Career Planning

Career Action Plan Checklists
These at-a-glance checklists will help keep you on track to achieve your career goals.

• Career Action Plan for Freshman [PDF]
• Career Action Plan for Sophomores [PDF]
• Career Action Plan for Juniors [PDF]
• Career Action Plan for Seniors [PDF]

Career Exploration & Planning at Pitzer College [PDF]
Investigate your career options. This diagram will help you Discover, Explore and Achieve using the tools, workshops and events that Pitzer Career Services offers.

Career Fair Guide [PDF]
This guide will help you make the most of career fairs and help you make a lasting impression with employers, with tips about before, during and after the fair!

Contacting Pitzer Alumni Guidelines [PDF]
Contacting alumni does not have to be intimidating, and most are happy to help! This guide outlines different ways to contact alumni, pointed questions to ask and how to prepare for meetings with alumni.

Cover Letter Guide [PDF]
This guide will illustrate what a good cover letter looks like as well as contain samples of cover letters, thank you emails and other correspondence you may use in the job search process.

Elevator Pitch – 30 Sec Introduction Guide [PDF]
This guide will help you create a script for a typical “elevator speech” used to make strong first impressions when networking. Think of it as putting together a brief commercial for yourself!

Graduate School Guide [PDF]
This guide will help you find the graduate program that’s right for you, while also giving you insight into the application process and important deadlines to look out for.

Informational Interviews [PDF]
Informational Interviews can be a crucial part of your job search process. This guide explains what they are, how to get one, and how they are different from the typical job interview.

Internship Checklist [PDF]
This document is designed to help you in the internship process, starting from initial self-assessments and searches to follow-up emails and receiving school credit.

Finding an Internship [PDF]
This document is a list of resources that provide a great place for you to start your internship search.

Interview Guide [PDF]
This in-depth guide will show you how to successfully interview with future employers.

Public Sector Industry Guide [PDF]

Recruiting Timelines [PDF]
Do you ever wonder when organizations recruit for full-time jobs? We’ve included this handout of employer recruiting timelines by industry. It’s important to note that these are typical trends and individual organizations may have their own recruiting timelines.

Resume Guide [PDF]
This guide will help you in the internship process, starting from initial self-assessments and searches to follow-up emails and receiving school credit. For resume templates please refer to the following options: Option 1 and Option 2 .

Career Plan By Year

Tech Industry Guide [PDF]

Career assessments are tools designed to help individuals understand how personal attributes (e.g. interests, values, skills, preferences, motivations, strengths, world view) impact their potential success and satisfaction with different career options and work environments.

Career Services offers the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Strong Interest Inventory (SII), The Clifton Strengths Assessment and Motivated Values and Skills through individual counseling sessions. Schedule an initial meeting with Carolina Rodriguez or Teresa Roberts to start the assessment process.

Other Online Assessments

Myers-Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI)

• Humanmetrics Personality Test
• Type Logic
• What Can I Do with My Personality Type? (Ball State University)

Holland Code

• Holland Code Quiz (Rogue Community College)

What do you need right now? Just jump in!

If you know (or think you know) what you want to pursue as a career when you graduate from Pitzer, you should work with the Career Services office to begin developing specific steps for executing your career plan. If you are unsure of what you want to do when you leave Pitzer and would like to explore that question with us, you should DEFINITELY work with Career Services. We can help you through the process of self-discovery, identifying your skills and interests, exploring different career paths, and helping you to develop a plan for moving into the future.

No matter what, the key to having a plan when you graduate is to begin preparing yourself as early as possible. You don’t need to decide on your specific career path during first year, or even by senior year. However, you should work with Career Services to identify your interests, build the skills, make the connections, explore the opportunities, and develop the professionalism you will need to succeed in any career path.

Below is an online video link followed by a general outline of the steps that every Pitzer student should take during college to begin mapping out a successful career plan that can be executed before, during, or after graduation. If you have missed a few steps, don’t worry, come to Career Services and we will work with you to move forward from wherever you are starting.

A 4-Year Action Plan: Career Exploration and Planning at Pitzer College
This video, initially aimed toward Pitzer parents and family members, offers an overview of Pitzer’s career development resources and describes a general 4-year process of career exploration and planning for Pitzer students.

First Year

• Log-in to Handshake, complete your personal profile, familiarize yourself with the system (you will use it to search for jobs and internships, view and RSVP for career events around the 5C campuses, make appointments with Pitzer career counselors, etc.).
• Visit the Career Services office (Scott Hall Room 126) to say hi, get oriented, pick up a career handout, grab some candy or coffee, take our dog out for a walk or whatever
• Meet with a career counselor or a career ambassador at least one time during your first year (you schedule appointments through Handshake or can stop in during walk-in hours every day).
• Create a professional resume before the end of the academic year (you can grab a Resume Guide from Career Services and we would love to meet with you to help).
• Get involved on campus outside the classroom in something that interests you.
• Have a productive summer (pursue an internship, summer job, volunteer opportunity, independent research project, community service, summer coursework).

