How to Write About Career in a College Essay
by Michelle P.
What is the career that you imagined you would have as a kid?
An action movie star? A fashion designer?
It would be very likely your career interests have changed and developed as you’ve grown through high school. Colleges you are applying for would also be interested to know what kind of career interest you have as a student. Your essay is a strong chance to show that to the college, and make that connection to tie together your later education and future goals!
Whether for a job as a businessperson, a doctor, an anthropologist, or graphic designer—what career are you hoping to aim for, after college? And how can you write about it in your application essay?
These tips below can give you some ideas on how to write about a career in a college essay.
1.Show your specific smarts and interest in the field or subject related to the career
Which sentence sounds more passionate about the subject area?
Sentence 1: I care a lot about biology, specifically in studying plants in extreme biomes.
Sentence 2: I sat down, ignoring the sand scraping against my shoes and ankles, staring at the plant in front of me. What made the cell walls of a cactus different from those that made up an oak tree? What evolutionary pressures led it to develop its characteristic spines in such a way?
In terms of specificity and detail, the second sentence shows a stronger interest in the subject, which would be great if they were planning on becoming a science researcher in the future.
You can do the same thing with any career field –instead of just writing about computer programming in general, maybe you can write about a specific video game mechanic you admire and the intricacies in the code behind it.
2.Don’t say you are interested in a field only for making lots of money
From personal experience, some students do mention this when answering a college essay prompt on ‘Why are you interested in this specific career?”
While money can be an important motivator for picking a certain career, it makes for a very boring, forgettable story in a college essay. You would want to avoid this.
Instead focus on parts of the career field that you are strong at or excited about working on.
3.Describe a detailed, hypothetical future image of yourself in that career
What can you see yourself working on in the future career, ideally? What kinds of problems would you like to figure out or make progress on as a mathematician/scientist/artist/engineer etc?
Share that picture of yourself with the college. It will help readers envision what you might like to do and what kinds of areas in your career you would want to explore.
With these tips, you can help present your career interest with great clarity to colleges!