course work and participation in clubs and campus activities ◦Internships or volunteer opportunities to develop and learn new professional skills ◦Narrowed down list of interests to begin to confirm your major ◦Began to network and form a support group to help you through the next three years

A look behind you continued Sophomore Year ◦Developed relationships with faculty or an academic advisor ◦Fine-tuned a resume that reflects your skills and achievements ◦Participated in at least one major internship or study abroad program ◦Attended some career workshops to learn more about grad school, fellowships, or professions ◦Declared a major or 100% confirmed it!

A look behind you continued Junior Year ◦Visited career center, put yourself on job lists ◦Developed interviewing skills and narrowed your career interests (positions, companies, fields) ◦Have a better idea of whether grad school is part of your overall plan ◦Have conducted information interviews with mentors, coworkers, or faculty ◦Have had at LEAST one internship under your belt

YOU ARE ALMOST THERE!!!

Major Questions to ask Yourself What are my skills, interests and values? How might these impact where I choose to apply for jobs after college? Have I been at my most successful these last three years? If NO, what can I improve? If YES, what can I improve?

Sample Questions: POLLS How much of your spare time (not in class) do you spend studying? How many days in a 7-day week do you stay up past midnight? How is your time management now compared to your freshman year? I am _____ about my senior year I believe that my study skills have ____ since my freshman year

1. SKILLS Students are often surprised to learn that they have developed a number of valuable skills beyond analytical thinking and writing. Alumni are often surprised to learn that the skills they have developed in one career field are valuable in other unrelated fields. 2. INTERESTS When you're browsing in a bookstore, what sections grab your attention? The arts? Finance? The mass media? Social or political issues? Psychology? Don't ignore your choices -- they are the ones that are likely to keep you interested in your job. 3. VALUES We all need to make money, but what keeps you motivated to work hard? Making a contribution to your community? Providing leadership? Learning new skills and constantly adding to your knowledge base? There are no "right" answers here, just preferences. 4. PEOPLE & ENVIRONMENT Do you prefer to work alone or to collaborate with others? Would you like to work for a small organization or a larger one? In the country, the suburbs or the city? Do you thrive when you receive regular feedback from your boss, or are you self-motivated? Again, there are no right or wrong answers -- just your own personal preferences and inclinations.

AGENDA A look behind you – personal assessment A look ahead of you – needs assessment Accessing the right resources Your involvement with SCS Q&A

A look ahead of you Your Senior Year  CAREER PLANNING!!! List of potential jobs that you qualify for and are interested in List of potential companies that you have looked into and need to tailor your next year’s experiences for List of contacts to get ongoing advice and feedback

A look ahead of you continued Don’t take for granted these free opportunities  Career and/or graduate school fairs  Resume and interview workshops  On-campus recruitment events  Career center job search engines  Campus alumni association activities

A look ahead of you continued Thinking of graduate school as your next step?  Have a checklist and deadlines for your program (MBA, medicine, law, etc.)  Start planning to prepare for required exams, collecting recommendation letters, and drafting your personal statement  Spend your last summer PRODUCTIVELY. Mapping out the next year is productive!

AGENDA A look behind you – personal assessment A look ahead of you – needs assessment Accessing the right resources Your involvement with SCS Q&A

Where are the resources? Campus Career Center Campus Alumni Center Your College (e.g. College of Arts, College of Sciences) Faculty Academic Advisors Campus graduate programs and…. South Central Scholars

AGENDA A look behind you – personal assessment A look ahead of you – needs assessment Accessing the right resources Your involvement with SCS Q&A

How can SCS support you? Staff SCS Staff are available to answer questions about help with graduate test prep or application fees, advice about next steps, and even recommendation letters. Other Scholars in the same Industry There may be Scholars at your campus right now with the same goals going through the same process. Connect with them! And if there aren’t any, chances are Scholars with your same interests are studying somewhere else, you can still Connect!

How can SCS support you? Alumni Association SCS has over 285 graduates that we can connect you with, who can tell you about their own experiences in Teach for America, applying to med school, or getting their first offer before college! Learn from those who’ve been where you are now, rather than recreate the wheel. Volunteer Network SCS has over 250 volunteers ready and willing to give informational interviews, give you ideas of companies to research and apply to, give you advice on graduate school, review your grad school application, and more! It’s never too late to reach out to SCS for a mentor or a career coach. But you MUST reach out to us.

Thank you! Please fill out the Survey! For information about scheduled events and webinars, go to: Interested in Chatter Access: Meredith Curry for an account