Center for Careers, Life, and Service | Grinnell College

Center for Careers, Life, and Service | Grinnell College
Center for Careers, Life, and Service
As a student, you’ll visit the Center for Careers, Life, and Service to start talking through what you want your life to become, and to connect with ways of getting there. You’ll make discoveries, develop new insights, gain experience, broaden your network, and, ultimately, like the many Grinnellians before you, confidently go forth to lead a life of meaning and purpose.
Grinnell’s Center for Careers, Life, and Service, affectionately known as the “CLS” on campus, will work with you to design a life that encompasses your personal, professional, and civic ambitions. We believe your impact, satisfaction, and sense of purpose are maximized when you are able to align your values, strengths, and curiosities. We encourage you to not only ask yourself what you want to do, but what problem you want to solve.
Achieving this outcome is no small task. We begin working with you early — before you even attend your first class at Grinnell. You will be assigned a CLS exploratory adviser and work with them, along with a cadre of specialized CLS advisers, throughout your undergraduate years and into your life as an alum. Through proactive and consistent engagement, you will be poised to live, learn, and work with meaning and purpose.
As you take your extraordinary journey, you’ll have extraordinary resources along the way.
Life is bigger than a series of jobs. As a Grinnellian, you’ll contribute to the greater good in ways that are deeply meaningful to you. That’s why at Grinnell your personal, professional, and civic aspirations are all part of the same conversation.
Photo of Commencement
Check out the CLS portal!
The CLS website has resources to help students and alumni explore their options and to allow employers and community partners to connect with Grinnellians.
For Students, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni
For Employers
For Community Partners
"At Grinnell, we are fortunate to have personal career advisors who support us at every stage of our professional development. This program is the reason I have built invaluable networking connections and received job opportunities."
— Kylie Snell '26 (Van Nuys, CA)
"I plan to pursue a career in film and media after graduation, and Grinnell has provided me with opportunities to get my foot in the door. In the summer of my second year, I interned at ShortsTV in London, where I worked on the marketing of short films. Arranged by the Business & Finance Career Community, this opportunity was made possible through generous support from alumni."
— Noah Biniam '26 (Chicago, IL)
"In my experience, as soon as you book your first appointment at the CLS, you are ready to go. Whether you go in with no clue what to do, or you go in with a clear path laid out, the CLS is ready to help you. The Career Clothing Closet has helped me out more than once in last-minute situations, and don’t forget to ask your advisor about any funding available for your interests!"
— Becca Boroda '26 (New York, NY)
Advising and Exploration
You’ll have the freedom to explore your own values, strengths, and interests. And we offer individualized advising, self-reflection activities, on- and off-campus experiences, alumni connections, and more, so also you’ll have guides along the way.
Get Advised
Career Communities
Need some input as you define your direction? Cue Career Communities, which offers advising and programming in seven career themes. The idea is to focus and connect your values, strengths, and interests toward particular post-graduate goals. You’ll even be able to see what you’re working toward in the work world, without leaving campus.
Arts, Media & Communications
Business & Finance
Education Professions +
Government, Law & Policy
Health Professions
Science, Engineering & Sustainability
Technology & Data
Civic Education and Innovation
At Grinnell, we believe democracy or civic activity is a way of life; albeit, it looks different for every individual and community. While at Grinnell you will have the opportunity to explore your place in civic life through dialogue, volunteering, community-based learning courses, Service Learning Work-Study, systems thinking programs, local social innovation projects, and skill-building workshops. Trained advisers will be happy to help you figure out exactly how you want to make an impact.
Get inspired
Employer Engagement
We work with all sorts of employers to make sure that you have access to excellent internships, full-time employment, and other post-graduate opportunities.
Get connected
Global Fellowships and Awards
Yes, we have a team dedicated entirely to the application and nomination procedures for selective awards and scholarships like the Watson, Truman, Fulbright, and many others. We’ve helped many Grinnellians over the years, and we can help you navigate the process, whether you’re a student or a graduate.
Get selected
Graduate Outcomes - All Majors
Career Outcomes
First Destinations
58%
Employment
27%
Graduate School
2%
Post-Graduate Service
4%
Fellowships
0%
Continuing Education
8%
Other
Employment
97%
Positions related to Career Goals
Positions Related to Career Goals
This graph illustrates the extent to which our graduates' first job is aligned with their career goals. It's one thing to find a job; it's an entirely different thing to land the job you want!
Employer
Apple
Bloomberg
Center for Family Services
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Google
Iowa Legal Aid
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Mayo Clinic
NERA Economic Consulting
Oxford University Press
Riverdale High School
Storm Lake Times-Pilot
Teaching Assistant Program in France
Tracy Aviary
U.S. Department of Energy
Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center
Young Footliters Youth Theatre
Graduate Schools
80%
80% Accepted to 1st- or 2nd- choice programs
Graduate School Acceptance Info
Of those who applied to and were accepted to at least one program, this chart illustrates the percentage of admitted students who were accepted to either their first or second choice program and institution.
Institutions
Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
London School of Economics & Political Science
MIT
Northwestern University
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of California
University of Chicago
University of Illinois
University of Iowa
Washington University in St. Louis
Yale University
Explore More Graduate Outcomes
Contact Information
career@grinnell.edu
Phone
641-269-4940
Fax
641-269-4508
1103 Park Street
Grinnell
IA
50112-1670
United States
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