courtesy of lumaxart

As the economy continues to sputter through recovery, it may be more important than ever for college students to plot a course towards employment from the start of freshman year.

Patricia Imbimbo, PhD, director of Baruch College’s STARR Career Development Center, said students should think out how a major becomes a career sooner rather than later.

“It’s a process not an event, and it’s done in the context of who one is as a person,” said Imbimbo.

Imbimbo said future income is not the first thing students should think about when choosing a major. Instead, they should first consider who they are as a person and take into account their values and skills.

A critical step towards success in a major is looking beyond what Imbimbo calls the “media image of a career.” Many students enter college with unrealistic notions of what it means to work in a given profession. They need to do the research and find out what the reality is, said Imbimbo.

Internships are not only a means of previewing a career, explained Imbimbo, they’re increasingly important in securing work. She said she’s seen more students moving from internships to staff positions, which means there are fewer slots in the recruitment process for those who are interested in working for a company, but haven’t interned there.

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