Career Exploration Leaders: Student Roles for 2024-25

Currently accepting applications for the 2024-25 school year. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply by July 19, 2024 for priority review. Applications will be accepted until all positions are filled. Click here to apply.

Career Advising & Professional Development (CAPD) is seeking two student Career Exploration Leaders to work with academic and student support departments, student groups, alumni, and employers to develop and execute career exploration events for undergraduates and graduate students, that will be held throughout the academic year. Career Exploration Leaders work with the support of the Assistant Director of Career Exploration.

Each position involves independent and team projects and these roles are a fit for students who are excited about exercising their skills in leadership, event planning, and marketing. Preferred experience includes leading initiatives, managing projects, designing marketing materials, collecting and analyzing data, working independently and in teams, communicating with stakeholders, and providing customer service. Preferred skills include communication, interpersonal skills, time management, and the ability to collaborate and work across sectors of MIT. 

Undergraduate and graduate students who have completed their first year at MIT are especially encouraged to apply.

Sample work timeline

• August: Work typically includes reaching out to and planning events with collaborators to set up for the fall, planning individual events, and designing marketing materials. 
• September-November: These months are all about marketing, putting on events, and collecting data from those events. 
• December: This month is dedicated to analyzing data, preparing reports, planning and confirming IAP events, and developing marketing materials. 
• January: IAP involves marketing and hosting events as well as planning and confirming spring events and developing marketing materials. 
• February-March: These months are all about marketing, putting on events, and collecting data from those events. You might also create resources. If there is additional time, it will be used to begin wrapping up final tasks including data analysis and writing final reports. 
• April: This time is for wrapping up final tasks including data analysis, contributing to final reports, providing recommendations for future events, and setting up a transition plan for the following year’s student staff.  

Team Responsibilities

Each Career Exploration Leader is responsible for supporting the team responsibilities and goals listed below in addition to working on their individual projects.

• Provide support, including logistical and technical support, for Career Exploration events for undergraduate and graduate students. Working across different teams in CAPD including with Career Advising, Employer Relations, Professional Development, Prehealth Advising, and Distinguished Fellowships and collaborating outside of CAPD with other departments/programs may be possible. 
• Market events to students through email, flyers, and other methods relevant to students and departments/programs. Design and post marketing materials (for print, digital, and social media) in collaboration with the CAPD Communications Specialist.  
• Attend weekly team meetings to plan for events; propose agenda items in individual and team meetings; lead discussion on project-specific work and share updates in meetings.  
• Determine key pieces of information needed to complete the Career Exploration final reports; collaborate in producing the final reports and sharing with key stakeholders.  
• Distribute surveys and collect responses. Analyze survey responses alongside attendance data to create recommendations for future career exploration events. 
• Document tasks and provide feedback to CAPD to facilitate an effective and detailed transition plan for the following year’s Career Exploration Leaders.  
• Develop and maintain content on career exploration events, information, resources and initiatives on online platforms including the CAPD website, Handshake, and MIT News articles.  

Additional responsibilities and potential projects

Planning events

• Lead and collaborate on planning events for First Years and Sophomores in the fall, IAP, and spring with the Assistant Director of Early Career Engagement. This could include recruiting speakers for panels or participating as a panelist to provide advice for early career students, organizing an event to help students explore majors and industry, managing the undergraduate-alumni speed networking mixer, and supporting the Grads-Undergrads Connect micro mentoring program. 
• Lead and collaborate on planning events to help students explore graduate and professional school (MEng, MS, MBA, JD) options in the fall, IAP, and spring. These could include the Grads-Undergrads Connect micro mentoring program, a networking mixer with MIT Graduate Department Administrators and grad students, and panel events with admissions officers or other program representatives.  
• Plan at least one event of your choice for First Years and Sophomores to help students explore their options and create a resource based on this event.  
• Plan at least one event of your choice to help students explore their options for graduate/professional school and create a resource based on this event. 

Engage student groups, academic departments/programs, and employers

• Identify undergraduate and graduate student groups who would be ideal partners for Career Exploration Series events. Connect with identified groups to discuss potential partnerships and event collaborations. Pilot at least one student group career exploration collaboration and/or build a resource to promote this student group on the CAPD Career Exploration website. 
• Identify undergraduate and graduate student groups and departments/programs who would be ideal partners for graduate/professional school exploration events. Connect with identified groups to discuss potential partnerships and event collaborations. Pilot at least one graduate/professional school exploration collaboration and/or build a resource to promote this student group on the CAPD Career Exploration website.
• Facilitate introductions between student groups and the Employer Relations team and employers for relevant events. 
• Communicate with the Office of the First Year to build awareness of resources and events available to First Years, market events, and potentially collaborate on events.
• Partner with the Assistant Director of Career Exploration to support MIT departments/programs’ Career Exploration events. This includes participating in engaging new departments/programs, designing marketing materials, marketing events to relevant departments/programs, tracking events and maintaining an organized database, distributing surveys, and gathering event attendance.