geographers:

getting jobs
planning careers
at work

In the Planning Careers section of this site, we list a variety of internships (and sample jobs) so you can start this process. You'll need to know actual job titles in the area you are interested in, what the entry-level requirements are for jobs in that category, and what the jobs (and the job environments) are like in that area.

Job descriptions and lists of requirements will tell you what skills and experience you must possess. Course descriptions should tell you what skills you can expect to learn, and thus, what courses you should take to prepare yourself for that category of jobs.

Knowing the skills and abilities you'll need for a certain kind of job means that you'll also be able to discover what extracurricular activities and experiences (volunteer work, internships, part-time jobs) may enhance your usefulness to an employer, and you can search for the kind of experience that will be the most relevant for you.

And, putting the two together will give you a foundation for career planning. (Remember that the whole of your education will be far greater than the sum of these parts, but these parts are your basic career-building blocks.)

The notion of yourself as "marketable" may sound a bit too vocational for an academic institution. View it more as a way to take your coursework seriously, to shape your academic career so you can do what seems most worthwhile or challenging to you after you graduate. Even if you totally change your mind about your life's direction (as many of us do), at least you will have built up some coherent sense of what you’re doing with your brief time as an undergraduate.

While you are an undergrad, you have the opportunity to develop skills and methods of problem solving which will be invaluable in any vocation you choose. Your course selection, approach to course work, and job hunting are integrally related. Demonstrating a professional interest and skills in a field or set of public issues or policies is one of the best ways to make yourself marketable.

By "professional," we mean systematically developing your background, knowledge base, skills and contacts over a 2-3 year period so that by the time you hit the job market, you will have the confidence that can come only from knowing what you know--and don't know--about your chosen field.

Knowledge, enthusiasm and a good academic record all are important to getting that vital first job, but you must also have confidence in your skills and the ability to articulate them, to convince a potential employer of your value.

We don't have a course just for teaching you how to articulate your skills, but if you continue to be aware of and note what you are learning as you continue taking courses, you will see your skill base grow. And, if you look ahead to the kinds of work you want to do, you can begin to build your skill set to match those required for the work you want to do. If you are aware of that process, you will be better prepared to articulate your value to employers.

We do have one required course that will get you started on the pathway to recognizing and articulating that process of learning, of measuring both your intellectual development and the growth of your skills set in geography. In Geography 397, you are required to start an electronic portfolio, which has the potential of being an incredibly useful toolbox for your education.

 If you still have questions, or if you've run into any hot tips or interesting information for the rest of us, please let me know!

Geographers:

getting jobs
planning careers
at work