Importance of Career Experiences: Broadening the Definition of “Career Readiness”

When students think about building a resume or preparing for the future, they often focus exclusively on internships. While internships are valuable, they’re not the only meaningful path to skill development and career clarity. Faculty and staff can help students recognize and pursue a wide range of career-building experiences.

Key Messages to Share with Students

Career Experience Comes in Many Forms

Research, volunteer work, part-time jobs, leadership roles, and co-ops all help students build transferable skills.

The goal is Learning and Growth

Any opportunity that challenges students, builds new competencies, or exposes them to a professional environment is valuable.

Every step counts

tudents don’t need a perfect resume to be career-ready. They need curiosity, action, and reflection.

Tips for Talking with Students

  • Broaden their perspective: If students are anxious about “not having an internship,” help them name and value the experiences they do have.
  • Focus on skills, not titles: Ask what they learned or accomplished in each experience, these insights often reveal strengths and career direction.
  • Encourage action over perfection: Many students wait for the “perfect” internship instead of pursuing experiences that are accessible and relevant right now.

Sample Conversation Starters

  • “What kinds of experiences are helping you grow your skills right now, even outside the classroom?”
  • “Have you thought about research, volunteering, or a leadership role as a way to explore your interests?”
  • “What’s something you’ve done that made you feel confident or challenged?”
  • “It doesn’t have to be a formal internship to be valuable. What kind of experience would help you learn more about what you want?”

Advising Tool

Ways to Gain Experience: this visual can support faculty and staff in guiding students through different ways to gain career-related experience. It illustrates a progression from low-commitment, exploratory opportunities to more immersive, hands-on experiences.

Use this tool to help students:

  • Understand that experience comes in many forms—not just internships.
  • Identify starting points that match their current availability and readiness.
  • See how they can build confidence and clarity over time through exposure and engagement.

From informational interviews and job shadowing to mentorship, volunteering, and internships, each step offers valuable insight into career paths and professional development. Encourage students to view career exploration as a journey—there’s no one “right” starting point, and every experience adds value.

Campus Resources to Share

Point students to helpful Career Edge resources, such as the Job Search and Internships & Experiences resource pages. See below for more details.

One-on-one feedback with career educators can help students identify meaningful career experiences based on their goals, interests, and strengths, and support applications for jobs, internships, research, and more.

These are great ways to learn about opportunities students might not otherwise consider, including short-term projects, micro-internships, and employer-sponsored programs.

Campus jobs, peer mentoring, and involvement in student organizations all build communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills that employers value.

Volunteer roles help students develop empathy, teamwork, and responsibility while exploring interests in public service, healthcare, education, or nonprofits.

Research experiences build critical thinking, collaboration, and presentation skills and are especially valuable for students considering graduate school or technical fields.

In some majors, these experiences are required or credit-bearing, but even when optional, they offer real-world exposure and professional development.