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Career Planning

Your BDP experience can help you clarify your career goals and prepare for your next step in life after college. Your Connecting Experiences, in particular, allow you to test out different work environments, build your resume or digital portfolio, and develop research skills. It is important to reflect on what you’ve learned from these experiences, and to become comfortable articulating the knowledge you have cultivated and skills you have developed.

The following resources are intended to help you reflect on what you are learning as a BDP student and to share this with external audiences.

Writing About your BDP Experiences

  • All BDP students are required to write a reflection essay (PDF) at the end of the semester in which they complete a Connecting Experience, as well as an integration essay during their final semester at UT. These essays ask students to reflect on what they have learned and accomplished through their BDP experiences. We encourage students to keep copies of these essays, which may prove useful when writing cover letters for job applications or personal statements for graduate or professional school applications.
  • Your BDP experiences can help you stand out as a candidate for jobs or graduate school, so be sure to include these experiences on your resume, digital portfolio, and LinkedIn profile. Use our Writing About Your BDP (PDF) guide for tips on how to do so.

Presenting and Publishing Your Work

  • BDP students who conduct research, create innovative projects, or engage in transformative internships in their Connecting Experiences are encouraged to present their work at the annual BDP Poster Session (PDF), which takes place each April as part of UT’s Research Week. Students may also wish to consider presenting their work at a conference, or publishing their work in a journal. View our Presenting and Publishing Your Work (PDF) guide for resources on publishing and presenting.
  • Digital Arts & Media BDP students are encouraged to create digital portfolios to showcase their digital art and demonstrate their creative and technical skills. All students have access to create a free Seelio digital portfolio, and the BDPs host a Seelio group where Creative Projects of Digital Arts & Media BDP students are featured.

If you are looking for more ways to explore career paths and learn about pursuing graduate or professional studies as you contemplate the direction you wish to take in the future, please take advantage of the following resources.

Conducting Informational Interviews

Informational interviews are an excellent tool to help you refine your career goals. They provide an opportunity to learn from experienced professionals and to gain an insider perspective on careers, companies of interest, and the value of pursuing a graduate or professional degree or certification.

An informational interview is similar to an interview a journalist or researcher might conduct. The goal is to supplement the general knowledge you have already gathered from readily available sources with more personalized, first-hand insights.

More than 75 BDP alumni have volunteered to be interviewed by current students and recent alumni who wish to learn about their career paths and/or graduate or professional studies. Please contact your BDP advisor to identify alumni you may wish to interview. Use our Informational Interviews (PDF) guide to learn how to prepare for, conduct, and follow up after an informational interview.

Utilizing Career Services

Your college’s career services office can provide guidance and coaching as you search and apply for jobs, or begin preparing to apply to graduate or professional school.

If you are in the beginning stages of career or graduate school exploration, we encourage you to visit with the Vick Center for Strategic Advising.