The EAST Career Preparation Playbook: Fall Edition

No matter what step of your education pathway you are on, let’s start the semester off right! Your ultimate goal is to land that career opportunity, whether that be an internship or 1st career role after graduation, and your efforts in your education can make a huge impact on your career readiness. 

It’s easy to think that career preparation is something you do only right before you graduate, but this is one of the biggest myths you can tell yourself. Your focus should be on career prep from day one of your education exploration. 

I’m here to tell you some ways you can keep ‘workplace fluency’ at the forefront of your mind. 

Start compiling experiences now for resume development: Align with your selected major whenever possible

• Volunteer experience & community involvement

• Honors, awards & recognitions

• Certifications or other Achievements

• Applicable Skills List & Project Compilation

• References / Letters of Recommendation

Get Involved: Use your College experience resources

• Join an EAST or WSU club, gain a peer resource/networking group

• Pick your professors brains, they are here to support you and know a lot about industry

• Attend as many employer/development events as you can!

  • EAST Employment & Internship Advising page contains specific EAST employer events calendar 

  • Check out Job Fairs/Career Fairs hosted by Career Services, register through Handshake 

Projects & Networking: What you are doing now really matters

• No project is “just a school project” 

  • Reflect on how you built skills, overcame challenges, or navigated the potential impact to industry

  • Keep a log of projects and details along the way, you’ll want it, trust me

• Get industry contacts: Never too early to connect

  • So, you’re not quite ready for the project stage yet, huh…well then reach out to employers, learn about what they do and what resonates with you. 

  • Research as much as you can and tie it back to what you are learning in classes.The more you know, the more confident you’ll be able to speak to employers about how your experience matters to them. 

Welcome to the Fall 2026 semester! Please keep me in mind as a resource here to help you! To schedule an appointment, find job postings/events, or check out our FAQs page go to the EAST Employment & Internship Advising.

Your Career Advisor, 

Kaylene Whicker