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Explore Careers & Future Options
Career exploration involves self assessment of your values, interests and skills, and research of occupations, industries and professions to determine the best career match for you to meet your career goals.
Meet with a Career Consultant
Assess Yourself / MyPlan / University Counseling Center
Research Employers / CareerSearch / Vault Career Insider
Major Decisions: Link Majors to Careers / Career Options Sheets
Considering Graduate School / Letters of Recommendation & Credentials Files
Career Information & Connections / Informational Interviewing / Career Advisor Network
Links, Resources & Workshops
Meet with a career consultant to discuss your career exploration and research, and to consider career options. Walk-in consulting is available Monday to Friday, 10am-12pm & 1-5pm. Summer drop in consulting is 1-3pm. Appointments are also available if more time is needed (call 202.994.6495).
Are you curious about which academic major or career you would like to pursue? The following resources are available to assist you:
The University Counseling Center offers career decision workshops to help students identify interests and college majors, and shape their college education with career in mind. For more information, visit their website at http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel or call 202.994.5300.
Vault Career Insider is the most trusted name in career information and is made accessible to GW students and alumni through GWork (look for the link in the Announcements section of your profile's homepage). Get insider information on top employers and education programs, job search advice, salary advice, salary information and many other topics. Vault features thirty-five guides on individual career industries, employers and career topics that are free to download. (Note: for free access to Vault Career Insider, you must access it through your GWork profile).
CareerSearch is an extensive search engine and database that includes over four million companies along with contact names, addresses, phone numbers and a variety of company background information. You can search by industry type, location, and keywords.
Features:
Top-Rated Cities - provides in-depth details on employment, population and government statistics in most metropolitan cities within the US.
Salary Wizard - calculates salaries based on job title and geographic location.
Downloads - data sources, industry and product references, industry and position keyword search, MSWord & Excel data imports.
To get started:
-Click on CareerSearch
-Enter the GW client referral code - gwamplay
-Register a username and password
This great resource based on offered majors at GW will give you an insight to various sample occupations, work settings, related skills and characteristics, GW resources, and links to sample industry websites. Career Options sheets are available in our Career Resource Room and online.
Going to graduate school is a commitment on many levels: financial, academic, social, and emotional. Comparatively, graduate study is more demanding, intense, and focused academically, usually less social, and often more expensive than undergraduate study. It is important to spend time thinking about why you want to go, what you want to gain, if it will help you in your career, and if you are ready. Ideally, you should start researching, taking tests, and preparing materials a year before you want to start your program. Be aware of your application deadlines.
There are many reasons people choose to go to graduate school, but, in general, they fall into two categories:
Intellectual Curiosity - you may have an interest in doing advanced work in a specific field that fascinates you.
Professional Development - you may want to work in a profession that requires a particular degree (for example: psychology, law, business, medicine, etc.); or you may want to advance your position in your current career.
In either case, you may want to ask yourself: Do I want to go to graduate school, or do I want a different type of work experience to develop myself professionally or intellectually? The answer will depend on the field you are entering. Keep in mind that some graduate schools, for example, MBA programs, encourage getting work experience first. Others, like Clinical Psychology doctoral programs, give preference to students who do not necessarily have post-college work experience (i.e., they are coming directly from undergraduate school). In making your decision, talk to as many people as you need to gain as much information as you can about the field and the types of degrees that are offered.
Which School and Program?
In deciding which school to attend, there are numerous factors to consider, including:
Academic - reputation of program and faculty, research interests of faculty, curriculum and courses offered, educational resources.
Social - student life, number of students, urban/rural campus, geographic location.
Selection Criteria - GPA, test scores (e.g., LSAT, GRE, etc.), coursework, experience, admissions interview.
Financial - Tuition/living expenses, financial aid/assistantships, loans.
Research schools' Web sites. Contact/visit the schools: talk to professors and current students in the program of interest. Ask your current professors about their knowledge of different schools' programs. Read various guides and rankings found in numerous books, magazines, and Web sites. Attend a graduate or professional school fair.
The Application Process
Examinations - find out the test deadline; make sure that you have enough time to study and prepare.
Letters of Recommendation - schools will most likely prefer references from professors (at least 2) and a third could be from an employer/supervisor. Consider setting up a credential file. The Career Center has partnered with Interfolio, Inc., to provide a convenient way to collect letters of recommendation, transcripts, resumes, and other appropriate documents for applications to graduate/professional schools and for teaching positions without having to repeatedly gather necessary supporting documents for various applications. More info.
Essays - make sure to answer the questions specifically asked; have them proofread for grammar and content.
Transcripts - Contact the Registrar’s office for instructions on how to send your official transcripts.
Another way to receive more detailed information about an occupation or career is to conduct an informational interview. Informational Interviewing is the process of talking to professionals who are employed m a career field/industry that is of interest to you. Visit our Career Center Resource Room for more information.
The Career Advisor Network is a directory of GW alumni dedicated to providing career strategy assistance to other alumni and current GW students.
GW alumni volunteer to become advisors by creating an online advisor profile through which they provide professional information about themselves, note career-related topics they are willing to discuss, and indicate networking assistance they are able to provide.
Students and alumni seeking to network with alumni advisors use the Network’s customized search function to select advisor profiles based on their professional interests. Searchable fields include employer type, employer name, industry, job function, career stage, job title, advisor location, GW school or a combination of these fields.
The Career Advisor Network is not an employment service or a job board, but it is a great way to learn about careers and career industries and to make valuable connections with GW alumni. The Network is a free service for GW students and alumni who are members of the Alumni Online Community and is the result of a partnership between the Office of Alumni Relations and the GW Career Center. For more info, click Career Advisor Network
Attend career-related workshops and panels scheduled throughout the year. Consult our calendar on the homepage for specific dates and times.
The Career Center is also happy to work with student groups and University departments to offer special workshops. If your group or department would like to host a regular workshop, or develop a hybrid workshop specific to your group, complete and submit the following program request form:
Online: Click to complete and submit your program request online.
PDF: Click here to download the program request form in PDF format. Complete and submit it by fax at 202.994.6493, or by mail c/o Program Requests, GW Career Center, 1922 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052.
GWork: The job and internship listing service exclusively for all GW students and alumni.
Students/ Alumni Employers