Center for Career Exploration

Build Your Network

Our students find mentors, friends and collaborators within and among Brown’s wide alumni network to explore careers and life after Brown.

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Build Your Network

Our students find mentors, friends and collaborators within and among Brown’s wide alumni network to explore careers and life after Brown.

Shared learning — learning in community with others — is a defining aspect of Brown’s Open Curriculum. And Brown’s alumni are strong partners in this learning. The Brown Center for Career Exploration helps position you to connect with an extended community of recent graduates and experienced alumni, just as you would reach out to faculty and peer mentors on campus to learn more about classroom topics.

I chose Brown because of the career opportunities and because of Brown’s extensive network. You have access to a network with thousands of points of connection and you can go anywhere you want from it.

- Oscar Barbaza ’23

Get Started

There's no one way to approach the networking process — we all make connections differently. You may be seeking a mentor, coach, mock interviewer, or opportunity to navigate the job/internship search. Talking to people is the one of the best ways to explore professional opportunities and learn more about  the many career pathways available to you.

Networking may feel intimidating, but the Brown community is eager to talk with you. We are here to help get you started, facilitate connections, and build confidence along the journey.

Start Building New Brown Connections

 

Networking and Informational Interviewing Chart

Networking may feel intimidating. But you can simply consider Networking/Informational Interview as a research project

  Academic Research Networking/Informational Interview
Goal Get published Receive information/advice and build connection 
Start With a Hypothesis Vague research idea Vague ideas of career fields you might be interested in/able to do
How? Collect data Collect “data”: companies, job posts, the people who are currently in those fields, etc
Methods Various:quant/qualitative, fieldwork, experiments, etc

Conversations: ask questions to people, listen to what they say about their jobs, fields and how to prepare 

Read: company websites, job posts, and news to see what they do and what they want
Positive Result Validate your initial ideas and write a paper Confirm your interests, know what you want to do, and how to prepare→apply for jobs
Challenges/Unexpected Situation and What Will You Do?
  • Results don’t support your initial ideas
  • Results point to a new conclusion
  • Redirect or redesign
  • Information doesn’t convince you to go to a career field
  • New/Unfamiliar career options appear
  • Assess the information and explore new field(s)

Participate in mentoring programs

Offered several times a year and facilitated by our center. We connect students and alumni in small groups for the optimal mentoring experience.

Attend an alumni chat

Listen as Alumni share their career path and receive real world advice on how to navigate your career journey.