Professor explains how to ask for career advice w/ email template
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
A guide to emailing your professors about careers
Your professor knows quite a lot about his/her field and you are interested in finding out if they have any inside information about job opportunities. Or maybe you are just wanting some career advice, but wouldn’t mind being thrown a few job contacts.
Does that sound like you?
If so, you’ve come to the right place. I am going to help you understand how to email a professor about job opportunities, and maybe even career advice.
Who to ask for career advice in college?
If you are in college, you can ask your professors for career advice and job opportunities. You would want to ask a professor who has experience in the field you are most interested in. Your professor may have worked in the field OR they teach about that subject. Either way, they should have answers for you.
A lot of colleges will have advisors and career coaches that can also assist you. You shouldn’t limit yourself to one person or department. You should ask as many people as possible to find answers to your career questions.
But the best person to ask for career advice while in college is someone who has personal experience in that field. If you really wanted to take some initiative, you could reach out to people who are working professionally in the careers you are interested in.
Let’s say you want to work in the medical field and become a nurse. Reach out to medical offices, hospitals and nursing schools to ask people who have actually worked in those jobs. I bet there is someone willing to talk to you. After all, they may hire you later.
And with social media and the internet, you could easily find influences who have experience in lots of careers. For example, I recently saw several YouTube channels made by flight attendants, doctors, nurses, pilots, etc. If you trusted their influence, you could ask them some questions and watch their videos to learn more.
A lot of corporations, agencies and entities may have recruiting officers that can speak with you about the jobs at their business.
Go to their website, and see if you can find anything about recruitment. They may have someone who can speak with you about a future job.
So, to recap, here are the people you can ask about careers when you are a college student.
Professors
Career coaches
Employers
Recruiters
Is it okay to ask my professor for career advice?
Yes, it is okay to ask your professor for career advice and it’s recommended that college students talk to their professor about their career goals. I was a professor for over a decade, and I received lots of emails from students about careers and job opportunities. I was always very happy to help, and it’s a good chance that your professor will be just as excited to offer a you lending hand.
It is okay to ask your professor for career advice because that’s usually what you’re in college for, right?
While we don’t regularly have contact with employers, we do have a load of information to point students in the right direction. And some professors will have regular contact with industry experts.
And I have to tell you something important. Professors are frequently contacted by employers to share job openings so it’s possible they know of something that is available.
Not only that, but we know a lot about how to get a job, what education you need, where to apply, and all the ins and outs that you need to know.
And if you get the help you need from your professor, and you think that they went above and beyond to help you, let them know.
How to email your professor about careers and job ideas
When you are ready to email your professor about careers or job ideas, you need to have some information ready like what area you are most interested in and what your educational and professional goals are exactly. Let them know you are interested in learning about job opportunities, or even find out where to start looking.
You could also be interesting in learning more about internships too.
You might think that you are bothering them, but you aren’t. It is part of our job duties to assist students with these types of questions. While it isn’t usually our job to find you employment, or connect you with an employer, we definitely will help point you in the right direction.
So, do not feel bad about talking to your professor about jobs and getting some career advice. That is what we are here for.
Pick the right professor
But first you need to know which professor to even talk to, right? I would advise you to check your professor’s previous employment and experience. This is most often on your college’s website.
A lot of websites post professors’ faculty bios or have their resumes (curriculum vitaes) public and you should be able to find out their previous experiences. See if a professor in your discipline best fits your career goals.
If you can locate a professor who has similar interests as yourself, you’re more likely to get better advice. They’ll know exactly how to direct you on your career path.
Otherwise, you could just talk to your current professors and see if they have any information to share. And if they don’t, they may know someone who does.
When I was a professor, students would contact me about certain careers, and sometimes I wasn’t the most knowledgeable. I knew professors who had that experience and could help. I would give them their email address and tell them to contact those professors who had more information. We can connect you to people who can help.
How do you ask your professor for career advice?
