Find Your Direction & Opportunities

Five separate Career Planning pages used to cover this ground. They've been consolidated into one, in the order most students actually need them: figure out where you're headed, build something to prove you can do it, get paid while you do it, and then go find the job.

ⓘ One contact covers all four steps below: your assigned Career Success Professional (CSP). Baylor Career Center specifically maintains a CSP specialization for veterans, alongside specializations for each college, undecided majors, and international students. Book yours through Handshake (Career Center tab → Appointments → Schedule New), or confirm the current veteran-focused contact by name on the Veteran Support Contacts page.

Your Path in Four Steps

1. Decide your direction — know what you're aiming for before you spend a semester on the wrong internship.
2. Build the experience — add civilian-context proof to a resume that's currently all military.
3. Get paid while you build it — VA Work-Study turns "building experience" into actual income.
4. Go find the job — or decide grad school is the better next step, and start that application instead.

Step 1: Decide Your Direction

Focus 2 Assessment

A career/major-fit assessment matching your personality, passions, and skills to potential paths. Treat the results as a conversation starter, not an answer — bring them to your CSP appointment and talk through what actually resonates.

Translate Your MOS

Google built a free tool that takes your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code and returns matching civilian career titles. It's a fast way to see where your specific experience already lines up with real jobs, before you've written a single resume bullet.

Your CSP can walk you through both tools in one sitting — worth doing before, not after, you pick a major or a target industry.

Step 2: Build the Experience

Your resume already has military experience on it. This step adds civilian context to it, so an employer doesn't have to take your leadership on faith.

• Lead in a student organization. Baylor Connect lists every registered student org. A title alone isn't the point — take ownership of something specific (a budget, an event, a recruiting drive) so you have a concrete result to describe later.
• Take a relevant internship. The Career Center organizes these by industry. Ask your CSP which ones actually align with the direction you settled on in Step 1, rather than applying broadly and hoping.
• Volunteer strategically. A strong resume builder, but also a low-cost way to test whether a field is actually what you expected before you commit a semester to it.

Step 3: Get Paid While You Build It

VA Work-Study Positions PAID

Paid, on-campus positions within Baylor VETS itself. Unlike a generic campus job, this one is designed specifically to build transferable soft and hard skills toward your career goals while you're still enrolled.

To apply: Submit your VA Work Study Application Form and Cover Letter to Kevin_Davis1@Baylor.edu. Cover Letter should include any specific areas of interest you would like serve in within the program (i.e. Career Services, Family Support, Wellness, etc...) feel free to be creative!

Step 4: Go Find the Job

Once you're ready, here's the actual mechanics of finding it.

• Handshake — hundreds of internship and full-time postings, updated daily. This is also where you book your CSP appointment.
• CareerShift — a professional networking and job-search tool available through the Career Center, alongside LinkedIn.
• Hiring events, employer workshops & Career Treks — on-site excursions to visit top employers, arranged by the Career Center each fall and spring.

Alumnus or employer wanting to connect with Baylor's student veterans? Contact Kevin_Davis1@baylor.edu.

Or: Headed to Grad School Instead?

If graduate school is the better fit for your direction from Step 1, your undergrad years — not your senior year — are when that application actually gets built.

• McNair Scholars Program — targets under-represented students, building the network, resume, and research experience that translates directly into a PhD application.
• Veteran to Veteran Advice — ask Kevin Davis to connect you with a student veteran who's already gone through this exact decision.

Which Step Do I Actually Need Right Now?

Return to Career & Professional Development →  |  Return to Leadership Development →

Questions about direction, resumes, or the job search? Book your CSP through Handshake, or check Veteran Support Contacts for the current veteran-focused contact.