Explore your interests, clarify your goals, and begin building a plan for your future career. Whether you are choosing a major, learning about career options, or preparing for what comes after graduation, Career Services provides guidance and tools to support you at every stage.
Using the 4-Year Career Roadmap, career readiness resources, and experiential learning opportunities, you can take intentional steps each year toward discovering your calling, gaining experience, and preparing for life beyond Concordia.
Four Year Roadmap
First Year: Exploration & Awareness
Your first year is about discovering who you are and how your interests, strengths, and values connect to possible majors and careers. This is the time to build self-awareness, explore options, and begin understanding your calling and direction.
Start by using career assessment tools and reflecting on what energizes you, what you value, and how you prefer to work. These insights help you make informed academic and career decisions and identify areas for growth. Career Services can help you interpret your results and connect them to majors and career paths.
You are encouraged to explore Concordia’s majors, use tools like What Can I Do With This Major?, talk with professors and mentors, and research careers using trusted resources such as the Occupational Outlook Handbook and O*NET. Logging into Handshake early will also help you become familiar with internships, jobs, and career events available throughout your time at Concordia.
Key focus areas this year include career management, communication skills, and critical thinking. Meeting with a Career Coach can help you turn exploration into a clear plan for the years ahead.
Second Year: Involvement & Experience
Your second year is focused on getting involved and gaining hands-on experience that strengthens your resume and clarifies your interests. This is the time to apply what you are learning in the classroom through leadership roles, work experience, service, and involvement on campus.
Students are encouraged to build their professional network by connecting with professors, mentors, peers, supervisors, and community partners. Participating in student organizations, serving in leadership roles, volunteering, or exploring study abroad opportunities can help you develop transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, and leadership.
Updating your Handshake profile and searching for part-time jobs or internships will help you begin gaining relevant work experience early. Career Services can help you identify meaningful opportunities and ensure your experiences align with your long-term goals.
Key focus areas this year include career management, leadership, teamwork, and global awareness. Meeting with a Career Coach can help you choose experiences that support your academic path and career direction.
Third Year: Professional Development
Your third year is focused on gaining professional experience and preparing for life after graduation. This is the time to pursue internships, part-time jobs, or other opportunities related to your field of study while strengthening the skills employers expect.
Students should revisit their career goals and evaluate how current experiences align with those goals. Building and expanding your professional network is essential at this stage, including connecting with faculty, supervisors, peers, alumni, and industry professionals. Joining CUI Connect can help you find alumni mentors and gain insight into career paths.
Updating your resume, refining your professional brand on Handshake and social media, and actively applying for internships or jobs are key steps this year. Students considering graduate school are encouraged to begin exploring programs and attending graduate fairs. Career Services offers support through resume reviews, mock interviews, and career coaching to help you stay on track.
Key focus areas this year include professionalism, digital fluency, and career management. Meeting with a Career Coach can help you prepare strategically for your next steps.
Fourth Year: Job Search & Graduate School Planning
Your final year is focused on turning preparation into action. Whether you are entering the workforce or continuing your education through graduate school, this is the time to refine your career strategy and move forward with confidence.
Students are encouraged to work closely with a Career Coach to strengthen their professional brand, update application materials, and prepare for interviews. Attending career fairs or graduate fairs, practicing interview skills, and actively applying for full-time roles are key steps during this year. Those planning for graduate school should begin finalizing applications and work with the Writing Studio to review personal statements.
Keeping your Handshake profile and resume current is essential as employers and graduate programs review candidates. Career Services provides support through resume reviews, mock interviews, and workshops to help you navigate this transition successfully.
Key focus areas this year include career management, professionalism, communication, leadership, and critical thinking. Meeting with a Career Coach can help you finalize your plan and take confident steps toward your next chapter.
Career Readiness
Employers consistently look for candidates who demonstrate core professional competencies alongside academic knowledge. Career readiness is about developing the skills, behaviors, and mindset needed to succeed in the workplace before and after graduation.
Career Services supports students in building career readiness through coursework, campus involvement, work experience, and one-on-one coaching. Undergraduate students can also assess their readiness using the Focus 2 Career Readiness Assessment, available at no cost.
Core Career Competencies
Students develop these competencies through classes, internships, leadership roles, campus involvement, and career coaching. Meeting with a Career Coach can help you identify strengths and areas for growth.
Career Branding & Professional Presence
Your career brand is how employers understand who you are, what you offer, and where you are headed. A strong professional presence—online and in person—helps opportunities find you.
Build Your Professional Brand
Career branding focuses on clarity, consistency, and credibility.
- Professional Profile Use a clear photo, headline, and summary that reflect your goals and interests.
- Experience & Education Highlight accomplishments, leadership, and involvement beyond what fits on a resume.
- Recommendations & Engagement Request recommendations from supervisors and mentors and stay active in relevant groups.
- Custom URL & Visibility Personalize your profile link and include it on resumes and email signatures.
Networking & Job Search
Your brand is strengthened through relationships and research. Career Services can help you refine your professional brand, review profiles, and align your online presence with your career goals.
- Build your network by connecting with classmates, alumni, faculty, supervisors, and employers.