Second Year

• Update your resume after the summer and your first year on campus.
• Meet with a career counselor during Fall semester to begin preparing yourself to apply for summer internships (yes, you need to start preparing for summer internships during the Fall)
• Begin developing your professional network, especially within the Pitzer community (practice your elevator speech, create a LinkedIn profile, log-in to the Pitzer Professional Directory, begin setting up conversations and informational interviews with Pitzer alumni, parents, and faculty).
• Attend at least one Career Services workshop at Pitzer or at one of the other Claremont Colleges.
• Attend a Career Fair at one of the Claremont Colleges during the year and attend at least one employer information session.
• Begin researching specific employers and professions with the goal of identifying places to intern for the summer.
• If you think graduate school might be an option, begin researching degree programs and having conversations with your faculty and/or with a career counselor.
• Schedule a practice interview with a career counselor during or before Spring semester to hone your interviewing skills.
• Get involved on campus outside the classroom in something that interests you.
• Have a productive summer (you should seek to have a substantive summer experience that allows you develop your skills and achieve a set of results; however, don’t worry if your summer experience is directly related to what you might want to do when you graduate).

Third Year

• Update your resume after the summer and your second year on campus.
• Meet with a career counselor during Fall semester to begin preparing yourself to apply for summer internships (if you are studying abroad during Fall, Career Services can conduct Skype sessions with you).
• If you are planning to study abroad during Spring semester, work with a career counselor to develop a plan for applying to internships from abroad and possibly for preparing for the grad school application process.
• Continue to develop your professional network.
• Work to better define your post-graduation career plan and target internships and experiences that will help you toward executing that plan.
• If you think graduate school is your goal, continue talking with your faculty, plan to take the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, or GMAT during the summer or during Fourth Year, begin lining up possible faculty members and other who can write recommendations.
• Attend at least one Career Services workshop at Pitzer or at one of the other Claremont Colleges.
• Attend a Career Fair at one of the Claremont Colleges during the year and attend at least one employer information session.
• Get involved on campus outside the classroom in something that interests you.

Have a productive summer (you should seek to have a substantive summer experience that allows you develop your skills and achieve a set of results; your experience should be related as much as possible to your post-graduation career plan).

Fourth Year

• Update your resume after the summer and your third year on campus.
• Meet with a career counselor as needed to support your job search or grad school applications.
• Relentlessly network, making new contacts and benefiting from the relationships you have built during the previous 2-3 years.
• Apply to job opportunities as early as possible and in some cases, reach out to your target employers before jobs are even posted.
• Attend career workshops, employer information sessions, and Career Fairs at Pitzer and at the other Claremont Colleges.
• Be organized to meet grad school and fellowship application deadlines.
• Don’t stress if you don’t have immediate success, if you receive some rejections, or if you decide to change your career plan – Career Services is here to support you.
• Career Services doesn’t go away once you graduate – our office works with alumni and you will have still have access to Handshake, career counseling, networking, and other career resources.

Connecting Academics to Career Paths

Curious on what you can do with your fields of interest? See the traditional career routes and industries for your field and discover what Pitzer alumni are doing post-grad! Please note that this information was collected through alumni LinkedIn profiles to provide a general overview of career possibilities.

*Disclaimer: What you major in does not necessarily define your career path, as there are flexibilities to exploring careers.

If you would like to explore more career options and learn what skills or additional graduate education you may need to acquire for possible career paths, please visit O*NET Online.

What Can I Do With This Major

What Can I Do With This Major? is a website featuring 100 major profiles with information on common career paths, types of employers that hire in the field, and strategies to maximize opportunities. Links to professional associations, occupational outlook information, and job search resources are included.

The purchased resource is produced by the University of Tennessee’s Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration.

Post-Undergraduate Education Pathways

In 2021, 14.4% of the US population aged 25 and older have obtained an advanced degree such as a master’s degree, professional degree, or doctoral degree. People get advanced degrees for a variety of reasons, including enhanced earning potential, professional skills development, specialization, and career advancement. Below is a brief overview of advanced degree options:

Other Bachelor’s Degrees: 4 years to complete

• Bachelor of Science (BS)
• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)

Other Post-Grad programs: 1-2 years

• Post-Baccalaureate (PBACC)

Common Master’s Degrees: around 2 years to complete

• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
  • Usually 3-5 years of work experience before MBA
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
• Master of Science (MS)
• Master of Education (MEd)

Common Doctorate Degrees:

• Doctor of Education (Ed.D): 3 years to complete
  • May require a Master’s
• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D): 4-8 years to complete
  • Sometimes require a Master’s but can also go directly
• Doctor of Psychology (PsyD): 4-6 years
  • Recommended Master’s

Common Professional Degrees:

• Juris Doctor (JD): 3 years to complete
• Doctor of Medicine (MD): 4 years to complete plus 3-7 year residency
  • Prerequisites and Course Requirements
• Physicians Assistant (PA): 3 years to complete
  • 500-2000 hours healthcare experience before PA school
• Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN): 2 years to complete
  • Recommended BSN or RN