Career Development at Tulane

Guest Blogger: Sarah Swig 


As my senior year is rapidly passing me by, I am suddenly forced to make some very important decisions. Where will I go next year? What will I do for work? Who will I live with? When will I start my job? As a Liberal Arts student (Political Science and International Development Double Major, with a Spanish minor), the job possibilities are almost too endless; there are no obvious jobs to which I should begin applying to. I ruled out law school (at least for the time being) after interning with a law firm for eight months, and I am not wanting to immediately jump into any other type of graduate school. So now what?

my basic mentality during my 1st semester, and during Christmas dinner.

I spent my winter break researching careers and trying to figure out where I should go post graduation and what I should do there. However, upon my return to Tulane in the spring, I really began to take advantage of all of the opportunities Tulane has to offer. The three most important and beneficial things that I've done thus far: (1) visit the Career Center (2) attend Tulane's "Career Wave" day, and (3) enroll in a 1-credit Career Development course for Seniors.


1) Career Center 

my new business card!

Here, I got some of the "basics" out of the way. I brought my old resume, and a counselor and I went through each line, removing, adjusting, or revamping each and every aspect of my resume. The Career Center prints our resumes for free, so now I have a beautiful looking resume with all of the pertinent information about me an employer may need. I also now have 40 printed business cards, which the Career Center also prints for free. I've handed a few out and it's been really awesome to have those on hand - rather than having to carry around my resume everywhere I go.



2) Career Wave

This event was held on Saturday, February 8, and was open to Tulane Business and Liberal Arts students of all ages. The event provided an opportunity for us to improve our career planning skills through lectures and panelists, as well as providing an opportunity to hear from and network with Tulane's alumni and parents. The first featured speaker was Lindsey Pollak, a renowned career development expert and LinkedIn ambassador (she's been named one of the 10 Most Visionary Leaders in Career Services). She gave wonderful advice on how to improve our LinkedIn, how to network, what opportunities to take advantage of on and off campus, and how to best manage our "job-seeking" time. Other speakers included Tulane parents, alumni, current students, and Wendy Rothman, Ph. D, a career management specialist and businesswoman.

Students at Career Wave 2014

Each panel provided solid insight and advice for students. After leaving Career Wave, I felt so motivated to push my job search to the next level. I first spent three hours on LinkedIn that night improving my profile, taking much of Lindsey Pollak's advice (we even connected afterwards). I began to make a list of organizations that I am interested in working for, and am now sorting them into categories based off my desire to work there (mostly located in Washington, D.C.). I have spent the last month networking, sending emails to alumni working in the fields I am interested in, and asking friends and family for introductions. I left Career Wave feeling less overwhelmed by my job hunt, and with the feeling of "I can do this!". 

3) Career Development Course

This course has been the most helpful and beneficial part of my career development and job hunt. These optional courses are separated by each grade - freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior - and naturally, the course for seniors is all about networking and job-hunting. My course is set out to teach us 6 things: (1) the components of decision making, (2) how to connect our academic plan to our career plan, (3) interviewing and networking skills, (4) the necessary tools for a successful internship/job search, (5) assessment of personal and work-related values, interests and strengths, and (6) the importance of online career resources (LinkenIn, WaveLink, online job boards, social media, etc.)

We've spent time creating resumes, cover letters, sending professional emails (like asking for an introduction to someone in a field you're interested in, or to an alumni). We've taken various online assessments that show us what our best skills and personality traits are, and moreover how to best utilize these skills in our future careers. We will continue to hone our interviewing skills, learn how to handle business dinners (we will actually go out to a hotel and do this!), and learn how to create our own personal "brand". The class is small - about 12 people, so we are all really forced to do the assigned work each week and share with the class any and all new endeavors. 

Through all of these sources, I feel much more relaxed and at ease about my job search and career development. Tulane has provided me with the necessary information, advice, and skills to set out and make important decisions about my future, and now the ball is in my court to take advantage of and capitalize on these opportunities. Hopefully, by the end of the semester, I'll be writing a blog post about how I've found a job in a city that I am so excited about :).