Recognize your experience
Coursework, campus jobs, projects, volunteering, and other responsibilities can give you examples to reflect on. The question is what you actually did and learned—not whether the experience had an impressive title.
Collection 01 / Preparing for professional life
Your beginning.
With a little direction.
For the move from campus to a first professional role—and all the questions in between.
Resource collection · not available for purchaseA closer look
Career launch
Beginning a career is not only about sending applications. It is also about learning what you can offer, understanding the work you want to explore, and practicing how to talk about it.
Make your story specific
Replace broad claims with a real example. What was the situation? What did you do? What happened, and what did you learn? Stay with what you can truthfully explain.
Start a conversation
Professional conversations can be about learning, not immediately asking for a job. Prepare a question that helps you understand someone’s work or the path into it.
Try this now / a free on-page exercise
Build one experience story.
Choose a real experience you might discuss in an interview. Use these prompts to turn it into a clear, truthful explanation.
The situation
What needed to happen? What was the context, and what responsibility did you actually have?
Your contribution
What did you do? Be clear about your part in a team effort, without taking credit for someone else’s work.
The learning
What happened? What would you carry into a new situation? If there was no measurable result, do not invent one.
Use your own notebook or notes app. Nothing is entered, saved, or sent from this page.
Use the resources already around you.
The First Five is not a replacement for your college career center. Career advisers, faculty, alumni, and people who know your work may offer perspectives worth using alongside self-paced resources.
The resources
Choose your
starting point.
One core workbook and 3 focused alternatives. Focused resources share material with their parent workbook. All prices shown are planned USD prices; purchases and downloads are not yet available.
Core workbook · 35 pages
Career Launch Toolkit
A guided system for evidence-based applications, professional conversations, interview practice, and thoughtful offer decisions.
$24 USD · planned price
Broader guidance and reusable working pages.
View resource details
Focused resource · 10 pages
Resume and ATS Workbook for New Grads
A resume-only workflow with an achievement inventory, writing practice, tailoring examples, and submission checks. Core methods overlap the Career Launch Toolkit.
$9 USD · planned price
Shares core material with Career Launch Toolkit.
View resource details
Focused resource · 10 pages
Interview Prep and STAR Story Workbook
A story bank, STAR builder, prep brief, question guide, practice review, interview-day checklist, and follow-up scripts. Core tools overlap the Career Launch Toolkit.
$9 USD · planned price
Shares core material with Career Launch Toolkit.
View resource details
Focused resource · 8 pages
Networking Scripts and Contact Planner
A practical contact map, adaptable messages, conversation planner, referral guide, and relationship tracker. Core tools overlap the Career Launch Toolkit.
$7 USD · planned price
Shares core material with Career Launch Toolkit.
View resource details