In the Loop Newsletter
October 8, 2025
Dear Huskies,
Welcome to Week 3!
This week’s newsletter focuses on academic and career planning—helping you connect what you’re learning now to your long-term goals.
As you settle into the rhythm of classes and start tackling your first wave of assignments, now is the perfect time to think about the bigger picture. Academic planning is not just about selecting courses for next quarter—it’s about creating a roadmap for your entire professional journey.
While your program may last anywhere from 2 to 5 years, the planning decisions you make now will shape your journey far beyond your time at UW. Consider the following questions: Where in the world do you want to build your career? What industry excites you most? What kind of work environment helps you thrive? These aren’t questions you need to answer definitively yet, but starting to explore them now will serve you well. Remember—plans can evolve and adapt, but planning is the essential first step.
Explore Tools to Guide Your Academic and Career Planning
PathwayU is a comprehensive platform that offers different interest assessments to help you learn more about yourself and your career preferences. You can also explore the career trajectories of UW alumni by checking out the student career outcomes survey results for inspiration (not comparison—we’re all on unique journeys!). While you’re there, take some time to familiarize yourself with free tools that support different stages of your career development:
- Handshake for job searching
- Jobscan for resume optimization
- Yoodli for interview preparation
- Interstride for international students seeking global opportunities
You might not need these tools immediately, but having these tools in your back pocket is invaluable.
Beyond PathwayU, we also encourage you to also explore these additional resources for career exploration and strength assessment:
- Dependable Strengths Worksheet: Discover dependable strengths by completing this worksheet. Identify the skills that consistently show up in your positive experiences and that you naturally enjoy developing.
- WOIS (Washington Occupational Information System): The updated CIS 360 version offers career assessments, salary data, and job trends specific to Washington State regions.
- Career Planning Worksheet: For undergraduate students—whether you have already declared your major or are still exploring options—consider completing a worksheet and scheduling an appointment with a career coach.
- Forage: Try risk-free job simulations with top companies to understand real-world roles and build relevant skills.
Stay Focused and Grow Beyond the Classroom
As you manage your daily coursework, don’t lose sight of your long-term goals. Make incremental progress toward your bigger objectives by setting S.M.A.R.T. goals—goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. These help you turn ambitious plans into actionable steps. You can learn more about creating S.M.A.R.T goals in our previous newsletter.
Your education extends far beyond lecture halls and lab reports. Be intentional about engaging in experiences that fulfill you as a whole person. Consider joining a research lab, volunteering in the community (explore UW’s volunteer opportunities), or getting involved in student organizations that align with your interests. You might even pick up a new hobby or deepen an existing passion—UW offers incredible resources for personal growth, so make the most of them!
Remember: plans can change, and that’s perfectly okay. But planning itself? That’s everything.
As always, CIRCLE is here to advocate, engage, and support you at UW. Feel free to visit us in 250 Schmitz Hall every Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm for office hours. Drop in and talk to a friend!
The CIRCLE Team