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Carnegie Mellon Heinz School Policy Management Information Technology
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Building Your Career Portfolio 

We would like to encourage you to be thoughtful and purposeful in preparing for your career and presenting yourself to employers. The questions below provide you with a framework to reflect on what you can do now to prepare for the future.

Academics

  • What opportunities are there in my courses to use assignments as a way to further my career exploration?
  • How can I use an assignment to interview someone in a role I am interested in pursuing?
  • What elective courses should I take?
  • Should I form or join a study group of students who share a particular interest?

Readings in Your Field

  • What reading do I now do in my field?
  • What are professionals in my field reading? What does faculty read?
  • What books or publications are most often cited or mentioned as having influenced the field?

Work Experience

For people recently out of college with less than two years’ relevant experience:

  • How can I draw on whatever previous experience I have had to help me relate to ideas being discussed in the classroom?
  • As I look for an internship, what kinds of organizations are there doing the kind of work I’m interested in?
  • What kinds of roles are there in these organizations for people with my experience and skill set? Do these roles exist as internships, or as regular employment?
  • What do I want to learn through this work experience?
  • Do I want to work while I am in school? If so, part-time or full-time?
  • How Can I bring what I am learning at my internship or work into the classroom, and how can I apply what I am learning in the classroom to current challenges at work?

For people relatively early in their careers and working in their field of choice:

  • How can I apply what I am learning directly to the challenges I face at work? How can I bring my learnings from the field into the classroom in a way that will help me develop my own theories about what works?
  • If I am working and going to school at the same time, what “stretch” assignment can I take on?
  • If I am not working while I go to school, what internships can I get that will help me set the next steps in my career trajectory?

For career transitioners:

  • What skills and knowledge from my previous career or other relevant experience can I leverage as I shift to a different career?
  • How is the job/sector that I’m moving from similar to the job/sector that I’m moving to? Are there common themes and experiences?
  • How can I get experience in this new field of interest?
  • Do I need to think of a “bridge” job?

For seasoned professionals already in the field of choice:

  • How can I maximize the opportunities to apply what I am learning in the classroom to challenges at work?
  • How can I identify one or two ongoing challenges for me in work settings and then use the Heinz experience as a laboratory to take risks and learn?
  • How can I use school to broaden my horizon at work?

Volunteer Work

  • In addition to the rewards of service, what can I learn from my volunteer experience?
  • What professional skills do I have that can benefit a nonprofit organization?
  • Do I want my volunteer work to use the skills I have and be similar to the work I do on a daily basis or do I want it to be something completely different?
  • Are there opportunities for “stretch” assignments in my volunteer work that would enhance my skill set?
  • What commitment can I make and keep to a volunteer position? Do I prefer a series of one-shot assignments, a week-long engagement, or am I able to make a more regular or longer-term commitment?

Your Network

  • What kind of network do I want to create?
  • At this stage in my career, what are the one or two most important things I am seeking from my network?
  • What existing groups speak to some aspect of my identity or interest?
  • Are there existing formal or informal student groups that could provide the beginning of a network for me?
  • Could I start a new “professional interest forum” (PIF)?
  • What leadership roles might I take on?
  • What other units at The Heinz School or at Carnegie Mellon can my student group or PIF partner with to enhance professional development and create career opportunities?
  • What professional associations am I involved with now? What purposes do they or could they serve?
  • What professional associations exist in my field or area of expertise? Do they have a student chapter?
  • What do I have to offer? Would becoming better known in a professional association help position me? How can I make that happen? Can I serve on a committee or present at a conference?