CAREER PREPARATION IN SOCIOLOGY
The study of any of the three fields offered in this department—Sociology, Social Psychology, or Criminal Justice—provides an excellent background for many careers. Our graduates pursue work or graduate study in human services, corrections, law, teaching, public health, business, urban planning, public relations, research, and media. In some cases, what you learn with us will help prepare you for a job, such as an entry level position in criminal justice, human services, research or business. In other cases, what you learn will prepare you for graduate programs in various fields (sociology, law, criminal justice, social work, hospital administration, public health, etc). In other cases your degree will help you advance in a career you are already pursuing. Within the Sociology major, there are courses that will help prepare you for various careers (including graduate programs), as listed below under career paths. Talk with your advisor about your career plans, so that he or she can help you choose courses that support your career interests.
Office of Career Services
The Office of Career Services is designed to help you explore career possibilities, investigate employment trends, and consider graduate school options. The Career Services staff provides interest testing, individual advising, and workshops on job search, interviewing, resume writing, and graduate study. To schedule a personal meeting with a career specialist call (617) 287-5519. The Career Resource Library, located on the first floor of the Campus Center, includes many helpful resources related to careers and graduate study. This library is open Monday thru Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm and can be used on a walk-in basis. The Career Services website features links to many useful resources. For example, if you would like to explore career options with a major in sociology or criminal justice, go to www.careers.umb.edu, click on Hotlinks, and below the General Career Information tab select, “What Can I Do With a Major In . . . ?”
Internships
In order to help you try out career possibilities, apply your academic learning to a real world context, and deepen your knowledge in various fields, we offer four internship courses. These course carry six credits and require 140 hours of work experience in an agency, plus academic work equivalent to an upper-level three-credit course. One of these courses may count toward your major in Sociology, Social Psychology, or Criminal Justice. You may take as many others as you like within your elective credits. If you choose to double major, a second internship could count as part of your second major. The internship courses are focused on urban social services (Sociol 460), adult criminal justice (CrmJus/Sociol 461L), juvenile justice (Sociol 462L), and on for-profit and nonprofit organizations in all fields (Sociol 444, offered occasionally).
There are many advantages to doing an internship. You will be able to integrate academic learning with experience in the workplace, which many students find highly satisfying; you will be able to check out a field that you think you might like to pursue upon graduation; you will develop marketable skills; you will have an opportunity to network with others planning careers in a similar field; you might be offered employment as a result of the internship; and your resume will look more impressive to future employers and graduate programs.
Faculty teaching the internship courses will help you find possible placements related to your interests. You are also free to find your own placement in consultation with the teacher of the course. Students and agencies work out mutually acceptable work agreements. You will be encouraged to interview a few agencies before choosing one in order to give you a sense of the possible options. Because it sometimes takes several weeks to arrange an appropriate internship, students are encouraged to look for a placement at the end of the previous semester. In the past, students have found placements at many private and public agencies in the Boston area, including courts, police stations, schools, hospitals, group homes, clinics, shelters, correction facilities, agencies for troubled children, and many others.
PREPARING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL in SOCIOLOGY
Many professional careers require graduate study. You can raise your probability of acceptance into graduate school by clarifying your career goals early and using courses in Sociology and other fields to prepare you for your future course of study. If you are not sure what you want to do, discussions with your advisor and a Career Specialist might help you to clarify your interests and options. Internships in this and other departments can also be of immense help, allowing you to get an inside look at various careers before making a commitment to any one field.
Once you have committed yourself to preparing for graduate study (even if you choose not to attend right away), you should pay attention to several issues:
Keep your grades as high as possible, even if that means taking fewer courses and graduating a bit later. Most graduate programs require an average of at least 3.0.
Develop good relationships with teachers in whose classes you perform well, since those teachers will most likely feel comfortable writing good references for you. Most graduate schools will request three references from undergraduate teachers. If you don’t plan to attend graduate school right away, teachers can put references on file for you in the Office of Career Services. The latter is especially helpful in case a teacher is on leave or retired when you decide to apply to graduate school. If you are not sure how to get to know your teachers, try visiting during office hours and ask questions about the course, or about careers or graduate school.
Prepare yourself to take whichever graduate entrance exams are required by the programs in which you have an interest. Most Sociology programs, for example, require either the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or the Miller Analogies Test (MAT). You can buy practice books for these tests, and can also take courses off-campus specifically designed to prepare you for them.
Study the websites, catalogues or bulletins of various programs to get a sense of what the programs can offer you. Career Services has graduate school bulletins, and you can write for your own copies of programs that interest you. Also, be sure to ask your faculty advisor about their impressions of various graduate programs.
Once you have decided to apply to graduate school, it’s a good idea to visit the schools in which you have an interest if at all possible. This is the best way to get a sense of how a program really works for students, and to verify information in the school’s publications such as tuition, fees, possibilities for financial support, etc.