Your Career Strategy

The College & Career Fellowship

You probably already have an idea.

It's just untested.

Maybe it's specific. Maybe it's just a direction, or a subject you don't hate. That's further along than most people your age will admit to. Nobody's told you what that job actually looks like on a Tuesday, what it pays, or whether it'll still exist by the time you graduate.

You can find all of that out. That's the whole thing. What you do with the answer is yours.

See what it actually looks likeIf you're in

The part everyone dreads

Sending the first message is the whole hurdle.

So you don't send it alone. You draft it, someone who has done this a hundred times marks it up, and then you hit send. Most people reply. That still surprises everyone the first time.

nobody is born knowing how to do this

Hi Dana, I'm a junior at Northgate and I'm trying to work out if biomedical engineering is what I think it is. Could I ask you three questions about what your week actually looks like?

Delivered · reviewed before sending

Happy to. Fair warning, most of my week is not what people picture. Thursday work for you?

that is the entire trick

What you'd actually be doing

  1. Widen it

    You'd use AI to surface options nobody thinks to mention, then check them against what people in those jobs actually say.

  2. Reach out

    You'd find them, message them, and ask real questions, with someone showing you how so the first one isn't terrifying.

  3. Talk to them

    Talking to people who do the work, not reading about it.

Four months, roughly in this order

  1. 01

    You say out loud what you think you want.

    No hedging, no "I guess maybe." Just the thing. It doesn't have to be right, it has to be specific enough to test.

    Career card reading "I solve the unknown." A student in lab goggles draws liquid into a pipette over green flasks.
  2. 02

    AI hands you versions of it you'd never heard of.

    Same field, wildly different lives. This is where most people find out the job they wanted has four cousins.

    Career card reading "Innovation happens when you dare to build. I invent, I test, I turn ideas into reality." A student in safety glasses assembles robotic machinery.
  3. 03

    You pick three and go find people who do them.

    Real people, findable in about twenty minutes once someone shows you where to look.

    Career card reading "Ideas are powerful. Building them is how we change the world. I design what's next." A student sketches wind-turbine designs at a drafting desk.
  4. 04

    You draft the message. Someone marks it up before you send it.

    This is the part everyone is scared of. It takes one round of edits and then it stops being scary.

    Career card reading "Code is how I solve problems at scale. I code, I create, I build solutions." A developer works at a screen of code.
  5. 05

    They reply. You ask what Tuesday actually looks like.

    Not the job title. The hours, the money, the part of it they'd warn you about.

    Career card reading "Compassion is my superpower. I heal, I help, I save lives." A nurse in scrubs stands in a hospital corridor with a team working behind her.
  6. 06

    One of them is nothing like you imagined.

    Good. That's the most useful hour of the whole thing, and it cost you one message.

    Career card reading "Fairness isn't given. It's defended. I listen, I think, I make the call." A judge in a hijab and robes sits at the bench.
  7. 07

    You write the plan. Six months, in your handwriting.

    Then you leave with the skill to run this again the next time everything changes. Which it will.

    Career card reading "The planet is our client. The future is our project. I protect, I sustain, I leave it better." A student holds a tablet among wind turbines and solar panels.

What you'd have at the end

  1. An answer to "what are you doing after school" that isn't "I don't know"

  2. A resume that isn't just your summer job

  3. A LinkedIn profile that doesn't look abandoned

  4. A personal statement workbook to get your outline started

  5. A way to introduce yourself in thirty seconds without cringing

  6. Scholarships that actually match you, tracked in one place

  7. A plan for the next six months that you wrote

  8. Career card reading "Every mind has potential. My job is to unlock it. I teach, I inspire, I build futures." A teacher gestures toward students at a whiteboard.

What it costs you in time

It's built around your schedule rather than the other way round. Sessions move when a season starts or exams land. Nobody is asking you to give up your Saturdays for the rest of the year.

yes, really

If you're in

Tell whoever sent you this. That's all of it. They handle the rest. And if you're not, saying so now is more useful to everyone than going quiet about it.

See the whole program