Opportunities and Resources

Explore Skills and Interests

FOCUS 2 CAREER ASSESSMENT

Your skills are a vital part of who you are and a necessary component to your career journey. The Focus 2 Career Assessment is a self-guided system designed to help you identify potential majors and occupations that best suit your interests and skills
COMPLETE THE FOCUS 2 CAREER ASSESSMENT

O*NET INTEREST PROFILER
The O*NET Interest Profiler can help you find out what your interests are and how they relate to the world of work. You can discover what you enjoy doing based on your interests and decide what kinds of careers you want to explore.
COMPLETE THE O*NET INTEREST PROFILER

O*NET CAREER CLUSTERS
Career Clusters contain occupations in the same field of work that require similar skills. You can use Career Clusters to help focus education plans towards obtaining the necessary knowledge, competencies, and training for success in a particular career pathway.
EXPLORE CAREER CLUSTERS

Explore Internship and Job Opportunities

Use your myCCO account to search and apply for internships and full-time positions, schedule interviews, and see what employers are looking for when they come to campus for career fairs and information sessions. Don't forget to create job agents to notify you by email of new internships and full-time positions matching your interests and criteria as soon as they are posted in myCCO.
Browse Jobs
Browse Internships

Parker Dewey offers short-term, paid, and professional Miro-Internships, giving you the opportunity to explore different roles and company cultures in a way that fits into your schedule.
Explore Micro-Internships
EXPLORE MICRO-INTERNSHIPS

Ascend connects you with internship and job opportunities across Indiana. Their platform recommends opportunities that match your interests and their career mentors guide you through your search.
Explore Opportunities Across Indiana

The largest job board dedicated solely to jobs in tech in the state of Indiana. Filter results by location, category, experience required, keyword or company name.
Explore Tech Jobs

Looking for more internship and job opportunities? Make an appointment with us to chat about your interests and career goals.

Land That Interview

CCO CAREER SUCCESS HANDBOOK
The CCO Handbook has everything you need to reach your next giant leap. Refer to it for networking advice, resume building suggestions, interview suggestions and tips, and more. You can view a digital version of the handbook here, or stop by the Career Center for a printed copy.

RESUME AND COVER LETTER ASSISTANCE
A resume is a brief document that summarizes your education, employment history, and experiences that are relevant to your qualifications for a particular job.. Your resume needs to persuasive and perfect to help you land that interview. For assistance with cover letter and resume building visit the Purdue O.W.L, the CCO's Writing the Resume page and Everything You Need to Know About Cover Letters from Ascend Indiana.

THE ART OF NETWORKING
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that up to 80% of all positions are filled without employer advertising. That means that almost 80% of jobs are filled through some form of networking. Why? It saves employers time and money when they fill positions based on recommendations from colleagues or friends. Use these networking recommendations and tips to help you on your career path.

THE ELEVATOR PITCH
One of the keys to successful interviewing and networking is to make a really strong first impression. One of the first opportunities to make this impression is often in response to the question "Tell me about yourself." The answer is your 30 second elevator pitch. Use these recommendations and practice your pitch.

INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
Conducting informational interviews can broaden your professional network and assist you in gaining information about a specific career field or academic major. Use these guidelines to help you utilize this valuable resource.

Grad School Resources

Should I go to graduate school?

If you’re thinking about going to graduate school, you should ask yourself the following questions to determine if furthering your education is the right step towards achieving your professional goals.

What is my interest level in this field?
How will graduate school advance my career/is it required?
Am I willing to put in the time and effort demanded of graduate study?
How many years of graduate study are required? Should I pursue a masters degree or a doctoral degree?
Is it more valuable to continue my education directly from my undergraduate degree or should I gain some more hands-on experience before applying?

What should you consider before applying?

Reflect on the type of program you’re looking for. Research different graduate programs, their faculty, classes, and opportunities for professional development and to help determine what your educational goals will be.
Research the location and environment best for your studies. Depending on your desired industry, certain locations might give you better access to networking opportunities and experiential options. Consider whether it is important to you to live close to family and friends, if the climate or rural vs. urban setting matters, etc.
Consider the size of the department and size of the incoming cohort that you would be joining. Do you prefer small or large class sizes?
Do the faculty in the department represent your research interests?
Accurately consider your funding availability for the programs you are interested in. Will you need to pursue a program that offers graduate assistantships, apply for grants/fellowships, or take out loans?

Once you’ve done the research, create a list of schools that reflect your answers to the questions above. Make note of application deadlines, fees, and determine what materials are needed to apply.

Some common documents include:

A resume/CV
Standardized test scores (GRE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, DAT)
Personal statement
Letters of recommendation

The following resources can help you with researching graduate schools:

It is important to start this process early, as programs have varied deadlines to follow. If you’re considering graduate school, make an appointment with us to get started!

Career Courses

Career courses are intentional resources designed to help you build skills that will assist you in navigating your career pathway, internship, and job searches. Learn more below and schedule an appointment with your academic advisor to map one (or more) into your degree plan.

SCLA 30000 - LIBERAL ARTS INFLUENTIALS
As a lecture/discussion course, Liberal Arts Influentials features speakers from a diverse range of Liberal Arts majors and introduces students to the myriad career opportunities available to Liberal Arts graduates. Speakers represent careers in the arts, media, industry, politics and more. Students are encouraged to initiate dialogue with working professionals.

COM 49000 - INTERNSHIP IN COMMUNICATION
Experiential, supervised training in public relations, journalism, telecommunication, oral interpretation, speech education, organizational communication, or public communication.

COM 49101 - BOILER COMMUNICATION
This course provides a practical, hands-on approach to public relations by working in student-led teams to produce comprehensive, strategic communication campaigns for actual clients. The course also includes many opportunities for professional development and portfolio building.

PHIL 11500 - WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT?
This course is designed for all philosophy majors, but is open to anyone interested in minor/majoring in philosophy. The format for this course is based on three components: reading and reflection, along with in-class discussion; in-class guest speakers who will address various topics in philosophy as a field, and/or professionalization (both within and outside of academia); and short written exercises, often done in class, which are designed to build up to the final project. The professionalization experts will help students develop their career goals, identify possible internships and scholarships to pursue while a student at Purdue, and develop career goals for after they have graduated.

SOC 42300 - FIELD PRACTICUM IN SOCIOLOGY AND LAW AND SOCIETY
Field experience in criminal justice system or social services. Students serve as “interns” in a criminal justice or social service agency one day (or its equivalent) per week, under the supervision of agency personnel. Application of theory and empirical research findings to field problems.

SOC 48900 - RESEARCH INTERNSHIP IN SOCIOLOGY AND LAW AND SOCIETY
Course organized around internship experience in organizations that collect or analyze data from surveys, social media, focus groups, interviews, or experiments.