Career Design Lab
Shaping sustainable and meaningful careers
Career design course allows you to slow down and learn about yourself
Career Design Lab supports students' transition to the workforce. The key to sustainable work in the future is an open-minded and creative approach to designing a career.
The world of work and careers has become increasingly unpredictable. The traditional steady and linear career paths no longer exist, as careers have become fragmented and involve a lot of transitions. Changing work life calls for new methods in career guidance, too. To address this challenge, Aalto University has developed the concept of career design, where creativity and experimentation play a crucial role in determining one's professional direction.
What is my superpower?
Career Design Lab's Design a Meaningful Career program, which is based on an online course of the same name (2 credits), was held for the second time in the spring of 2024. The program focused on creative and design-based methods, with students reflecting on their personal career identity and its development. The foundation of identity consists of personal values, strengths, and interests. In career design we refer to strengths as superpowers. Using their values and strengths as a basis, students devised professional futures and prototypes for them. Prototypes are ways to trial different career options and thus test which alternatives feel right.In practice, a prototype could mean choosing an interesting interdisciplinary course, applying for a summer job or internship, or interviewing an alum in an interesting position.
Career design requires taking a break and reflecting
In the hustle and bustle of student life, it's not always easy to slow down and contemplate one's own identity and direction. The Design a Meaningful Career training program and online course offer a space for students to do just that. This also emerged in feedback from students.
"I have the chance to sit down, think and write down my thoughts. Life has been too busy it feels like a luxury to do this kind of reflection…"
"Space for pondering the deep questions regarding career!"
Career design in collaboration
The training program was carried out in collaboration with Aalto Effective Altruism (EA), a student organization that helps its members work towards making the world a better place by solving important problems using effective methods.
Career Design Lab's work as a successor to career and recruitment services began in 2020. Career Design Lab provides support for career planning and job hunting through career guidance, offering materials and tools for independent career design, and organizing workshops and training programs.
The Design a Meaningful Career online course is still available until July 31st 2024. Students can find career design tools on the Career Design Lab website, too. Teachers can request Career Design Lab content for their courses. Visit the Career design modules website, explore its training offerings and contact us.
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