Career prototypes can be conversations, internships, research experiences, or other short-term projects enabling you to test assumptions + inform your future career decisions. Whether you’re building a solar car or organizing a conference about sustainability, you’re learning about an industry and trying something new. These experiences are interactive (mens et manus) and leave room to reflect (do I want to do this again?) At MIT you’ll have many opportunities to prototype a career through CAPD and the robust number of experiential learning programs offered at the Institute. Don’t see an option that suits your needs? Schedule an appointment with a CAPD staff member to brainstorm ideas.
Career prototypes
Ways You Can Prototype Your Career
Career conversations with MIT Alums
- Use MIT Alumni Advisors Hub to book an informational interview with an alum.
- Search MIT’s Alumni Directory to find professionals you can connect with.
Internships & Micro-internships
- Review these resources to help you find an internship
- Complete micro-internships ( short-term projects) over IAP many are hosted by MIT Alums
Job Shadows & Work Simulations
- CAPD’s Industry Job Shadows enables first year or sophomore undergrads to observe the day-to-day activities of a professional
- InterSECT enables PhD-level scientists and humanists to explore future career options through job simulations
- Forage offers virtual work experience programs developed through company partners
Experiential Learning @ MIT
- Use ELx to find Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs) @ MIT including UROPs, MISTIintenships and more!
- Join students groups that partner with employers
- Participate in hackathons, design or engineering challenges
Momentum is an interdisciplinary design course (16.682) offered to first and second year undergraduate students during MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP).
Momentum 2025 will be held in January. This year, MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory is challenging participants to explore advanced technologies …
Looking for a short-term project or internship over IAP? Consider a micro-internship! Build skills, connect with employers and explore a career path. Check out these micro-internships:
There are more projects in Handshake and it’s really easy to search for them. …
MakerLodge is an extracurricular training program open to all MIT first-year undergraduate students. Connect with this resources to discover MIT shops and makerspaces!
Starting a new job is one of the most important — and challenging — parts of any professional’s career. All too often, employees struggle to understand the cultural norms of their new organizations, leading to a variety of workplace conflicts. To set …
MIT Sloan School of Management’s offering from Wall Street Prep is a suite of online courses, which span foundational, advanced, and industry–specific topics and are designed to provide students with solid foundation across all of these areas within …
