Exploration and Discovery
Career Exploration is the process of finding a rewarding career path, as well as specific jobs within a particular career path. Think of career exploration and planning as building bridges from your current job/career to your next job/career.
We have a variety of tools and resources to help you and recommend you start by watching this video.
Conducting Career Research
The video will review strategies to help you find relevant information about industries, companies and geographical areas of interest.
Career Exploration Panels:
MBA Careers Overview (October 2024)
Careers in Sustainability (April 2023)
Leadership Development Programs (December 2022)
Career Cues
Hear from Carlson alumni as they discuss the elements of their work and a typical day.
Hedgehog Project
Hedgehog Project is a great site for learning about professional career paths (create account with your UMN email account)
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics - This government website provides information on career outlook, growth and salary expectations and a variety of other career-related resources.
Access Careernomics by registering with your UMN email address. View company profiles, browse graduate leadership development programs, and start identifying companies that sponsor H-1B visas. *This platform is geared towards Specialty Masters and early career professionals with less than 3 years of experience.
Access MBA-Exchange by registering with your UMN email address. View 1000+ company profiles, browse 500+ graduate leadership development programs, and identify companies that sponsor H-1B visas.
The Book of Lists
Each year Book of Lists provides essential information on the leading businesses in regions and industries. The CBCC purchases the books each year for our three target cities - Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Francisco, and Seattle - and they are located in the CBCC office for your reference. Full-text versions are also available digitally through the U of M Libraries website (directions below). Access is limited to 10 simultaneous users.
To access when not on Twin Cities campus, be sure to login to the VPN using Full Tunnel access.
Use this U of MN Libraries portal link
Go through the U of M authentication process to log in
Click the URL listed on the landing page to set up a free account (1st time user) or to access once your account is set up.
To change Cities, click on the "Select a City" dropdown menu located at the very top left of the page and select
Scroll to the bottom of the page, locate the "SUBSCRIBERS" section, and select "Digital Edition" (Note that not every city has a digital Book of Lists.)
Explore and Discover Companies and industries
Invest time in researching companies to identify your best fit, Check out the websites, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, Twitter feeds, and Google alerts for any potential companies you may be targeting.
U of M Libraries - resources to help you do research on companies, industries, nonprofits and more.
Go through this CSOM Graduates and Companies List to see where CSOM graduates have secured roles post-program.
Reference USA - A free database of companies and industry segments allowing you to locate and research companies you want to work for. Reference USA has the details on 24 million U.S. businesses included 200,000 human resource contact names, business descriptions, company size and website links to job postings.
Going Global: Looking at careers outside of the US? This database provides access to more than 400,000+ company profiles for several industries in 190 countries.
Handshake - Handshake is a useful tool for discovering company recruiting, campus events and application deadlines. See our google site page for more information about using Handshake in your career search.
Medical Alley is a great resource to learn about the amazing companies contributing to the healthcare and medical device community in Minnesota.
Check out the websites, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, Twitter feeds, and Google alerts for any potential companies you may be targeting.
