Launching Your Professional Identity Part 2: Professional Curiosity
In Part 1 of Launching Your Professional Identity, we explored financial curiosity — learning the skills and confidence to manage your money and make smart financial choices. Now it’s time to shift gears to professional curiosity. These are the habits and experiences that will help you step into the working world with confidence, skills, and a strong network.
This isn’t just about “getting a job.” It’s about practicing how to show up professionally, communicate clearly, and build relationships that can open doors now and years from now. And just like with finances, the earlier you start, the more confident and capable you’ll feel when it’s time to take your next big step.
While this blog post is written mostly for students, parents will find ideas here too. The goal isn’t to have every answer before graduation — it’s to practice the skills of reaching out, asking questions, building relationships, and learning how work works.
🎯 Professional Curiosity — Building Career Confidence
Think of this stage of your college experience as the start of a quest — not a sprint to some predetermined finish line, but a steady, intentional journey where you gather skills, connections, and experiences that will shape your professional identity. Each conversation you have, each email you write, and each new role you try is like picking up a valuable tool or clue along the way.
And just like any good quest, you need a plan for what you’re collecting and why it matters. That’s where professional curiosity comes in — exploring new opportunities, learning from the people around you, and practicing the skills that will help you navigate the world of work with confidence.
Here are some essential tools and treasures to collect on your quest for career confidence:
💬 Level Up Your Communication Skills
Strong communication is a career superpower — and it’s one you can start practicing now. Even business majors often say they were never taught how to write the basics. Don’t just learn the templates — practice writing them with your own personal style and voice. Share drafts with your network or your career office and ask for feedback.
Three tools in particular will serve you again and again:
📧 A business email — Start with a professional greeting, introduce yourself, keep it concise, and close politely. If you’re writing to someone in another time zone, acknowledge it. And write it yourself — don’t let AI do it for you.
📝 A cover letter — Show genuine interest in the role and the organization, and write it so it can be read easily by AI recruiting software.
🙏 A thank-you note — Whether it’s after meeting someone, receiving advice, or interviewing, a well-timed thank you stands out.
📇 Build a Resume — And Keep It Current
Create one version geared toward “resume-building jobs” that move you toward your career goals, and another for “money-making jobs” that help you pay the bills, like retail or restaurant work. Different roles call for different strengths — and having both ready means you can move fast when opportunities arise.
🔗 Establish a LinkedIn Profile - and Keep It Current
Even if you’re not job hunting yet, your LinkedIn profile is a living, breathing snapshot of your skills, interests, and accomplishments. It’s also a great way to learn from others’ career paths and make connections.
Pro tip: Every campus has energetic pre-professional photography students. They often offer professional looking headshots for your LinkedIn profile for a fraction of the cost. (And if you are one of these students — this is a fabulous business opportunity!)
🆕 Try New Roles and Environments
Get a job on or off campus. Work in a campus office, the library, or a local café. Babysit, tutor, or walk dogs. Every job teaches you something about responsibility, time management, and dealing with people — skills that translate to any career.
🎓 Use Your Career Center
Your college career office isn’t just for juniors and seniors — it’s there for you from day one. Visit early, get to know the staff, and explore workshops, resume reviews, job boards, and networking events. The more they know you, the more they can help you.
🤝 Talk to People About Their Work and Professional Histories
This is so important. Aim to have at least two conversations a month with people about their careers — professors, administrators, community members, volunteers, friends of family, parents of friends, or even high school teachers. Ask why they do what they do, what they love about it, what they don’t, and how they got there.
These conversations:
Expand your network long before you “need” one.
Help you practice talking to people you don’t know well about work (a great precursor to interviews).
Show you the variety of paths careers can take — and the values and choices that shape them.
💡 Push Through the Discomfort
It’s normal to feel awkward asking people about their work — especially if you think you “don’t have a network” yet. But you do. And here’s the secret: most people love talking about themselves to young people who are genuinely curious. It’s rare that someone will turn you down, and every time you do it, it gets easier.
🗂 Build Your Contact Map
Keep a simple running list of the people you talk to, what you learned, and any follow-up actions. Make sure you also keep their contact details in a way that’s easily accessible — whether that’s in your phone, an email folder, or a spreadsheet.
Later, when you’re job-hunting or asking for recommendations, this record will be a gold mine.
🏡 How Parents Can Support
Parents — encourage your student to take ownership of this process. You can suggest people they might talk to or review their resume drafts, but resist the urge to take over. These experiences help students build the independence, confidence, and curiosity they’ll need for the rest of their careers.
🌟 Final Thought
Professional curiosity isn’t about checking boxes — it’s about creating a rich, interconnected web of skills, relationships, and experiences that will support you for years to come. Every conversation you have, every role you try, every piece of communication you master is a step toward building a career that’s truly yours.
And remember — this works best when paired with financial curiosity. The more you understand your money, the more freedom and confidence you’ll have to make bold career choices. Together, these two quests give you the tools to shape your professional and financial life on your own terms.