If you want to email your professor and ask for career advice, you should include THREE things. Let them know what careers you are most interested in and your salary expectations. Tell them your long-term goals, and what your highest level of education will be when you apply to positions.
I am going to share with you a sample email to send to your professor asking about job openings or opportunities. I have an email template for you so that you can get information from your professor about jobs.
Good morning Professor Smith,
I wanted to send you an email regarding careers in your field. I reviewed your faculty bio and learned that you are very experienced in this subject, and I would appreciate any advice or assistance you could offer.
Let me tell you a little bit about myself and my goals. I am looking to become a veterinarian after graduation, and I love working with most household pets. I have experience as a vet tech, but want to gain more experience to be more competitive on my application for vet school. This seems to relate to your experience.
While I am not looking to immediately have a high salary, I would eventually like to have the potential to earn over $50,000 until I become a veterinarian. I find this to be significant because my job prospects might change based on my salary needs.
I have searched for internships and jobs, but I just don’t know what career is best to gain the most experience in this field and where to even start. Could you offer any advice?
Perhaps you know an employer that is searching for competitive candidates too?
Again, I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, your student.
Let’s go over this email really quickly. You are personalizing it, and letting your professor know that you have learned about their experience and that it aligns with your goals.
Then you are specific about your own goals. And finally, you ask them what you want from them.
Be direct, and give as much information as possible to share about your own personal goals, if you know.
I bet you’ll get a lot of helpful information back.
How to talk to professor about job opportunities if you don’t know what you want to do
If you don’t know what you want to do after you graduate college, you should talk to your professor first. Your professors will know about job opportunities in their field and can help you understand what options even exist.
I have an email template for asking professors about career advice to help get you started.
Good afternoon Professor Smith,
I have thoroughly enjoyed your class so far this semester, and I have come to realize that I am most passionate about mechanical engineering. Even though I know the area that I am interested in, I just don’t know much about the different types of careers in this field.
With your experience, I was hoping you could help me understand what types of opportunities there are for me after graduation, and help me learn more about the various career paths especially at the entry-level and how to even begin looking for jobs.
I look forward to hearing from you, and appreciate your time.
Sincerely, your student.
You can see that the email was short and straight to the point. Let your professor ask additional questions, if they need to know anything else.
I normally got vague questions from my students, but since I had experience in the field, I knew what to ask next. We don’t expect our students to know everything about their future careers so ask questions now.
Hopefully you get a response the first time, but if you don’t, reach out again.
Career coaches, advisors and your college
If you don’t want to talk to your professor or they haven’t been responding, or worse, they aren’t able to help, it is very likely that your college may have something like a career coach or an advisor.
Sometimes colleges offer free resources to students and you may not even know they exist. Check around your college’s website for any thing that might assist you.
See if they have an advisor (most colleges do) that you could connect with. While the advisor might not know the most information, they can tell you about available programs at the college that can help.
Students should take advantage of all these opportunities to get assistance because you are paying for them through your tuition.
How to ask your professor for help with a job search?
If you want to ask your professor for help with a job search, you should ask them if they know where you should start your search for your desired job. It would also be wise to ask your professor if they know of any places that are currently hiring in your field.
You may already know exactly what you want to do, but maybe you don’t know where to start. It is perfectly fine to reach out to your professor and ask them about searching for a job.
You need to gather a few ideas first.
What careers are you most interested in?
Do you have a job preference?
Are you willing to relocate?
What are your educational goals?
After you have that information, you may want to start the conversation about where to apply and different career options in the fields you are most interested in.
Then once you’ve narrowed down exactly what you like the most, start exploring those job openings to get an idea of what the employers are looking for.
Talk to your professor about these jobs and what they think it would take to get hired and what you can do to make yourself more competitive.
Your professor is likely very willing to help you search for jobs and find the best options for you.
I know with these tips and my email template that you will get plenty of support.
You got this.
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