Experience Your Career

You can explore exciting opportunities to find careers that align with your interests. We’ll help you connect with resources and guide you through creating strategies for finding jobs, internships, as well as volunteer and shadowing opportunities.

Informational Interviewing

An informational interview is a conversation with someone who can give you advice about an organization, field of work, or a particular job that interests you. Your interviewee may be someone you already know like a supervisor, family friend or co-worker, or it may be with a stranger. Informational interviews can help you:

  • Determine if a career field is right for you
  • Discover new possibilities in your field
  • Gain insight into the realities of employment
  • Expand your professional network

Not ready to put yourself out there? Check out the following from the safety of your own computer:

A sharply dressed student having a conversation.
Student at a Bobcat Shadow site learning from a Sherwin Williams staff member.

Job Shadowing

Job shadowing is a critical but often overlooked element of career development that provides you with the unique opportunity to learn about the careers that interest you firsthand from professionals who do them every day. Shadowing opportunities, which may exist at half-day, full-day and longer lengths, are a great way to build your network and gain an insider's perspective of the jobs that interest you most.

Career Services is here to help you access job shadowing opportunities across the state of Texas and beyond.

Volunteering

Volunteering, much like job shadowing or pursuing an internship, is a great way to gain experience, build your resume and create a professional network--all while giving back to your community, school or cause of your choice. You can find volunteer and unpaid internship opportunities through websites including:

Students volunteering by participating in Bobcat Build. They are drilling into concrete.
A student learning from a professional in an outdoor setting.

Internships

An internship can be the first real-world experience you’ve had with your possible career path. Typically a semester or longer, an internship provides you with critical professional experience--before you graduate! An internship can:

  • Provide insight into the skills, responsibilities and opportunities associated with your major or desired field
  • Confirm or negate your major choice
  • Introduce you to networking contacts within your field
  • Help you secure a full-time position upon graduating

Want More Information or Help?

Connect with your college's career liaison to find out more, discuss which experiences may be the best options for your stage of career exploration, and to establish search strategies for your desired experiential opportunities. To set up an appointment, email your career educator or log in to Handshake.