Develop your Four Year Plan: Making the Most of Hiram College

Learn more about yourself

  • Explore a wide variety of academic courses.
  • Become involved in activities and events such as committees, social clubs, and athletics.
  • Attend symposia, lectures, movies, meetings, or plays on contemporary problems and world affairs.
  • Use SIGI PLUS to clarify your values and seek occupations to explore.
  • Take vocational tests in the Career Center or use this website to take online vocational tests.
  • Enroll in Career Exploration (Student Development 610) or Introduction to Leadership (Student Development 620).
  • Volunteer for organizations that need your skills, and gain new ones.
  • Read! Read! Read!

Explore careers & understand the world of work

  • Explore majors by reading and talking to faculty and to students. Use the Explore Majors link to get started.
  • Investigate internships and begin to prepare a resume.
  • Complete your Student Profile and load your resume into Hiram CareerNet.
  • Use SIGI PLUS to ask questions about occupations that match your values and interests.
  • Arrange to "shadow" an alum for a day.
  • Write to professional organizations for career literature; attend local meetings of professional groups. Start a student chapter on campus.
  • Read Lifelines, the career center newsletter from your email.
  • Visit the Career Resource Library for books on choosing majors, occupational options, internships, resume writing, and more.
  • Look through the handouts in the Career Resource Library on career options for each major.
  • Attend alumni panels.

Test your ideas

  • Participate in an internship, a study abroad program, and community service.
  • Use Hiram CareerNet to manage your internship search. Keep your resume and student profile updated.
  • Shadow an alum in January to learn what people do in occupations that interest you.
  • Get a summer job that allows you to observe people working in occupations that interest you.
  • Analyze your campus job by talking with your supervisor. What skills are you gaining? Could you have more responsibility or be exposed to different tasks?
  • Research careers that interest you in the occupational library in the Career Center, or use this website to access information electronically.
  • Look carefully at your major - the knowledge and skills you are gaining. Talk with your advisor or other faculty member about the discipline and its underlying methodology.
  • Prepare for senior seminars, professional organizations, and events.

Make plans

  • Attend FutureFest in the fall of your senior year.
  • Schedule a senior interview in the Career Center.
  • Define your skills, experiences, and goals, and update your resume.
  • Update your resume and student profile in Hiram CareerNet. Check it frequently for job postings.
  • Register for appropriate graduate school tests such as the GRE, LSAT, GMAT, or MCAT.
  • Research graduate schools using online resources, the Career Center Library, and suggestions from faculty. Apply for scholarships and fellowships.
  • Attend a Job Search Workshop.
  • Enroll in the coursde, "Job Search Skills" (STDV 611).
  • Practice your interview skills in a videotaped practice interview.
  • Schedule interviews with campus recruiters.
  • Attend job fairs when appropriate.
  • Use electronic job search resources on this website.

Additional Information