Senior Year
Senior year is a time of transition. You may be applying for jobs, considering graduate school, exploring fellowships, or still figuring out what comes next, and all of those paths are normal. There’s no single timeline for success after Middlebury. The Experiential Learning Centers can help you navigate your next steps with confidence. Focus on building connections, staying open to opportunities, and taking one step at a time.
Recommended for Seniors
- Prepare for What’s Next – Clarify your goals and priorities, explore jobs, graduate school, fellowships, and gap-year opportunities, stay open to unexpected paths and possibilities.
- Strengthen Your Application Materials – Update your résumé and LinkedIn profile, tailor cover letters to specific opportunities, prepare for interviews and practice telling your story, review job and graduate school applications before submitting.
- Expand Your Network – Connect with Middlebury alumni working in fields that interest you, attend employer events and networking programs, conduct informational interviews, stay in touch with faculty, mentors, and supervisors.
- Continue Applying – Search for internships and full-time jobs, explore fellowships and funded opportunities, research graduate and professional programs, remember that hiring timelines vary across industries.
- Evaluate Your Options – Compare offers carefully, research salaries and benefits, learn how to negotiate professionally, think about location, culture, growth opportunities, and work-life balance.
- Build Skills That Last – Strengthen communication and leadership skills, continue developing technical and professional skills, reflect on the experiences and relationships that have shaped your time at Middlebury.
Remember: There’s No Perfect Timeline
Some seniors graduate with a job offer. Others decide to attend graduate school, pursue a fellowship, travel, volunteer, or continue exploring. Your first step after Middlebury does not determine your entire career.
Stay curious, ask questions, and use the support available to you. You don’t have to have everything figured out before Commencement. Career development is a lifelong process, and your next step is just the beginning.
