OGPS Career Exploration Winter 2026

In this workshop, you will be introduced to CliftonStrengths – an assessment based on 40 years of positive psychology research. Through taking the assessment and analyzing your results, you will gain self-awareness regarding how you thrive. Understanding your CliftonStrengths can guide you towards a career path that fosters fulfillment and engagement.

Workshop Goals: 

• Complete the CliftonStrengths assessment 

• Become familiar with CliftonStrengths and foundational concepts 

• Understand your unique talents and strengths and how they appear in your life 

• Learn strategies for strengthening your talents 

Note: This workshop includes time to take the assessment. Breakfast will be provided. 

Through this workshop, you will define your own “Career Compass”—composed of your life needs, career skills, and mission statement—that can help you focus your career exploration and job search strategies. The self-awareness developed through the exercises here can help you clarify career fields, work environments, and a lifestyle that are the best match for you.  

Workshop Goals: 

• Describe the career exploration framework.

• Identify and articulate your values, skills, life needs, and inspirations.

• Utilize the career compass framework to guide career exploration and evaluate career options.

• Embrace that your values, interests, and needs change over time and that career exploration and evaluation is a life-long process.

Note: Lunch will be provided.

A key component of career exploration is investigation of potential career paths to ensure their fit. In this workshop, you will learn how to research career options and what resources to utilize while doing so. Participants will feel empowered to investigate careers of interest and make informed decisions. 

Workshop Goals:

• Articulate technical and transferable skills that you possess

• Gain exposure to resources for researching potential career paths

• Practice analyzing a job description to identify required skills and daily activities 

• Develop a strategy to organize and classify your existing skills and recognize your skills gap

Note: Please bring a job description of interest with you to this workshop.

In this workshop, you’ll explore why growing a diverse professional network is essential for career exploration and how to do it. You’ll learn concrete strategies to expand and maintain your network, master the art of the informational interview, and begin crafting a professional brand that reflects your unique strengths and ambitions

Workshop Goals: 

• Understand why professional networks matter for career growth

• Apply strategies to build and maintain professional relationships

• Apply best practices  to conduct effective informational interviews

• Develop and articulate your professional brand