Prepare
Get Career Ready
Preparing for the search starts here. Jump in to learn about gaining experience, networking, and showcasing your talents.
What is Career Readiness?
The skills you are developing now are important elements to your career readiness. The combination of professional experiences, academic pursuits, and involvement opportunities on and off campus can help you to become Ready to Roar into your career.
Ready to Roar Career Proficiencies
Identify, articulate, and develop one's values, interests, skills, strengths, knowledge, and experiences relevant to personal growth and professional success.
Self awareness is foundational to career readiness, as it allows individuals to make informed decisions about their career path and to develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful.
Effectively convey information, concepts, opinions, and thoughts in a professional or educational setting.
Understand how to utilize and leverage technology to solve problems efficiently and ethically.
Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.
Ability to think clearly and rationally to make decisions.
Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.
The ability to influence and motivate others to achieve a common goal.
Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.
Design, evaluate, and implement a strategy to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired goal, requiring a combination of critical thinking, creativity, and analytical skills.
Examine and think deeply about complicated, connected worldwide systems and their effects on people's lives and the sustainability of the earth.
Working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference.
Demonstrate the awareness, attitude, knowledge and behavioral skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures.
Gaining Experience
There is value in every experience–inside and outside of the classroom. Career skills can be developed through a wide range of extracurricular, academic, or professional experiences.
Part time jobs allow you to earn money, gain relevant experience, and build your career community while you're in college.
Student employment helps you develop career skills and community from the comfort of campus. LSU offers a variety of student employment experiences, allowing students to seek out work experiences that fit their interests and skill set.
Internships can be paid or unpaid work opportunities, and typically include more robust experience than a part-time job.
Students are able to work full-time in an internship and still maintain their full-time
student status by registering with the career center.
learn how to register an internshipView Internship Opportunities on Handshake
Check with your academic department about the possibility of earning credit for your internship.
Co-ops are in-depth, paid work experience related to your major.
Co-ops can be full-time (40 hours per week) alternating semesters of work and school or part-time (20 hours per week) combining work and school during the same time period.
Students are able to work full-time in a co-op and still maintain their full-time student status by registering with the career center. Co-ops will appear on the student transcript if they are registered with the career center.
Give back to your community while developing important career skills. Volunteering is a great way to build leadership, teamwork, and communication skills. Participate in an alternative break, nonprofit agency, or on-campus event.
Get involved in student professional organizations and clubs on campus. Explore interests and build skills such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. Discover potential career interests and gain valuable experience in a executive or management role.
Academic projects can provide valuable opportunities to build field specific skills. Many projects in your syllabus are directly related to the work you will be doing after graduation.
Don’t forget about all the other opportunities:
- Study Abroad
- Research or lab work
- Capstone projects
- Technical skills, i.e. using Python in your class
- Student teaching
Build Your Career Community and Network
What is a career community?
As an LSU student, your networking journey has already begun. Even when you’re not doing the specific skills or experience needed in your field, you are building active relationships with faculty, staff, and peers. You are “networking” when you go to a social gathering, when you’re in the classroom, when you meet with professors, and when you join student organizations.
Think about your network as an important part of your career readiness. Connections you've made will help you find and achieve success. Your career community will continue to grow and thrive over time.
Networking Strategies
- Get to know your professors – some have worked in your field
- Ask faculty or professionals for advice on academic projects
- Join professional associations in your field – many will have student versions or discounts for student membership
- Conduct Informational Interviews to understand your field and the hiring process to get a job – talk to professionals from the Career Expo, student organizations, alumni, or parents of your friends in your industry
- Pay attention to individuals in your field to get an idea of career trajectories and positions to apply for
- Follow a professional in your field on LinkedIn for insights into industry trends
- Develop a relationship with a mentor in the field
- Ask for recommendations on a job application
Showcase your experience
Now that you have the experience and you’ve built a strong career community – it's time to show off your skills. Drafting a resume, cover letter, and elevator pitch is a continuous process. As you grow and gain experience, some positions you’ve held or accomplishments you’ve made may no longer be relevant for your next step.
Professional social networks are also a great way to showcase your skills to potential employers. Sites like LinkedIn should reflect your resume and relevant experience in your field. Keep your profile neat and professional and reach out to potential career connections.
Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed in the process. Utilize the Career Center resources to make your documents shine.
Your resume and cover letter can be seen as your first interview. You should use your resume to show you meet all of the criteria and are the best candidate for the job.
LinkedIn is a positive way to shape your own personal brand. Make sure that when people research you, the results are what you want them to see.
What to Include on Your LinkedIn Page
- A recent, professional photo of yourself
- A relevant headline with your academic or professional title under your name, i.e. "Student at Louisiana State University" or "Marketing Intern at [Company Name]".
- All past education and work experience – consider this your living resume and keep it up to date
- Optional about section – summarize your accomplishments in 1-2 paragraphs
Other Profile Recommendations
- Honors and awards
- Professional recommendations
- Skill endorsements
Your Elevator Pitch is the 30-second speech that summarizes who you are, and why you'd be the perfect candidate. You can use this pitch at career fairs, networking events, or other professional settings to introduce yourself.
Take the next step.