Before your career appointment

Use the following guides to prepare for an appointment with the Career Action Center.

Select which of the following best describes your upcoming appointment:


Before your career exploration and decision making appointment

Meeting with a career counselor to discuss major and career exploration is an important step you can take to discover more about yourself and the career paths that might be a good fit for you. Students often come to these appointments for the following reasons:

  • Struggling with making a decision about which major to choose
  • Unsure of career paths associated with majors that have peaked their interest
  • Enjoy their major, but unsure of what jobs or internships would be a fit
  • In general feeling a bit “lost” in terms of education and career direction

These are very common concerns and although it may seem like “everyone else knows exactly what they are doing” there are many students who are unclear about how their education fits into the working world. The good news is the Career Action Center can help give you strategies and resources to guide you in this process. We want to make sure we make the most your appointment, so here are some things for you to do before we meet that will help you make the most out of your time.

  • If there are a few majors that you are interested in, take a few minutes to read about them and potential careers at What Can I Do With a Major in? Take some notes on what is most interesting to you so we can discuss it when we meet.
  • Explore some of your interest areas on the Occupational Outlook Handbook. On the left-hand side you can review careers by Occupation Groups rather than by a specific job title. Spend time clicking a few careers that look interesting to you and make note of anything that stands out to you as appealing so we can discuss it when we meet.

Before your resume, cover letter or Linkedin review appointment

We look forward to helping you create an effective resume, cover letter and Linkedin profile that highlight your strengths and experience. Whether this is your first time creating a resume or you are revising an older resume, we are happy to help you develop a polished document that meets the expectations of employers and recruiters.

To make the most of your appointment we recommend the following:

  • Find a job or internship posting online that is representative of something you might be using the resume for now or in the future and bring to your appointment or drop-in hours.
  • Review our Resume Examples and Tips and make some revisions or create a resume based on the examples before the appointment.
  • Review the Cover Letter Writing Guide and Sample and write a cover letter targeted to the job/internship posting you are bringing with you.
  • If you would like us to review your LinkedIn profile – search for “Sample Coug” on Linkedin.com to see a student sample and model your profile after this sample.

Before your job or internship searching appointment

We are glad you are coming in for help with your job or internship search! To maximize your appointment time we have some recommendations that will help you get started:

  • Unsure of what careers or internships are associated with your major? Explore some of your interest areas on the Occupational Outlook Handbook. On the left-hand side you can review careers by Occupation Groups rather than by a specific job title. Spend time clicking a few that look interesting.
  • Check out What Can I Do With a Major in? Take some notes on what is most interesting to you so we can discuss it when we meet.
  • Go to the job search board indeed.com and type in key words related to the type of work you might like to do rather than your major (for example: communications, marketing, children, writing, analyst, quality assurance, recruiting, counseling). Try multiple searches using a wide variety of words representing your interests.
  • Check out WSU’s job, internship and student employment board Coug Link.
  • Review your department’s website - some list potential employers and organizations to check for internships.
  • Begin working on updating your resume and bring these materials with you to the appointment.

Before your mock interview appointment

Taking the time to practice your interviewing skills is a crucial step in job search process! Practicing responding to questions out loud is one of the best ways to help you clarify your strengths and increase your confidence for your next job, internship or graduate school interview.

Mock interview appointments last about 50 minutes; half of the time will be spent interviewing and the other half of the time will be utilized to discuss your strengths and areas for continued exploration and growth.

To make the most of your mock interview appointment we recommend the following:

  • Bring your resume and a posting of a job or internship as an example of the type of position you would be interested in interviewing for to your appointment.
  • Review the Interviewing Skills Guide and Sample Interview Questions on the Interviewing page and think about examples you can use to answer situational based questions.
  • Some students choose to dress in their planned interview outfit to make it more realistic and get feedback on the outfit. Please know that this is not expected or required.