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Students

Junior Year

Junior year is a time for students to explore new career fields and to gain new or additional professional experience. As Juniors, students may intern or volunteer and assume leadership roles on-campus - each of these experiences provide opportunities to explore different career fields and industries, and to realize how skills are transferred from job to job. The Center for Career Education helps juniors to develop job search plans, identify key internship opportunities, and to connect with alumni in specific career fields. During your Junior year, you should meet with Career Counselors to discuss career goals and to develop strategic job search plans.

Key Resources

Below are key resources that will help you to identify and reach your career goals:

Finding an Internship

An internship during your junior year can play a key role for you in finding a full-time position, and exploring your career options. Many employers target juniors in their recruiting efforts, offering them direct, tangible industry experience. If you are interested in industries which participate in on-campus recruiting for internships, be aware that the recruitment process begins early during your junior year. Internship resources include:

Networking and Connecting with Alumni

When it comes to careers, nothing compares to speaking with people who work in the profession. Networking and informational interviewing enable you to learn more about an industry and build relationships that provide a support system as you investigate and develop a career in that industry. CCE offers multiple networking opportunities and workshops to prepare you for networking. These include:

Developing a Career Plan

As you gain experience through internships, positions on campus, extracurricular activities, and academic experiences, you may begin to develop a career plan for yourself. This plan may include determining the industries of interest to you, whether you plan to attend graduate or professional school, and how your Columbia experiences fit into your short- and long- term career goals. Career counselors can help you develop a career plan, including exploring career choices through networking, alumni/panel events, site visits, and more. Other resources include:

Gaining Industry Knowledge

Your junior year is an important year for gaining as much industry knowledge as possible - What does it mean to work in a particular industry? What skills are necessary to succeed? What can you be doing now as a student to prepare for your career after graduation? CCE offers many opportunities for students to increase their industry knowledge through industry panels, employer site visits, employer presentations, and career fairs and networking events, and industry research materials in Career Resources.

Events for Juniors

CCE works with Juniors throughout their career planning, ranging from those beginning the career search process to students interviewing for summer internships. There are several workshops and events each academic year specifically targeting students in their Junior year, including:

  • Super Saturday - an event targeted towards students interested in careers in finance and consulting that provides students with the preparation skills and alumni networking opportunities to maximize their success in the Campus Recruiting Program.
  • Internship Boot Camp: Peer to Peer Networking
  • Getting the Corner Office: How to Make the Most of Your Internship or Full-time Job workshop.
  • Summer Internship Search Tip sheets and Practice Interviewing (for a variety of industries)

The calendar of events provides more information about all events specifically targeting Juniors.