Exploring directions
Understanding what you enjoy and where it could lead.
- Interests and strengths
- Career research
- Conversations with professionals
- Choosing a major or course
CAREER & WORK EXPERIENCE
Try out a career direction before you commit to it.
The best way to know if a field suits you is to try the work. We help you find opportunities, prepare your applications and outreach, and turn a loose interest into small, practical experiments. We don’t arrange placements ourselves.
Arrange your free introduction45 minutes with your proposed mentor. A personalized plan by email afterward.
See what we help with
Chicago River · Roman Boed / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped.
WHAT WE HELP WITH
Support for every stage of finding your direction.
We work with high school and university students exploring what to study, and with young professionals planning their next move.
Internships and work experience
Opportunities that teach you something real.
- Finding opportunities
- Applications and cover letters
- Résumés and CVs
- Interview practice
Projects that test a field
Small pieces of real work that show what a field is like.
- Research notes and analysis
- Prototypes and portfolios
- Volunteer projects
- Job-shadowing plans
Professional skills
Skills that help in any first job.
- Professional emails
- Online profiles
- Presentations
- Writing for work
Your next academic step
Connecting experience to what you study next.
- Choosing a major
- Deciding on a graduate degree
- Gap-year planning
Early career moves
For graduates and young professionals planning a change.
- Job search planning
- Changing fields
- Preparing for an MBA or master’s
HOW WE HELP
Small experiments teach more than big declarations.
You don’t need to know your future job. We help you learn what fits by trying real work in manageable steps.
DIRECTION
Name two or three directions worth testing.
Rather than choosing one identity too early, we map your interests and strengths into a few realistic options to explore.
What we work on together
A short list of directions and what you want to learn about each.
EXPERIMENTS
Design small, practical ways to try the work.
A project, a course, a conversation, or a short placement can each show you what a field is really like day to day.
What we work on together
A plan for one or two experiments you can do this term or summer.
APPLICATIONS
Apply for opportunities with confidence.
We help you find opportunities and prepare résumés, cover letters, outreach emails, and answers for interviews.
What we work on together
Clear applications and practice for the conversations that follow.
REFLECTION
Decide what you learned and what comes next.
After each experience, we talk through what fit, what didn’t, and what that means for your next academic or career choice.
What we work on together
An honest account of your direction, useful for decisions and applications.
TEST A DIRECTION
Compare two directions before you choose one.
Fill in this worksheet for each direction you are considering, then bring it to your free introduction.
TRY THIS WITH TWO OPTIONS
Five questions show what you still need to find out.
Answer for one direction at a time. The blank rows are the most useful: they show where a small experiment would help.
| Question | What to write down for each direction |
|---|---|
| What people do all day | The tasks that fill an ordinary week, not only the highlights. |
| Skills you would use | What you would need to be good at, and what you enjoy practicing. |
| A small way to try it | A project, course, conversation, or short placement for the next three months. |
| Who you could talk to | Two people who do this work and might answer a few questions. |
| What would tell you it fits | What you would need to notice to keep going, or to change direction. |
A few free, official tools can help you research any career.
O*NET OnLine
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, it describes more than 900 occupations, including their tasks, skills, and knowledge, with an interest profiler to start exploring.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
A U.S. government guide to hundreds of occupations, covering what workers do, the education they need, pay, and job outlook.
UK National Careers Service
Job profiles covering qualifications, salary, progression, and daily tasks, plus a short quiz that suggests sectors based on your interests.
TWO CAREER CHANGES
Real experience made each next step clearer.
These anonymized journeys show how testing a direction honestly shaped two graduate decisions.
FINAL CHOICE · STANFORDL.W. · FROM TEACHING TO LEARNING DESIGN
L.W. turned five years of teaching into a clear next step.
How we helped
We helped her reflect on when technology had failed her students, not only when it helped, and compare program formats against the kind of design work she wanted to do.
- Her offers
- Education master’s programs at Harvard, Stanford, and Penn
- Her choice
- Stanford’s MS in Learning Design and Technology
Main Quad, Stanford University · Steve Jurvetson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped.
FINAL CHOICE · LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOLA.L. · FROM RETAIL TO CONSUMER STRATEGY
A.L. tested whether she needed an MBA at all.
How we helped
Before applying, she weighed an MBA against moving up with her current employer. We helped her examine a retail pilot that failed and explain what it taught her.
- Her offers
- London Business School, IESE, and Esade
- Her choice
- London Business School, for its flexible curriculum and the chance to test roles across industries
London Business School · Rapdas111 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and cropped.
QUESTIONS STUDENTS ASK
A few practical answers.
If your question isn’t here, bring it to your free introduction.
Do you arrange internships?
No. We help you find opportunities, prepare strong applications, and practice interviews, but we don’t arrange placements ourselves.
I have no idea what I want to do. Can you help?
Yes. Many students start there. We begin with what you enjoy and are good at, then test a few directions in small, practical ways.
Is this only for university students?
No. We work with high school students exploring majors, university students looking for internships, and young professionals planning a change.
Will this help my college or graduate application?
Often, because real experience makes your interests easier to explain. But the main aim is a better-informed decision about your own future.
Can you help international students find work abroad?
We help you research opportunities and prepare applications. Work rules for students depend on your visa, so check them with your university’s international office.
RELATED SUPPORT
Other help you might need along the way.
Career questions often lead to a new degree or a project, so these services often go together.
PEOPLE ON YOUR SIDE
Your mentor is chosen for experience and care.
We carefully select mentors who listen, offer honest feedback, and help you feel comfortable asking questions. One lead mentor gets to know you and guides your work.
How we choose and match mentors
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Our team has guided students of different ages and stages. Their careers span technology, finance, consulting, education, and government at leading companies and institutions.
START WITH A CONVERSATION
Let’s work out your next step, together.
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. We’ll listen, talk through your options, and send you a personalized plan by email. No scare tactics and no pressure to sign up: we’ll tell you honestly what we think, even if that means pointing you somewhere else.
Arrange your free introductionRead our story →