The following resources are available to help you connect and build relationships with others, practice networking skills, and talk to people to help you learn about career possibilities.
Career Communities at the University of Rochester are a way to connect with people, information, and resources to explore interests and connect to potential opportunities. Each community provides opportunities to connect you with people (including other students and Rochester alumni) to explore career possibilities! To receive customized information on the communities, complete your “career clusters” section in Handshake.and choose as many career communities as you would like to join.
A great way to get the inside scoop on industries and professions that might interest you is to conduct informational interviews. This means finding people to reach out to (faculty, alumni, family, friends, upperclass students, etc.), show genuine interest in learning more about their current or past roles, and ask for about 20 minutes of their time to chat.
Do some research on who they are and what they do, take it seriously and prepare questions to help you learn about their career paths and ask what advice they have for you as you explore possibilities. Schedule an appointment with a career educator to discuss how to find people, ways to reach out, and discuss approaching the conversation.
Shadow Professionals in Industries of Interest
Reach out to someone who works in an industry of interest and ask to shadow them for a few hours to a day or two. Use this opportunity to learn more about what it’s like to work in a certain industry and/or profession, as well as about a company culture. It could help narrow your interests and provide inspiration moving forward—and believe it or not, shadowing is something you can put on your resume!