Preparing for the lifestyle changes that graduation brings can be hard enough, but starting early can help get students ahead of the game. Drury’s own Career Planning & Development is a helpful resource for students as they venture into career paths and graduate schools.

Taking the next-steps

Planning for life after graduation can be taxing whether that be for graduate school or jumping into the work place. Emily Buckmaster, director of Career and Family Development in the Cox Compass Center is excited about their offerings that can help propel students into their futures.

“Career Planning & Development has a full year of programming called the Senior Year Experience which focuses on preparing students for their final year to graduate. Another great option we offer is our PDEV 493 class which is a 1 credit hour course called Senior Seminar: Professional Development that focuses on preparing for next steps and polishing professional development skills,” explained Buckmaster.

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Students who are unable to fit the course into their schedules can obtain similar one-on-one assistance by appointment on topics covered in class. Beyond polishing professional development skills, searching for jobs is something students should consider taking on early.

Choosing a path

“The general rule of thumb is that the average job search takes approximately 6 months. Typically, the new grad “hiring season” tends to pick up in February around the time of college job fairs, like ours, or May for summer graduates,” expressed Buckmaster.

Graduate school preparations can also come as early as the job search for students who aren’t looking to grad school. The right time to apply to grad school can vary greatly depending on the field. Buckmaster is excited about what faculty advisors have to offer students.

“We highly recommend visiting with your faculty advisor since they often know a lot about the programs students in your particular major typically explore. It’s best to start researching as soon as you think you may be interested in grad school, even as early as your sophomore year, and less commonly in the case of some programs it could be as late as your senior year,” said Buckmaster.

For students, regardless of their path beyond Drury, preparing for the workforce, grad school and admission testing, the earlier the better. Drury’s Career Planning & Development helps provide the tools to prepare students for careers and grad school like reviewing personal statements, test preparation and other areas of concern students may have.

Written by Elaine Choate.