Year Two

• Complete introductory courses in your prospective major field.
   
• Meet with advisor and career services director to explore the world of work and specific occupations.
   
• Take Sophomore Choices, Oglethorpe's course designed to help you choose a major and a career. This course includes most of the recommended career-development activities listed.
  
  The course is a great way to prepare for your future while getting academic credit for your effort.
   
• Conducting self-assessment is the first stage of the career planning process. Learning about your skills, interests, and personality - and being able to describe those to others - is essential to setting your career goals and finding a job. How
  can you conduct your own "self-assessment"? Take Sophomore Choices, visit the career library for values games and skills inventories, and use the SIGI+ career guidance program. SIGI+ is a computer program that leads you through the self-assessment process, taking in your skills, values, and interests and suggesting possible career fields that fit your preferences. Explore careers on-line!
   
• Interact with peers, faculty, family. Ask people who know you well what your strengths are.
   
• Conduct informational interviews with professionals in the field(s) you are considering. Talking to people who currently do what you want to do is the best way to learn more about the field and your potential fit for it. Career Services has tips on how to conduct these interviews. Oglethorpe's Alumni Office can help you get in touch with OU alumni in your field(s) of interest.

• Plan a specific internship in your chosen field. Oglethorpe's internship program allows you to earn academic credit for your internship. The first step is to attend an Internship Orientation the semester prior to your internship. It takes about 2 months to find an internship site, so plan your search accordingly. Internship listings are available in the Career Library in Emerson Student Center and on-line at www.monstertrak.com (password: careers). The deadline to register for an internship for credit is the drop/add date of the semester for which you wish to register. To earn credit for an internship, you must have a faculty supervisor who will assign at least a 20 page paper and journal entries. You will also have to work 30 hours on site for every hour of academic credit (4 hour of credit = 120 hours on site, or about 10 hours per week). Remember, if you get credit for an internship, you have to pay tuition for those credit hours, just like any other class. Internships are graded pass/fail. More information on Internships
   

• Get to know counselors, faculty and administrators. Keep developing contacts to serve as references for you.
   
• Summer vacation:  Get a job, earn money, develop skills, build a good work reputation.

 Adapted from The Blue Chip Graduate and Boston University's career blueprint.