Our career coaches help you think about career and life planning in a structured way. Through the basics of life design, you can learn how design thinking mindsets like curiosity, prototyping (trying stuff), reframing problems, and asking for support can help you design and build a fulfilling career.


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Meet Your Career Coach

Our career exploration coaches are here to help you get started, work through feelings of doubt, talk through your ideas, and connect with specialized industry resources when you are ready.

Julianne Smith
Julianne Smith
Associate Director, Career Education & Access
617-552-0114
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Julianne Smith

Julianne Smith

Associate Director, Career Education & Access

| 617-552-0114

Julianne leads career exploration within the Career Center, working to develop and strengthen initiatives to help students connect their skills, interests, and values to possible career paths. In addition to coaching students individually, she visits many classrooms to lead reflective workshops. Julianne worked in media at the Boston Red Sox and WGBH before transitioning to higher education. Prior to joining the Career Center team, she held student-facing roles at UC Davis and Brandeis University. Julianne graduated from Boston College with bachelor's degrees in communication and film studies and holds two master's degrees, one in women & gender studies from Brandeis University and another in sociology from UC Davis. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and beagle.

Tara Raposa
Tara Raposa
Assistant Director, Career Education
617-552-4528
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Tara Raposa

Tara Raposa

Assistant Director, Career Education

| 617-552-4528

Tara oversees the Exploration career cluster, supporting students who are undecided about their future academic or professional goals. She encourages students to reflect on their unique strengths, skills, and values as they explore a variety of industries and occupations. Tara also manages the Career Center’s Peer Career Coaching Program.

Tara joined the Boston College Career Center team in 2021. Prior to arriving at Boston College, Tara instructed externship and career readiness courses at Roxbury Community College. Tara also worked for twelve years at the Boston Private Industry Council where she managed career exploration and internship programs for Boston Public School students. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Northeastern University and a master’s in Public Administration from Suffolk University.

In her free time, Tara enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Favorite Quote
“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” - Gloria Steinem

Coaching Style
I really enjoy getting to know my students and learning about their unique backgrounds. I try to create an environment where exploring potential careers is fun and exciting, not stressful!


Career Exploration Process

These steps will guide you through an iterative process of discovery, action, and reflection to empower you to design a life of meaning and purpose.

Learn About Yourself

Before you make career decisions, we encourage you to invest time into learning more about yourself. Identifying your skills, interests, and values will equip you with the critical self knowledge needed when exploring career fields and different pathways. If you would like to debrief any of your results, please make an appointment with a career exploration coach on Handshake.

Assess your interests, skills, and values and map your results to BC-specific majors and careers. Access Code: Eagles

Discover how your interests, skills, personality, and goals intersect.

Identify your personality type and gain insight into how you make decisions, interact with other people, and process information.


Reflect on your social identities and how they impact your career development.

Consider your views on work and life and their integration.

Brainstorm possible futures for yourself by creating three different potential versions of your life.

Discover Career Paths

It can be difficult to know where to begin when exploring potential career paths. However, the more you expose yourself to, and the more information you gather, the better prepared you will be to make a decision about your next steps. As a BC student, you have access to multiple resources that allow you to learn broadly about different industries and deeply about specific professions.

Explore career paths and curated industry guides.

Learn what it is like to work within an industry, a company, or a profession.

Information on job duties, education, training, pay, outlook and more for hundreds of occupations.

Review 100 major profiles with information on common career paths and types of employers. 


Connect with BC alumni to learn about real life experiences and find mentors.

Explore first destinations of BC graduates by school, major, industry, location, and more.

Check out BC classes that will expose you to areas of interest.

Get First Hand Experience

Once you’ve found yourself curious about a few areas, the next step is taking action. There is no need to make a commitment right away; it’s critical to take small steps to try different things out before making a decision. Designers call this step prototyping.

Explore internship & entry-level job opportunities.

Connect with BC alumni mentors to learn about work experiences.

Find & connect with students who completed internships you may be interested in.

Make an impact and boost your career by exploring opportunities at the Volunteer & Service Learning Center.

Build Skills

Discover the keys to success with skill-building resources, hands-on projects, and networking opportunities. These diverse opportunities will equip you with the practical skills and connections needed to shape your career path.

Reflect

Designers emphasize the necessity of collaboration during the design thinking process. After each career exploration step, it’s important to reflect on what you learned—what excited you, what you’re curious about, what you didn’t like, etc., in order to feel more confident moving forward. Having sources of support is invaluable in your career journey; consider discussing your journey with career coaches, advisors, faculty, and peers.

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Resources to help you explore

From the Career Center Blog
How to Answer the Age-Old Question: “So, Tell Me About Yourself?”  Link to article
The question “So, tell me about yourself” is a staple in job interviews and often the first thing you will
March 17, 2025
BCCareerCenterTeam
Create Your Own Luck This St. Patrick’s Day: Tips for a Successful Job or Internship Search  Link to article
As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the season of shamrocks and serendipity, think about creating your own luck in your
March 10, 2025
BCCareerCenterTeam
Women’s History Month: Stories of Strength and Success  Link to article
March is nationally recognized as Women’s History Month, and the 2025 theme is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring
March 03, 2025
BCCareerCenterTeam

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