- Personalize connection requests and follow companies or organizations of interest.
- Use platforms like LinkedIn to research roles, companies, and interviewers before applying.
- Apply intentionally to positions that align with your skills and goals.
Want help pulling this together?
Meeting with a Career Coach can help you connect career readiness skills with your experiences and present them clearly to employers and graduate programs.
Choosing a Major
Choosing a major is an important step in your academic and career journey, and it’s normal for that decision to evolve over time. Many students change their major at least once as they gain clarity about their interests, strengths, and goals. Research shows that declaring a major by your second year can increase your likelihood of graduating on time.
Career Services can help you explore undergraduate majors at Concordia by looking beyond course requirements to understand career outcomes, alumni success, and opportunities connected to each field. Tools like What Can I Do With This Major? allow you to explore common career paths, employers, and strategies associated with different majors.
If you are unsure which major is right for you, meeting with a Career Coach can help you connect your interests and strengths to academic options. Once you have identified a path, your Academic Advisor can guide you through the process of changing your major, minor, or program if needed.
Gain Experience
Co-curricular learning and experiential learning opportunities provide students a space to learn desirable employability skills such as teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, and leadership. Concordia offers a variety of learning opportunities for students to gain these skills through experiences.
Work Experience
The Department of Campus Safety provides safety escorts for anyone during the evening and early morning hours and for those who are disabled. Any person needing an escort should contact Campus Safety at the dispatch number (949) 214-3000 and state their name and location. For those requesting a ride from their vehicle, please give a description of your vehicle and keep your emergency flashers on until the on-duty officer arrives.
On-campus Employment
The primary objective of student employment is to enhance the students’ education by nurturing strong work habits and Christian ethics. Part of Concordia’s mission is to empower students to become lifelong learners and individuals of service. This takes place in the workplace as much as it does in the classroom. The objective of the student employee is to afford the best and most effective efforts on the job, develop good work habits, and to be of service. Students often gain essential office and customer service skills through on-campus employment opportunities.
Internships
Internships are opportunities to gain practical work experience in a variety of fields. Here are just some advantages an internship offers:
- Internships serve as a link between college and work
- Investigate and experience the organization’s culture
- Develop and identify career-related and transferable skills
- Internships allow you to network and meet people within your field
- According to a recent Job Report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 80.9% of new college hires had either a co-op or internship experience
Campus Involvement
Campus Safety and Community Services Officers provide vehicle battery jumps for community members and guests upon request. Please contact Campus Safety Dispatch at (949) 214-3000 and provide a brief description of your vehicle and your location. Remain with your vehicle while waiting for the officer.
Studies show that student involvement has a positive impact on critical thinking and contributes to student success in college. “Students involved in co-curricular activities are 51% better at working in teams and at developing interpersonal relationships than their uninvolved counterparts” (Modernson & Woosley, 2014).
Modernson, K., & Woosley, S. (2014). Involvement, leadership, and learning: Using data stories to communicate value. The Bulletin of the Association of College Unions International, 82(3), 12-17.
Develop employability skills through the following activities:
Clubs & Organizations
- Verbal communication (campaigns, formation of arguments, presentations, committee membership)
- Teamwork (committees and rounds, conflict management
- Decision making & problem solving (advocacy, representation, understanding of personal bias, Robert’s Rules of Order)
- Workflow planning (weekly meetings, office hours, project management, delegation)
- Quantitative analysis (present and interpret data, proposal approvals)
- Writing & editing reports
- Computer software (database management, shared networks, social media management, presentation, budget management)
Student Government (ASCUI)
- Verbal communication (campaigns, formation of arguments, presentations, committee membership)
- Teamwork (committees and rounds, conflict management)
- Decision making & problem solving (advocacy, representation, understanding of personal bias, Robert’s Rules of Order)
- Workflow planning (weekly meetings, office hours, project management, delegation)
- Quantitative analysis (present and interpret data, proposal approvals)
- Writing & editing reports
- Computer software (database management, shared networks, social media management, presentation, budget management)
Student Leadership
- Verbal communication (interpersonal, facilitate small group discussion, presentation)
- Teamwork (relationship building, conflict management, commitment, accountability, trust)
- Decision making & problem solving
- Workflow planning (organization, event execution, succession planning)
- Quantitative analysis (budget management and balance, calculate hours, estimate expenses, program assessment and evaluation)
- Technology (social media management, budget management, event planning software, project management, digital collaboration, calendar management)
Intramural Sports
- Verbal communication (create game plans and practice schedules, interpret rules)
- Workflow planning (prioritization, operational planning and scheduling, group exercise routines)
- Teamwork (establish rapport, recruitment and selection of teammates, set goals)
Service & Community Engagement (Concordia Cares)
- Teamwork (conflict resolution, interpersonal, collaboration
- Adaptability
Peck, A. (2017). Engagement and employability: integrating career learning through cocurricular experiences in postsecondary education. Washington D.C.: NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Get in Touch
Whether you have questions or need direction, our team is ready to assist you.
Center for Career & Vocation
Schroeder Library & Learning Commons
First Floor
Phone: 949-214-3595
Email: [email protected]
Hours: 8:30am – 4:00pm Monday – Friday