Susan L. Wagner ’82 Career Advising Program
The Susan L. Wagner ’82 Career Advising Program
What do you want to be when you graduate? Rest assured that most Wellesley students are unsure about their career paths and even those that feel certain often do — and should! — change their course. When beginning your career journey, it can be tempting to imagine that it will be one straight line. However, as countless alums will tell you, that’s not the way it works — and that’s a good thing! As the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, the average worker will have 12-15 jobs in 5-7 different career fields in her lifetime.
Career Exploration
Regardless of what year you are at Wellesley, we are here to help you explore potential career paths. Every student is matched with an Advisor for Career Exploration (ACE), who is available for conversations about your values, strengths, and interests. Your ACE will provide the mentorship, tools, connections, and space for self-assessment and reflection to identify the paths you want to pursue. Schedule an appointment in Handshake to meet with your ACE as follows:
- First Years & Juniors: Marisa Crowley, ACE for the Class of 2026 & 2028
- Sophomores & Seniors: Ariane Baker, ACE for the Classes of 2025 & 2027
Career Advising for Specific Industries and Fields
You may already have some inclination about what industry or field you might like to work within. You also may still be quite uncertain — and that is both normal and completely okay! You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do to meet with a specialized Career Advisor — simply having curiosity about a field or industry is a great place to begin.
To meet with an industry/field specific Career Advisor, make an appointment in Handshake by selecting “Career, Internship, and Graduate School by Industry/Field.“ If you aren’t sure which Advisor covers your field of interest, email careereducation@wellesley.edu and we’ll point you in the right direction! The categories are broadly encompassing, so no matter what your career interests are, there is an Advisor who can work with you to explore the fields you are considering.
Sign up for Industry newsletters by filling out your Career Interest profile in Handshake. You’ll receive advice specifically related to the industries of your interest, along with highlighted events, resources, jobs, internships, and fellowship opportunities in your field of interest. Subscribing to multiple newsletters is a great way to explore career options!
Career Essentials: Resumes, Cover Letters, Interviews, & More!
Through the Career Essentials workshop series, you will develop skills and the foundational knowledge necessary to navigate career development. Learn about resumes, cover letters, interviewing, informational interviewing, negotiation, and personal statements.
Recruiting Timelines for Specific Industries and Fields
Many industries have different recruiting schedules—learn about timelines and career paths, and explore your interests with the help of our industry/field specific Career Advisors, and through the drop-downs below!
Career Advisors
Embark: First Year Career Retreat
Embark — a retreat for all interested first-year students — is a free weekend-long immersive program designed to equip you with a toolkit to begin your career exploration. Join us to connect with Career Education, discover how to identify and utilize your values and strengths through our assessments and activities, hear career stories from your Wellesley sibs, and learn about the variety of opportunities that are available to you as a Wellesley student, like funded internships, study abroad, and research.
Peer Career Mentors
Explore Employment Around the World with GoinGlobal
GoinGlobal is the leading provider of both country-specific and USA city-specific career and employment information. Our unlimited access subscription database features 38 Country Career Guides, 53 City Career Guides for the United States and Canada, corporate profiles and more than 16 million internship and job listings within the USA and around the world.
Market Research and Development
Market researchers work to understand what drives people to buy Cheerios, Chevrolets, and chimichangas.
Journalism
Almost every career in journalism begins with writing experience. While many schools offer specialized degrees in journalism, with courses like Feature Article Writing, Digital Storytelling, Investigative Journalism, etc, students can use skills gained from a liberal arts education to prepare for this career In fact, there are very specialized areas of journalism that are advantaged by a background in science, economics, or other disciplines.
Fine Art
Practicing artists support themselves by teaching, selling artwork, being awarded grants and commissions, and a wide variety of other related (and non-related) professional endeavors. Growing and maintaining an active studio practice requires both training and resources— in the form of materials, equipment, space, and exhibition or performance opportunities. Many artists refine their work and begin to connect with the world of galleries, grants, and exhibitions in a graduate program (usually an MFA program). However, this is not the only path to a career as an artist.
Fashion and Lifestyle
Fashion is a fast-paced and exciting industry for those who love clothes, designs, and trends. This international industry includes careers ranging from modeling to fabric/clothing design, from marketing to retail, from business to manufacturing, from buying to merchandising. Possible occupational titles include: fashion designer, model, photographer, fashion editor, fashion writer, fashion stylist, fashion buyer, retail merchandisers.
Design and Illustration
Design and illustration careers begin with a portfolio of client-based or self-inspired work that displays your talent, style, and creative thinking. While there are full-time positions in the field of design, there are fewer full-time opportunities for illustrators. For this reason, many illustrators work as designers and illustration is a part of their job.
Creative Writing
As a practice, creative writing refers to a wide variety of disciplines. Writers who want to publish novels, poetry, short fiction, and creative non-fiction often earn an MFA and support their creative practice by teaching in higher education.